Dear UFT members:

As you know, I appreciate teachers quite a bit. After all, I not only said so, but also made a video about it. How many of your students have bothered to do that? Nope, only I did it, because I am the cream of the crop, the top dog, the soaringest highestest when it comes to teacher appreciation. Consequently, because of my great respect for you, you should all do whatever I say without question.

As His Swaggerness Himself has declared, we need to get our schools together. We are in crisis! There was a pandemic, and while most tests were canceled, that still doesn't mean our kids are passing them. As you know, before I became the great Soaring Highest Chancellor, I ran the Eagle Academies, and we opened on weekends and Saturdays. Now sure, you'll say, our results were not that great, but that's only if you read blogs like this one. 

As far as the NY Times knows, as far as Chalkbeat NY knows, and as far as our Swaggerific mayor knows, we did a fantastic job. After all, there was an HBO documentary about me, and they didn't bother to nitpick the small points, like a 32% passing rate on the Algebra Regents exam, only 7 students in the whole school passing the Geometry Regents exam, or our terrible AP results. After all, tests aren't everything. Unless it's you teaching for them, in which case you're ineffective. You wouldn't want that, would you? So just help me out here, and give me what I want.

And what I want, not to put too fine a point on it, is for you all to work summer and weekends. Now sure, you'll say, it's never been done that way. And sure, you'll say, if students aren't interested in school five days a week, ten months a year, they're unlikely to be interested in 8 days a week, 16 months a year either. But the world is changing, and the old model of people having time to think or reflect, or spend time with their families is not what Americans want.

Otherwise, why would they vote for so many politicians who are anti-union, who preach about government handouts, who even oppose national health care? Unless you're in a bracket like I am, making over 330K a year, this government is all about pulling yourself up by your frigging bootstraps. So wake up, New York! If you didn't want this sort of thing, you'd have voted for something other than Swagger. But you didn't.

However, there is a bright side. Your contract is coming up pretty soon, and our position is offering zero-percent increases unless we see gains in productivity. I see a whole lot of people complaining about near ten-percent inflation. Sure, companies are making record profits, and there are arguments that this is all just price-gouging. But that's all academic. (You see what I did there? You're teachers and I said "academic." That's a pun. My mother says I have a great sense of humor.)

And hey, if you don't want to do it, we'll just get community members to volunteer under our new and innovative "work for free" model. We don't care if they have teaching licenses, or experience, or subject knowledge, or an actual heartbeat. None of those things matter under our new and revolutionary "no standards whatsoever" model. The important thing is we need to do something. This is something, and we therefore need to do it right away, without hesitation! 

And hey, guys, don't go giving me any guff about smaller class sizes. We're not about to spend money hiring more teachers, or building facilities to accommodate students. We place children first, and we're the first to place them in inadequate facilities under deplorable overcrowded conditions. Because priorities.

Anyhoo, you all need a ten-percent raise if you're gonna keep up with inflation. The good news is Mayor McSwagger is willing to offer you a ten-percent raise, phased in over only nine years, if you'll agree to work 40% more time. That's what you call a WIN-WIN. You get your money, and we get you to work round the clock seven days a week. No more frittering away your time going to the beach in the summer, or visiting far-away places that aren't even New York. 

So what do you say, guys? Remember, we're doing this for the children, so when they grow up, they can work 200 hours a week just like you do! Remember, you heard it here first!

Soaring high,

Chancellor David C. Banks (And should we meet on the street or something, please address me as MISTER Chancellor David C. Banks. To me, you're one of the family.)

NYSESLAT is the test the state uses to test the level of English Language Learners.

In case you're wondering why you didn't see Exec. Board minutes here yesterday, you now know. On Saturday, I took a second booster and then drove to Costco. I was walking around the store when I started to feel really disoriented. 

I decided to get out of there without buying anything, and drove home very much hoping not to pass out or something on the way. I thought I was having a reaction to the booster.

I went right to bed, and later in the day developed a very sore throat, which a friend had told me was her first symptom. I took a home test, and both lines turned bright red immediately. After an interminable 15 minutes, the test remained that way. For a few days I stayed in bed, forcing myself to drink water. Yesterday I saw a doctor online, and she gave me an anti-viral med. This morning I was able to get up and make breakfast, and actually eat for the first time in days, but I'm not quite up to walking the dogs, one of my favorite things to do.

I was pretty surprised to test positive because I took a PCR test in school on Wednesday and tested negative. I've also been masked virtually all the time in school, and whenever I visited stores. So I had to wonder where the hell I caught the bug from. 

Now I'm pretty sure I know. I spent all of last week giving a speaking test to English Language Learners. Of course I couldn't give them to my own students because NYSED assumes I'm a criminal who will pass everyone simply to make myself look good, with no regard whatsoever as to their placement. I'm going to talk about that a little before I get back to COVID. 

One thing I noticed as I tested students one level above mine, the lowest, was that several of them were no more advanced than my students. There are two reasons for that. One reason is that it is not, in fact, corrupt teachers who place students in too high an English level. It is the test itself, which is the very worst standardized test I've ever seen. It was probably developed in a test tube. I'm sure they give valuable lip service to real teachers while this work goes on, but it is, nonetheless, total crap.

The second reason is the NX grades we were forced to issue last year. I'm not opposed to the concept of being merciful under extreme circumstances, and I know there were sincerely good intentions here. However, everyone was promoted regardless of mastery. And the fact is, whatever makeup work students may have done did not likely equal what original teachers had intended.

On the test, there is a glaring run-on sentence, a comma splice very much in need of a conjunction on the speaking script, which the students read. (Let's ignore the fact that, by allowing them to read, we are not measuring their listening skills at all.) They capitalize the word "sun" for no particular reason. These are errors I'd certainly expect from my beginners, not professional test-writers demanding exorbitant sums for their work. I am absolutely certain my colleagues and I (or you and yours) could place these students more accurately, and that we could help them more than the state. I deem the state incompetent.

Aside from the miserable quality of the test, the fact is we now have a variant that is more contagious than Omicron. Every day I sat with a series of students, face to face for extended periods of time, often leaning in very closely to hear what they are saying. You won't likely be surprised to hear that some kids are very shy with their new language, and deal with this by speaking in a near-whisper. This process was markedly different than what I'd been doing all year, circulating to see what my kids were doing, giving them oral or written comments, and moving on to my next student. I didn't have time to sit for 15-20 minutes with anyone. 

I've been wearing KF94 masks consistently. I've been eating lunch in my car, something I really hate doing. But I've tried as hard as I could to stay safe. Now I have COVID, and my wife, who is at least as meticulous as I am, has it too. I blame NYSED for this, and I'd sue them in a heartbeat if any lawyer told me I had a case. We started this year with social distancing. While regs have relaxed, it's still totally irresponsible for us to be doing one on one oral exams. 

I'm grateful that UFT negotiated non-CAR days for this purpose, but all things considered, I'd rather be at work. By work, I mean teaching, NOT giving a pointless exam so as to satisfy Betty Rosa and the Regents, none of whom appear to have the remotest notion of what language learning entails.  They seem to think if they sufficiently ignore the need of English Language learners, they will magically disappear.

The process of individually testing students for the NYSESLAT, which is wholly a waste of time anyway, should take place entirely on Zoom. Any school leader who reads this and chooses to run it otherwise is being either capricious with, or indifferent to the health of staff.

Dear Teachers,

Every day I am inspired by the dedication and innovation you bring to your work. As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, please don’t harp on the fact that we are currently offering you zero percent salary increases unless you agree to productivity increases. What’s money, guys? Teaching is a calling.

As part of our Teacher Appreciation Week celebrations, I recorded a short thank you video for you. Now, honestly, shouldn't that be enough? Why do you need a raise in salary? I made the video. That would be enough for you if you were truly dedicated.

We are stronger because of you. You are owed an enormous debt of gratitude for your perseverance, your resilience, and your profound commitment. I can’t say exactly who owes this debt. Not us, of course, because, you know, even though we’re rolling in dough we’re offering zero percent. This notwithstanding, were it not for you, I would have to go out there and do actual work. So believe me, I appreciate you a lot.

Because of you, our students have been able to return to full-time classroom learning. Sure, they're more likely to get COVID since we don’t require masks. Picky, picky, picky. Because of your efforts, and your teamwork in getting vaccinated, we were able to stay safe and stay open during the Omicron surge. Sure, 20% of your students were out with COVID on any given day. Sure, we dumped unvaccinated teachers without due process, in blatant violation of state law. Sure, we’re being sued by UFT for that. But we don’t care, because it’s not our money we’re playing with. It’s yours, and that’s what swagger is all about.

Additionally, while our city fights against increased gun violence, and state education law, our schools serve as safe havens and tight communities that provide healing and support for our young people. Students know that whatever they do, they won’t be suspended. No matter how they mistreat you, insult your mother, or whatever, we’ll call their house, once, maybe, and hope for the best.

Despite all the incredible challenges of the pandemic, New York City’s students have the opportunity to grow and flourish. kids have pathway to a rewarding career (And lest you correct me, note the singular indefinite article, indicating one career, somewhere, for a million kids.), long-term economic security, and the ability to be a positive force for change. I’m not sure exactly what that is, in this gig economy where we pay welfare to billionaires while ordinary Americans go bankrupt over catastrophic medical emergency. And, you know I’m not even planning to give a raise to teachers, or firefighters, or cops, or anyone, but hey, look at the cool gig I scored for my brother. Maybe students have brothers too. Maybe you do. Who knows?

I also know how challenging and stressful it can be, even besides the many difficulties the pandemic has created. That’s why my focus, as Chancellor, is to ensure that we are coming through for you. Except when it comes to paying you money, or having your back when students or supervisors are violent or abusive. Like my sainted grandma used to say, “It’s all part of life’s rich pageant.”

So once again: thank you for the difference you make in the lives of our students and their families, and for the power of the example you set for us all. Also, keep doing it, because I’m sure as hell not doing it.
 

One more thing: this week, we are encouraging New Yorkers to send a note of thanks to the teachers who have made a difference in their lives. After all, who needs money when you have a thank you note? Not only that, but should you see me, I'll be the first to have someone from my staff offer you a hearty handclasp!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Soaring high on my $363,000 salary,
 

Chancellor David C. Banks

In my opinion, that thing is not proctoring. Unfortunately, as a teacher of speakers of other languages, next week my dance card is full. Of proctoring. (I could have said something worse there, but this is a family blog.) Tuesday through Friday, or maybe longer, I will be sitting in the auditorium testing students of other teachers. 

I can't test my own students, you see, because the State of New York has determined that I (along with every single one of my public school colleagues) am not to be trusted. All I care about is test scores, evidently, and I will therefore inflate the scores of every one of my students. 

Oddly, I don't give all of my students 100%. In fact, I fail students on a fairly regular basis, and most definitely more since the coming of the apocalypse. But Governor Hochul has determined I can't be trusted, and one day she'll likely be elected, so she must know better than I do. 

Today I sat for training on how to administer this test. I wasn't going to, because I've been giving this test for years. It hasn't changed much. It's still the same awful piece of garbage it always was. I usually teach beginners. Most of my colleagues don't love doing this, but I do. That's kind of a win-win. Three years ago I was given an advanced class for the first time in years.

My advanced students had passed the NYSESLAT test, the one I'll be administering. NY State calls them "commanding" instead of advanced, because why use precise or direct language, ever? Some of these students had also passed the English Regents exam. The first thing I did was assign a novel with simple language, something I'd done many times before. It was a disaster. I quickly learned a good number of them could not construct a coherent sentence in English. Many could not use past tense.

That didn't stop them from writing college admission essays. They were painful to read. Some were clearly put through translating software that was woefully inadequate. I modified my expectations, but I was unable to teach the basic skills they really needed. Few of them knew what I teach beginners as a matter of course. And IMHO, that's largely the fault of this test.

We were mostly able to assess the recorded answers correctly. One fooled us, though. It was a student who was, rather than composing sentences, reading them directly from the text. That one got a zero. However, the next time we caught a student reading directly from the text, when we gave it a zero, the geniuses who designed the test indicated it should get the highest possible score. 

The person giving us the training scolded us. He had sent out an invitation for us to participate in designing this test. Now here's the thing--were I designing a test, I would not have noticed quotes one time, but not another. I'd also not have capitalized the word "sun" for no discernible reason. 

That said, I'd rather sit for a root canal than spend time with people who design tests like these. Whoever is in charge of this test has determined that Common Coriness is next to Godliness, and I'm afraid I can't go along with that. Though Common Core has deserted us in name, both this NYSESLAT and the English Regents exam bear the stink of that time frame. 

These exams train our students to either a. avoid reading and writing, or b. deplore it.

I can write a test in 45 minutes that will be better than this one. I'm not saying I'm a great test writer. I'm only saying I'm better than this. That's a low standard. Still, if the city were to give my department a few days together, I have no doubt we could construct a more useful and accurate test. 

And who can best assess my students? Well, that would be me. I've been with them every day since September. It's idiotic that NY State deems me too biased to assess them. They may as well say every single one of us is unfit for our job.

Speak for yourself, NYSED.

LeRoy Barr-- Welcomes us.

Minutes--approved.

Barr--5K walk May 14 MCU Park Spring Conference, Teacher leader action showcase. May 21 Nurse awards May 17 Better Speech and hearing May 18, virtual, Next Exec Board May 9. DA May 25  D11 dinner dance May 6 Provider Awards May 13

Reports from Districts--

Mike Sill--Summer school postings up. Involved in reaching out to people on intent list, must declare intent by May 15 or deemed voluntarily resigned. Will be process for those on vax status too. Ed TPA, which cost 300 dollars, was inconvenient, has been eliminated. 

Mike Schirtzer--Thanks Listen Up panel, was good to see classroom teachers talking to elected officials, spoke of class size, social emotional issues. 

Michael Mulgrew--Hopes everyone had and took a break.  Still trying to work out calendar. Tough with new crew. DOE vax cards--City believes some cards are fraudulent, removed them from payroll. Not about vaccine, but contract. Do they have the right to remove people from payroll? We say no. City trying to conflate arbitration award to gain additional right. We have taken legal action. When DOE issues incorrect orders, we have to challenge them. Based on OSI report. 

Listen Up was great event. Sent out video today. Will do more of that through Spring. Covered class size and inadequate curriculum. Teachers want children happy, criticized school facilities. Got people looking around. 

We are going to arbitration on 683 vacation days. Have confidence in grievance dept.

Next Monday is holiday. Still trying to get feds to stop labeling schools failures based on test scores. 

Trying to push Biden admin on retirement security, not only for us. Fewer and fewer people have it. 

Questions--

Q--US History Regents June 1, only one prototype released, totally new. Are you aware?

A--Working on it. Global number one reason students don't graduate on time. Very important to have prototypes. 

Q--Members dealing with vax cards--How are we planning to support them? People I talk to say they've had the shots.

A--We are reaching out to them. Have them speak with Michael Sill. Have already started filing, can use more info. 

Q--Heard from members just returned from vacation, didn't have ballots, could we extend deadline?

Carl Cambria--We spoke with AAA, cannot guarantee after deadline members will receive them. Not ideal to go there, but they can on Thursday and Friday between 9 and 5. Was only alternative that worked. Post Office not working at same pace as last time and needed additional time. 

Priscilla Castro--Reports that during break ARP had conferences, had paras across borough.  

Servia Silva--District 3, 4, 5, 6 had para event with Welfare Fund, certification, special ed. reps, many giveaways.

Joe Eusatch--Students will get Shanker Scholarship Acceptance emails tomorrow. June 7 date of scholarship. 

6:24 We are adjourned.

The big push for opposition, as far as I can tell, is two-pronged. First, of course, they're still railing against the awful contract we ratified 17 years ago.  I didn't vote for it, in fact, but I have lived with it. There is indeed a way to mitigate its effects during negotiation. That would entail taking less money than our brother and sister unions, which would be hugely unpopular. Were leadership to negotiate such a thing, it would be labeled a "giveback," and opposition would immediately condemn them for it. So would I, and so would most of the membership.

Of course, that's not going to happen. In fact, it wouldn't happen if opposition were to win either, which is highly unlikely. It's pretty easy to sit around and write that everything sucks, and that you'd do better if elected. I should know, because I did so for years. Becoming chapter leader of the largest school in Queens, the most overcrowded in the city, changed my perspective. Change is slow, and change is tough. The best I could do, for the most part, was try to help members one at a time. 

Of course I could not always get members what they wanted. Often, people will argue about fairness. It's hard to explain that these things are not always about fairness, but rather what is written in the contract and elsewhere. In fact, the grievance procedure is very tough. Members have to be willing to not only grieve, but also sit through a virtual kangaroo court from Tweed at step two, and then wait for an arbitrator to hear the case. Arbitrators are not infallible, and I have found some either incapable or unwilling to understand basic English. 

This process was much improved by the addition of operational complaints. (This, by the way, was very much the initiative of brilliant Unity member Debra Poulos.) If your principal claims not to understand basic English, there are people in the DOE who will not abide such nonsense. Too bad none of them are sitting in Step Two hearings, but you can't have everything. 

The other big issue opposition push is opposing the Medicare program the city was going to offer. In fact, it went to court and is now in limbo, even as Adams appeals the ruling. It's quite easy for opposition to tar this program as awful, and that's partially the fault of the MLC, which failed even to recruit the doctors it was going to compensate at the same rate Medicare does before announcing the program. But why, ultimately, would any doctor accepting Medicare reject a program that paid the same?

I've read articles stating this program was inferior to the standard Medicare, but the fact is this program has never seen the light of day, has yet to exist, and aside from requiring approvals for certain procedures (as GHI already does), I can't see exactly how anyone can prove that. I was personally pretty happy it offered me insurance if I were to travel, which I'd likely do if retired. I was once in Canada and my daughter had to visit the ER. Blue Cross covered me, minus the standard deductible. I was quite relieved about that.

Of course I can't sit here and tell you that the new program will be roses and unicorns either. It doesn't exist. If I were the MLC, I'd make sure that it were all I said it was, but only time will tell. Opposition did indeed stop it in court for now. We'll see if and how that lasts.

Adams could win his appeal, or the city charter could be changed, and we'd be back to square one. Or they could lose, and we'd be back to trying to find some other way to hit promised savings. What will opposition do then, aside from complaining? As far as I can tell, not much. 

One reason, again, is they're highly unlikely to win. The other is, even if they did, they'd be stuck with hard choices. Who gets to pay this? Are we going to impose a premium on working members for the first time ever? That would be a slippery slope. Union members around this state and elsewhere know there's no end to it. I have friends from other districts who'd have to pay a whole lot more than the 200 bucks a month proposed to retain standard Medicare. You're free to believe opposition has a solution for that. I don't.

It's easy to promise the sun and the stars when you're in no position to offer anything. I've got over ten years of experience working with opposition. When I finally won an office, their position was not, "How can we expand on this?" but rather, "How can we control the people who've won office?" It was ridiculous and counter-productive, leading them to pass stupid resolutions attempting to control us or condemn us. The objective was not, in fact, bettering working conditions for teachers. 

As chapter leader, I used to seek advice from opposition members back when they were the only people I knew. You will see the extent to which I did that wildly exaggerated and twisted elsewhere. In fact, when the person who wrote that came to me for help, I got it via Unity Caucus members. I found, in fact, the more I did the job, that the only people who could or would actually help me get things done were part of the Unity Caucus.  

You can say, yes, but the Unity Caucus are the only people in office. That's true. But there's a reason for that. The reason is they keep getting elected. And a big reason that happens is opposition has a pattern of uniting every few years, then devolving into battling among which faction is in control. That's simply history. You're free to deny it, or pretend it won't repeat itself. But those who fail to learn from history are going to be banging their heads against various walls for a long time. I'm done with that.

What exactly is this big conflict? It might be that my socialism is better than yours (and again, I don't give a damn who is or is not a socialist. I'm a Sanders supporter, but opposition labeled me and my friends "right wingers" before tossing us out.), or it could just be a crude battle over who has the biggest voice, or biggest whatever. I don't know and I don't care.

What I do know is a whole lot of them are unfit to lead, and while I won't single out UFT members on this space, they've made some horrendous choices. My values have not changed at all, and I'm running with Unity. I hope you support me, and I hope you vote (or preferably voted already) for us. 

There are few things that get my dander up more than that expression. For one thing, people who use it are invariably getting up on their high horses and flouting their self-awarded moral authority. 

These people are better than you, better than me, and have no reservation whatsoever about saying so. It's as though I were to call myself a master teacher. What does that actually mean, coming from me? (Were my students to say this, it would be another matter entirely.)

Of course, putting students first always implies we put teachers last. It strongly suggests, in fact, that teachers are somehow adversarial to students. It's a continual struggle, evidently, between our insatiable desire to sit around and read tabloid gossip (or whatever) all day and the good administrators, who want only to make us work for the good of those poor children. Never mind that said administrators went and took coursework with the express goal of getting the hell out of the classroom, and never mind that the motivation for many was their inability to handle the classroom. 

Another utter irrelevance is the fact that working teachers have chosen to continue working directly with children. It's not an easy task, what with the media virtually always vilifying us for our crime of taking summers off. After all, perish forbid that the children we love should grow up and take summers off too. How would Walmart employees muster the motivation to wear those blue vests and do low-wage, no-benefit work for years and years? How would Amazon get people to keep peeing in their trucks while delivering novelty t-shirts to people who can't wait another day to own them?

They say they were master teachers, and that should be good enough for anyone, least of all, you and me.

A basic concept that eludes these administrators is this: Our working conditions are student learning conditions. For example, if student athletes walk the halls carrying baseball bats year after year, despite complaints that this could be a hazard for the much-loved children, that's a big nothing to administrators. If test administration is a disaster year after year, that's not important. After all, you, a lowly teacher, couldn't possibly comprehend all the difficult steps it takes to master the intricacies of such activities. Unless it's in your classroom, of course, in which case you get a letter to file explicitly threatening job loss should it happen again. 

A big goal of Children First is thwarting those awful union contracts and agreements that inconveniently require payment, or perish forbid time, for extra work. Shouldn't career educrats in Tweed decide what work teachers do? If not them, at least principals. How on earth can teachers make their own determinations? What is all this crap in the union contract stating lesson plans are at the teacher's discretion? Shouldn't administrators be able to require inclusion of which Common Core goals they meet? And even if Common Core is dead, since whatever replaced it is the same, shouldn't they be included anyway? What are conscientious administrators to do about teachers who refuse to teach Common Coriness, the most important thing on earth? Will those awful English teachers fritter away time teaching reading and writing what people actually think and feel, which administrative guru David Coleman has conclusively labeled a bunch of crap?

To be a good administrator, it's important to control the time of teachers. You can't have them wasting their time prepping lessons when there are meetings to be had. Why not find someone monolingual, someone who's never lived in another country, and have that person lecture all the language teachers on how to be multiculturally sensitive? After all, that person has taken a training somewhere, whereas all the language teachers have done is traveled, lived in other countries, and learned the languages of the countries they've visited. What possible value could there be in that compared to having attended a lecture by someone who Really Knows?  

It's just infuriating that those darn teachers persist in being unionized and retaining collective bargaining. This prevents school leaders, clearly the only people on God's green earth who care about children, from doing Whatever They Want, a vital goal. That's why Tucker Carlson is on TV demanding you go in and thrash teachers, and that's why the fine folks who follow him think we ought to be executed. After all, if we aren't willing to pretend America is the Andy Griffith Show, how can we be benefiting our children at all?

So for goodness sake, we have to get behind these administrators. Some of them don't even want to execute the teachers! They simply want to micromanage them, because teachers can't be trusted and you have to look over their shoulders every minute. They need to control how teachers do things, control their time, and make sure they have as little independence as possible.

And because only they care about the children, they want the children to grow up micromanaged, with someone constantly looking over their shoulders, with little or no independence. 

Because, it turns out, people who don't give a crap about teacher morale don't give a crap about student morale either. Everyone knows that suffering builds character. That's what the racist, corporate United States are all about. That's why we don't have nice things, like universal health care. That's why I spend twenty years teaching in a crumbling trailer. And that's why COVID accommodations for much of the country's schools entailed, maybe, one window that actually opens.

Michael Mulgrew--Welcomes us. One day from Spring Break. We've come very far from September. Concerned about incidents. Every day a school is on lockdown. Good things--Thanks for HS and MS awards. 5K family walk or run coming May 14th at Cyclones field in Coney Island.

Last Friday was horrendous shooting of three students. UFT-represented charter run by group of teachers--We have a better procedure with NYPD to get people home. We've had people there all week. These things are getting worse. Then the incident yesterday happened. Was en route to a school nearby, nurses at NYU Lutheran dealt with this. Thanks Jeff Povalitus  and safety team.

Thanks CL of Sunset Park HS who was gr.9 mieeting students this AM. Education, school and community are important. We're in the middle of it and has been tough year. When we return there are 44 more days of school and three holidays. This has been toughest year and takes major toll. When you have a break, you need to take it. Be careful, but use the break. If you're involved in DA you're even more involved in these position. Take a breath and relax a little bit.

Federal--We have a new judge on SCOTUS. 

State--No Lt. Governor. In touch with NYSUT. Will see where that goes. Will be usual public political process. NYSUT endorsements for federal and state upcoming. Thanks everyone who helped with budget. Very good one in year when contract ends. Were good surprises. 475 million for NYC schools 100% foundation aid. 100 mil for trauma. Teacher centers expanding--450 K for United Community Schools. Day care providers paid by market rate, which we moved from 68 to 80%.

Tried for hazard pay, were not able to get it in budget. Talking about teacher retention, and they gave bonus to health care, and some of those titles work in schools. Some of our titles will get up to 1500 at a time. Whatever we can get, we go for. We will get more info out. 

When we shut down March 15 2020, every school nurse went to work and didn't stop. Recognizes them. Still fighting for nurse in every school, but how many do we need in bigger schools? For every CL, if you have a school nurse, should be on safety committee.

No one knows when COVID is going away. Doctors say these things will be floating around. You need a medical pro in your meetings. When we were facing this, every school found a nurse. We can't go back on that. 

Tier 6--Happened ten years ago. We were able to fis tier 4. Goal to fix before anyone has to retire on it. Was campaign by governor and wealthy people who put up misinformation and created this tier. Same people try to stop improvements. But you cannot recruit 21 year olds and retain them if they have to work to 63. Unions look to UFT trustees for help. Thanks Deborah Penney.

Penney--Pleased to say we got two reforms. Tier 6 only ten--Tier 4 took longer to reform. After 17 years contributions stopped after ten. Tier 4 was 24 years old before we got 25/55. We've been chipping away at it. We had five reforms and two passed. Five years for vesting now. Other a little complicated. From April 2022 to 2024 rate based on base pay only. Two year lag in contributions. Starts at 3% and can go up to 6. This bill said, to help members, they'd be held harmless for contribution rate. Only based on base pay. We will continue to keep chipping away. 

Mulgrew--First change to tier 6 now and we will keep working on it.

NYC DOE--Lots of unknowns--superintendents, principal budgets, supes going through rigorous process to see if they will remain. We think DOE is not working to benefit schools, has gotten worse. Clearly brought out during pandemic when schools ran and DOE didn't even show up to work. Everyone has relationships within school system but we have to wait and see where it goes. Concern is, they want to do thorough job, but we have to open in September. Many of us start planning a month ago, and it's not happening. Will be very strange end of school year. 

Majority of people brought in by Banks not from DOE. Want to solidify early childhood program. Need to do something with curriculum. Do we want one standardized? No, but nor do we want a thousand. Speaks of children have career pathway, but we also need to build an awareness. Civics important to mayor and chancellor. We train 50 HS people a year to do civics. DOE does nothing. It's about we're on this planet, in this city together, and responsible for one another. We support these things.

Special ed will be big issue. We're at 22% and everyone else is at 14. We're at a mandate-based system. We need teams of intervention people who need to be able to work with kids instead of doing paperwork. There has to be help aside from referrals. Some services not supplied anyway.

There are deputy chancellors doing thorough job, but they don't have much time. Asked they not do social-emotional screening for spring, but they made an 18 million contract. 48 dropdown question menu flagged kids for help, and no help came. Why do it again since first time didn't work? Has to do with contract. This is wasted money. Will see what happens.

Calendar going back and forth. Asked to make virtual parent conferences permanent. Schools saw four to five times more parents. This is engagements. Elementary schools like to combine conferences. We asked to make that standard. Calendar will help with SBOs. Will be very tight. If we can't do a snow day, they have to pay us to set up classrooms. SBOs will be done with election buddy.

Summer school same as last year. If you want to spend that much time and money, you should market it and bring kids in. This is not field of dreams. We will do process and posting. Some like the class sizes.

Class size--Working with city council. When we get back we will get really loud about this. Will not be pretty. We have room. We had room once we started measuring. You want to make school system attractive? Lower class size and safe schools is what parents want. If we want parents to place kids in schools why not give it to them?

We need to look at discipline code. We're 2,000 safety agents down. Schools with three thousand students shouldn't have three safety agents. Some schools can't set up a safe corridor because we don't have the agents. Yesterday we had to do it with NYPD. We need right personnel and training. 

CL hub--approaching 50%. We want feedback. We've gotten praise on this. We have springtime stipends, membership numbers, place to upload consultation notes. Take a look at that. Will be push on COPE when we return to support tier 6 issue.

Negotiating committee--Thanks them. Have gathered surveys. Feedback sending to company we work with. Makes sure questions are objective. Will get out to every member.

Thanks delegation for what we've been through this year. First

 day this year was very tense. No idea what would happen with everyone in building again. Mayor played games with policies for own future. Now we're in transition and there's another wave. Remember January 3rd. Was most tense of entire year. Numbers going up but schools still safest place. As long as variants are less severe, fewer hospitalizations now, but think of all stress we've been through. DOE has not been helpful

We moved forward and are now one day away from spring break. Happy we've been able to increase member assistance program, with members getting therapy. Testament to all of you that you go in and keep people calm as best you can. We keep children safe despite challenges. You have kept system going, not DOE. We've been on our own for almost two and a half years. Have a great time, be safe, and be careful. 44 days when we get back. We want to be super strong in September. Have a blessed Easter, Passover and take care of yourselves.

LeRoy Barr--Elections underway. Ballots went out Friday. Gold envelope. Please vote right away. Remind them to cast ballots. Count May 10. May 14 5K run Coney Island. Spring Conference May 21 NY Hilton. Next DA May 25. Happy Passover, Easter.

Questions

Q--special ed. recovery--Will it continue in September?

A--We understand children with special needs suffered more, We want to help children, not create a compliance system. Some schools really did work, and if we can do it, we want to. We need to help children deal with issues, instead of having them sit in Tweed and do reports. We could use help rather than hindrance. I go to meetings where people tell me it's supposed to be about children, but fight to make sure kids don't get services. 

Q--Tier 6--There were five proposals. What were other three? What are next steps.

A--Will report on this at next DA. Cut down % people pay over career. Session not over. This will take us a few years. We have to get it done. Tier four finished a year before people could retire. Want to do it sooner.

Q--Union victories at Amazon and Starbucks. Exciting. There is a resolution. Have there been convos about how to support them?

A--They had their plan and wouldn't let anyone influence them. They acted like a union. We will approach them, but not tell them what to do. We will offer help if they want it. They did something no one else could do yet. Quite impressed.

Q--Negotiation re last day of school. When will teachers know if chancellor's day is remote?

A--Have not gotten response yet. Under normal calendar would not be scheduled. Have to figure out technicalities. 

Q--Can we use vacation days for 683?

A--As far as I'm concerned, arbitration says whenever you wish. Go use it. 

Q--When will 683 dates be confirmed.

A--Hoping for week when we return. DOE going back and forth with each other. Need to give people time to do things.

Q--Principal said her way or no way for SBO. Can we fight that?

A--Make sure she can only have contractual positions and no others. Dean up to a thousand, a programmer, that's about it. If you won't entertain SBOs, we won't either. That's not collaborative. My way or the highway? For school of Hospitality and Tourism? 

Q--Mayor has been talking about dyslexia. Wants to screen all. Only doctors can do it. Will teachers be required?

A--You aren't trained to do it. Mayor passionate about it because he is dyslexic. There should be literacy development screening and if there is a problem we go to next step. Dyslexia can be diagnosed in different ways, but only by trained people. Of course we should check early, but I can't screen for this. We need to do it correctly.

Q--Wants to thank DR Myra Cruz who helps me as first year CL.

Motions--

Meredith Saladis--this month--Resolution of UFT expectations of new chancellor, not spend on bureaucracy, redirect money from Tweed to schools. NYSED and DOE should have system of student expectations, lobby for smaller class sizes,  listen to teachers. 

629 yes 108 no  online  passes

Anna Wanay--next month--DOE implementing mosaic curriculum K-8. Doesn't include AAPI. None at elementary level. We need education as tool against racism. Resolution--UFT support inclusion of AAPI in DOE curriculum, and state legislation to support it. 

708 yes 47 no online passes

Amy Bernstein--next month--Improve tier 6, 51K UFT on it, would like to keep it going. UFT and other unions will campaign for improvements and enhanced benefits. 

Peter Lamphere--Moves to extend motion period for ten minutes. 

Point of inquiry--? Can there be a motion placed while motion is already happening?

A--Can be in this case.

391 yes 435 no online--I cannot hear what room count is, ever.

Motion does not carry. 

Tier 6 reso vote--

668 yes 63 no  online  passes

Point of information--Can't hear inside totals

Mulgrew--Needs to repeat them 186-7 last one.  

Tomorrow night Listen up the reality is--Members will speak. Mayor had asked to come, but got sick. Chancellor, Regents, City Council coming, will listen. Will stream live on FB, be taped. Tired of others saying what schools need. Should talk to us.

Resolutions-- 

Janella Hinds--In support of resolution to eliminate distributive scoring in HS Regents exams. Passed on in 2017. At that time, were told it was important for fair secure scoring. This policy separates NYC from all schools in state, charter and Catholic schools all score in own schools. Would like alignment with rest of state. Written with Michael Schirtzer. Asks for your support. 

Question called. 

589 yes 39 no online 169 yes 6 no inside  

Resolution vote--

606 yes 53 no online 182 yes 1 no inside 93% yes passes

Raphael Thompkin--Resolution to commemorate 9/11 in NYC public schools with moment of silence. Our admin denied this on Monday the 13th. Law doesn't speak to off days. In 2022 falls on Sunday. We also need developmentally appropriate curriculum. Smaller of 9/11 memorial museums in danger of closing. Museums took big hit from pandemic. Asks for support. 

Seth Gilman--Rises in support. Teaching for 19 years, was 9/11 first responder when working with police. At 22 you don't think about death much, but we lost colleagues. Important to teach our kids about. Patrick Lynch said it's been a generation. Working police tell me it's important to teach students who hadn't been born then. 2,000 people went to work that day and didn't come back. Over 500 first responders have now passed. Must be marked whether on weekend or not. I will teach about this as long as I can breathe.

You have survivor guilt sometimes. I taught this remotely. Student said he was glad I didn't die so he could have me as teacher. Please support. 

Pat Crispino--calls question.

647 yes 17 no online 172 yes 6 no in room 97%

Resolution vote--

658 yes 43 no online  168 yes 5 no  95% passes

?--Motion to suspend automatic adjournment until we can vote on third item or 6:05. 

Mulgrew--Once we start debate, we usually finish. We will finish it.  

Greg Monte--Supports resolution, talked for two years about how we were on front lines. We were not alone. Would like to recognize SRPs now. 

Rashad Brown--Supports. Important to celebrate all who support our students. Asks paras to stand. Thanks nurses, counselors. 

?--Also rises in support. Loves SRPs in school. Fearless, bold courageous when teachers and subs were not there. Help struggling students. Thankless job at times. We need to stand up because of these countless acts of courage. Asks all to stand and applaud them. 

Dermot Myrie--In opposition, is show vote, can't make amendment.  Urges body to ask for raise instead of accolades.

Point of order--He is out of order.

Mulgrew--Has right to speak against.

Question called.

515 yes 42 no online 163 yes 5 no inside 94%

Resolution vote. 

520 yes 39 no online 160 yes 8 no inside 94% passes.

Mulgrew thanks us, says take time and relax. 6:05

Michael Mulgrew-Welcomes us. Speaks of HS and Middle School events. Budget--We did well due to union lobbying. Had 475 million increase, CFE fully funded, 18 years after fact. Mental health services, 100 million for recovery. Teacher center 14.9 million to 24. United Community Schools 450K. Child Care--200 to 300% poverty level and market rate moved. Will help providers. 2.5 million to establish nurses.

Tier 6--Thanks trustees. Asked for analysis of tier 4, passed in 1983. First year we got it reformed was 1998. 2012 tier 6 passed at night, 11:45. 2022 have already started reform. We already had 11K members leave system under this tier. Working to 63 will not work. We have started the conversation with AFL-CIO. Have vesting moved from ten to five years. For this year, pension contributions based on 2020. Last year we had all sorts of extra money being paid to extra titles, won many operational complaints. None of money rewarded was counted toward pension contributions. We have just started the journey to fix this. Never had so many leave in first ten years of tier. Thanks all who helped. 

Please enjoy break. We know it's been a very tough year. Was at school where teacher was shot and killed this AM. We're down 2,000 agents. Last year they wouldn't hire. Now we can't get the right number in schools. We need to get people home safely. Thank you for your leadership. We will get through this year in best way possible.

LeRoy Barr--Minutes--Passed. Ballots are out. People are receiving them. Please spread work. Should be in gold envelope. Tell people to look for envelope. We want high turnout. Due by May 9, but we don't want to wait until then. Next DA Wednesday. Special order of business to support union. Also for election complaints.

 Reports from Districts--

Rich Mantel--Saturday was Middle School Conference in person. Nice turnout, good to see people together. May 14h 5K to raise money for Ukraine.

Anthony Harmon--Black and Puerto Rican caucus, award for Janella Hinds. United Community Schools people did great job.

Janella Hinds--Thanks Anthony Harmon for chairing labor luncheon. Friday was Academic HS Awards. Was amazing to have people here again. Celebrating 2021 and 2022 winners. Thanks all who joined. 

Joe Eusatch--Schanker scholarship acceptances will go out Monday. Thanks trustees for increasing income threshold. 

Resolution to support Amazon and Starbucks unions

Arthur Goldstein--We all know union leads to a middle class for many. We also know union can be a great equalizer, which was why MLK was so devoted to it. We know it to be a force against racism, bigotry, and discrimination. Now, when we sorely need it, we have some remarkable movement toward unionization at Amazon and Starbucks. It behooves us to support our brother and sister unionists in every way we possibly can. Everything about union makes everything in our country better. I urge you to support this resolution. 

Janella Hinds--We just celebrated our own 62nd anniversary. Our movement needs these young people at Starbucks and Amazon. Please support.

Amy Arundell--This weekend Chris Smalls, Amazon Union Pres. spoke at caucus. We will miss an opportunity if we don't support these people, facing things like job loss. This brings us back to our roots.

Passes unanimously

Election Complaint-- alleges improper use of union resources, Under supervision of UFT election committee, UFT conducts elections for offices. 2022 committee has members of both caucuses. Members submitted complaints.

Recommends respectfully complaint be upheld, and that UFC caucus cease campaign activity on employer paid time, should remove member phone numbers from texting lists, and for those which they don't have permission.

Sent campaign materials to people who have not subscribed to UFC mailing lists. Says it's comprised of list from MORE caucus and activist group. UFT members can unsubscribe. Remains unclear how they got on lists, but there is not indication of violation of state laws.

Teacher says she got call in classroom during class time. Clear violation to campaign on employer paid time using employer resources, but were using DOE phone. UFC rep may not have known, but when secretary answered, call should have ended. Should not have happened during class time, and UFC should cease and desist.

UFC text campaign sent info to members who have not subscribed. Allegedly sent to member who has never provided her cell number. UFC says its list is MORE and other list. Unclear how member's cell phone got on list. Accordingly, campaign messages may violate telephone consumer protection act, UFC should remove numbers for which they don't have consent.

UFC used DOE emails to solicit information. Sent from DOE address to other teacher's address. Asks members to send info to her personal email so she can provide info. Running for exec. board. Seems to be aware of this, utilized employer resources. Attempts to reach teacher found her unavailable. Violation of NMRDA.

UFC uses UFT email group to use campaign activity. Used UFT google group to seek inexpensive copying. Improper use of union resources. Allegation should be upheld.

Mike Sill--Having heard report and recommendations, take motion on acceptance of report. 

Passes unanimously. 

We are adjourned 6:35.

Teaching is a difficult balance on the best of days. Of course, not every day is the best of days, and on those days balance is even a tougher grab. Take, for example, my writing class. It ends at 9:58 AM. 

Most days I know that, but for some reason today I did not. At 9:46 AM I decided I only had two minutes left. I therefore placed a homework assignment on the board. I wrote that the students had to  rewrite the paragraph we were working on today and hand it in tomorrow.

This seemed like a good idea at the time. Some students asked if they could photograph the board, so as not to go through the evidently excruciating task of copying my instructions. After all, there must've been two, maybe three sentences there. Once you've written that much, you've halfway done the homework, and who wants to do 50% extra work, especially if it's writing stuff?

Once everyone had copied, taken a photograph, or done whatever needed doing, it was 9:48. The bell was quite uncooperative. I quickly realized the period didn't end until 9:58, and stifled a comment that would've surely earned me my first letter in file. While I was please with having controlled that instinct, I was still unhappy with the situation. I mean, there I was with only one digit off, and my students were all packing up their stuff, ready to go. Hey, the kids thought, if this teacher wants to end the class ten minutes early, who am I to disagree? 

I immediately started behaving as though I'd intentionally written the homework at that time. Hey, why is everyone packing up? We have another ten minutes. You should be revising your paragraphs! No one paid me any attention. Homework is the thing this teacher talks about last if he bothers to give it at all, and everyone knows that. 

I tried another tactic. I walked around again and individually asked to see work, most of which now had to be unpacked from bags. I asked them where their work was and whether they'd finished their first draft. Oh, yes, everyone said. Some had really done a pretty good job. Is this your best work? Do you want me to grade it now? Most decided to at least pretend to start working again, but one bold soul said fine, go ahead.

It was an unfortunate choice for the guy. I looked at his paper, and it was largely incoherent. He'd been using a translating dictionary that had not been good to him. I finally managed to persuade him not to hand it in, but I would bet you he hands me the same paper tomorrow. He probably thinks I won't remember having read it, and why shouldn't he? After all, I've been teaching this class for months, and I don't even know what time it ends.

I'm not sure exactly what causes me to make mistakes like that. It could be getting up preposterously early in the morning. I teach four in a row in the extreme AM, which I agreed to do in exchange for weaseling out of the dean job I'd managed to get. People in my building will kill one another to get that dean gig, but I absolutely hated it. Maybe four in a row is doing my brain in, although I have to say this is the first day this year I've made that mistake.

I hope it's the last, but no promises.

That's my friend Alexandra on the left. I met her a few years back. Alas, she's not the subject of this post, but it's about time someone credited her for her work.

Six years ago, I ran for HS Executive Board and won. I ran with MORE. We decided to align with New Action, and I was pretty much over the moon about it. Of course, it was hotly debated. 

This wasn't the first thing I'd seen hotly debated in MORE for little or no reason. I ran for NYSUT EVP once, and there was much conversation about how we maybe shouldn't do that, because we might win, and if we did, it might corrupt us. I decided to risk it. I ran all over the entire state, at my own expense, and lost, as did the whole ticket I was aligned with.

UFT Executive  Board looked a lot more doable. After we agreed to run with New Action, four of us went out to a beer garden in Brooklyn and discussed the socialist faction and how we'd deal with them. And no, we didn't care that they were socialist. That was not the issue.  The issue was that they were uncooperative, that they'd been so for years, that they'd joined and broken with other groups over the years. We were focused on how we could win this election and expand our victory.

That led into another group, which wrote a newsletter. Our idea was to continue and expand upon our victory. Perhaps we could capture the middle schools as well as the high schools and move from there. We were doing this for a while, and it was distributed at the DA. I dropped it in every UFT mailbox in our school. The last issue I was involved with, though, ran into an issue. One of the geniuses at MORE determined it wasn't formatted the way it should. So that person reformatted it in a way that made no difference whatsoever, took over the newsletter, and promptly ran it straight into the ground. 

This was pretty discouraging. More discouraging, though, was when I came under attack for the offense of introducing a pretty thorough class size reduction resolution. Why didn't I run it by MORE first? Who knows? They'd agreed, as far as I understood, not to interfere with us. But that became difficult for some of them. In fact, one of the people had come to that Brooklyn beer garden with us. I was quite surprised because I'd counted that person as my friend. Oh well, fool me once...

Then of course, came The Great Purge. First they started taking votes on things that affected us on days I couldn't attend their meetings. This, I was told, was done in order to alienate us. As alienating tactics go, it was pretty effective. Why are these assholes doing this, I asked myself. It had something to do with their agenda, and to this day I haven't got a clue what it is. I only know it had nothing to do with bettering working or teaching conditions, or they would not have been so horrified by efforts to improve class size. 

I know they were involved with ISO, a socialist organization that soon thereafter disbanded due to sexual assault issues. I don't know what replaced ISO, nor do I care, but I know if we don't learn from history we're doomed to repeat it. These same people now control MORE and have established yet another connection with the same groups who've joined them multiple times in the past. I thought such a coalition would succeed six years ago. Again, fool me once...

I sat at more than one MORE meeting where I was grouped with a bunch of white people asking why there weren't more teachers of color. I wondered why, if this was such a concern, no one had bothered to invite them to these meetings. Last I heard, one of them just committed an enormous faux pas. I won't post it here, but I'm absolutely certain, were it me, that opposition wouldn't extend me the same courtesy. If they have no issue writing outright lies about me, they certainly wouldn't hold back on something like this.

I'm running again with Unity because I've been able to be part of real gains for UFT members. At my very first Executive Board meeting I brought up my school's rampant overcrowding, and Ellie Engler was able to get us a meeting, one that had long eluded my principal, with the building authorities. As a result, our school will have a brand new annex next year with a new culinary program. I became close to Evelyn de Jesus, and persuaded her we needed to have two observations instead of the four that were running both us and our supervisors into the ground. We won that. We were also able to win parental leave, for the first time ever. It beats the hell out of the nothing it replaced.

Opposition can claim it will do this and that, but it's dominated by the same fanatical ideologues who basically object to doing anything but advancing their own unfathomable agenda. And while I won't attack UFT members personally on this space, I have huge issues with some of the people they've chosen to put forward. Still, there is a way forward,  and there can be more victories and improvements.  That's why I'm standing for re-election with Unity this year. 

For more, read this.

BREAKING--From NYC Educator News Desk--

Mayor Eric Adams, at an impromptu press conference, announced that masks would no longer be required on subway trains or planes coming in or out of NYC. When questioned about the fact that federal regulations required masking on these forms of transport, Mayor Adams had this to say:

"A lot of people working in the federal government are not credible. I mean, honestly, which of them has swagger? Does anyone seriously think that Joe Biden has swagger? Of course I support the President, because I happen to have run and been elected as a Democrat. And as long as it's easier for me to win that way, I will continue to be a Democrat."

Several reporters asked what swagger had to do with viruses. Mayor Adams replied that it was well-established that viruses did not, in fact, have swagger, and would absolutely not know what to do with New Yorkers who did. He then stated it was not masks that gave the most effective protection against virus, but rather swagger.

When asked whether that meant he would drop the regulation stating that city employees needed to be vaccinated in order to continue working, the mayor categorically stated that would not happen. One reporter pointed to the fact that he'd dropped the requirement for athletes and asked whether that was a double standard. The mayor grew visibly angry.

"Are you going to sit there and act like professional athletes don't have swagger? Do you have any idea the amount of swagger it takes to make it in a crowded field like that? You probably don't even know any professional athletes, while I see them at cocktail parties and gala luncheons all the time. I'm telling you, they are bursting with swagger"

Mayor Adams went on to explain that teachers, police, firefighters, and clerks and secretaries were low skill workers who wouldn't be in corner offices any time soon. That's why, he said, that he was now offering zero percent raises to all city workers. He said if they wanted any stinking raises, they'd happily agree to productivity increases.

"If teachers really cared about my children," opined the mayor, "they'd work 200 hours a week and stop carping over every little detail. When I was a cop," he continued, "I made it a point to work at least 300 hours a week. However, as far as the teachers are concerned, we can come to a compromise. If they would only agree to teach classes of 3-400 online, perhaps only 100 hours a week, I could see perhaps a one-percent raise. Maybe two. I'm basically a magnanimous guy, despite my swagger." 

Mayor Adams continued to say that the state legislature did not, in fact, have any swagger. Otherwise, he asked, why would they have failed to include mayoral control or his desired tax cuts in their budget proposals?

When questioned about whether or not his swagger was working for him, Mayor Adams simply said, "He who swaggers last, swaggers best."

The mayor then left the podium. He did not take any questions. 

LeRoy Barr--Welcomes us.

Minutes--Passed

Barr--Negotiating committee Wednesday 4:30. DA April 13, May 25. 

Reports from Districts--Rashad Brown--Legal plan workshop 1 had 500 members.

Janella Hinds--April 5th Academic HS meeting online, Friday, April 8,Academic HS Awards, celebrating members and schools. 

Manhattan Borough Office, First Books event, very well received.

Michael Mulgrew--State, Working toward starting Tier 6 reform. April 4 final budget day. Will work through. Congratulates nursing dept. settling with Northwell. Congratulations to all. All private sector nursing contracts in place. April 14 we will have event for education leaders, policy experts in city and state. CL hub live Friday. Field testing first. Heading into that time of year, still waiting for calendar. Frustrating because we need to plan now. DOE seems to be taking time on superintendent process. Thanks everyone going to rep UFT and NYSUT RA. Nonstop for two days repping our local. Thanks everyone for going to CL training. Many great new CLs. 

Leaves for meeting with state.

Rich Mantel--April 9 in person middle school conference. Will be various classes. Hope to see you there.

Mary Vaccaro--CTLE workshops added, anyone on waitlist will be notified first, especially for Apple workshops. ELL credits assiciated. April 6, Golde Hawn foundation presenting on SEL. 

Karen Alford--Thanks everyone for attending early childhood conference. Was great to be back in building. Also had elementary Town Hall with 500 people. 

Tom Murphy--RTE meeting April 11. Will send out regular letters for members without email addresses.

Note--I missed a lot of detail below. Did my best, but there are big holes. 

Election complaints--Alleges misuse of union resources--objections were justified, will remedy some aspects, others were not justified. Will recommend those be dismissed, Under supervision of committee, UFT elects delegates to conventions. Accordingly elections are being held. 2022 election committee composed of two caucuses. Complaint submitted regarding misuse of social media and resources. Following meeting, complaint amended with details and suggestions. 

With regard to UFT official social media accounts, suggest members reminded of regulations. reccommend Unity pay reasonable market rate for headshots for appearances. Alleged UFT employees used FB accounts for political events. Many activities not electioneering. Members should answer questions and assist members online. Allegation without merit. Union employees do not forefeit their right to campaign in non-UFT forum. 

UFT social media accounts used for electioneering, FB and Twitter accounts sharing Unity. Official accounts should not be used for electioneering. Should cease immediately. 

UFT video used on Unity social media. Alleged that it place Unity Logo on video and placed it on Instagram. All candidates have equal access. LMRDA prohibits use of union funds for electioneering, but exception when all have equal access. Video posted on various sites, could be downloaded by anyone, any caucus or candidate. Could have been used to contradict. Not prohibited. Same true of photo from archives. Complaining member also had access.

Use of head shots. Says Unity Caucus used headshots from UFT website. Ruled that campaigns photographs not union property. However, to disspell any perception, Unity should pay reasonable market rate.

Mulgrew's letter in support of Deborah Penney. Alleged violation asking CLs to get signatures. Three members serve overlapping turns. This year Penney's turn. UFT admin committee and DA overwhelmingly voted in support. Only after that did Mulgrew send letter. DOL says this is permissable during officer election season. Did not suggest candidacy for treasurer. 

Union emails used for distribution of campaign materials. Says Unity Caucus flyers were delivered by candidates, and emailed. Distribution of caucus materials on UFT paid time not permitted, but was no evidence this was done. Rules will be reiterated. Some details refuted. 

This is recommendation.

Mike Sill--Only members of Exec. Board may enter debate. Christina Gavin, complainent, online. 

Gavin--UFT has been in existence since 1960. DOL had regs since 1959. Our union should uphold laws. Repeated violations by employees who interpret regs improperly. I will appeal. Unity has many members, benefits from inherent power of incumbents, has violated fed. labor law. with email social media, and more. Look forward to hearing what AFT has to say. 

Sill--Will take a motion. 

Recommendation accepted unanimously. 

Barr--Ballots go out April 8. Important we have good turnout. 

Revision--I asked for clarification of what we heard, and received the following:

1. UFT employees used personal Facebook Instagram and Twitter accounts for electioneering - not a violation of LMRDA. They do not forfeit their right to campaign.

2. UFT social media account - UFT has taken the position that such “official” UFT social media accounts, whether created by the UFT or an individual should not be used for electioneering.

3. UFT video taken from UFT Instagram and a photo from labor archives used on UFT social media - other caucuses can do the same and this type of equal access is not prohibited by LMRDA.

4. Use of headshots from UFT website in campaign materials - The Office of Labor Management Standards has diluted that one’s campaign use of photos from the locals website did not violate the law. Unlike the union logo, photos are not union property. There is no violation. However, to dispel any perception of wrongdoing, Unity should pay a reasonable market rate for use of the headshot.
 

5. Mulgrew sent a letter to chapter leaders in support of Treasurer Debra Penny to be re-elected to the TRS Board - this happens every year for one of the 3 trustees after the DA voted to endorse her. No mention was made of her running for Treasurer of the UFT. The complaint should be dismissed.

 6. Union officials entered school buildings on school time and used union meetings and emails for distribution, they combined union and caucus business
Servia Silva - stated that she entered buildings on union time and distributed union flyers. To distribute union flyers on union time would be improper. There is evidence she entered the building but no evidence she distributed flyers at that time. 

Dana Faciglia - allegations she mention unity caucus in a meeting and Ms. Faciglia refutes that claim.
Winnie Thompson - should not be using UFT email to conduct caucus business. This matter was addressed with her directly.

A statement of election practice rules will be reiterated for all staff.

    1. Dismissed 2. Use of official accounts should cease, but those accounts can like or follow posts unrelated to the election. Doing so is not a violation of LMRDA. 3. Dismissed. 4. Dismissed but Unity will write a check. 5. Dismissed. 6. Details above.

Delays as more people enter hall. 

President Michael Mulgrew--Welcomes us. Albany last 8 days of budget. Some good, but some things left out. Bail reform becoming an issue. Were feeling positive, but want education things in place. Ukraine, Jackson hearings followed closely by AFT. Thanks Karen Alford for supporting Ukranian refugees with partner group. Poland welcoming them. We support that however we can and through AFT. 

State--Official budget due next Thursday. Was on track, but things went awry. Bail reform makes it complicated. Cuomo has 22 million, running commercials, pushing bail reform. Our mayor hired on platform of cleaning up streets, and being tied to bail reform. We want to ensure CFE funding. Mayor saying schools lost 120K kids. Not just due to pandemic. Was happening during last administration. We need CFE funding. 

City--Community schools big piece of this, parents like them. Colleagues in other locales, small cities, want to emulate them. Want 100 million investment, only to be used for community school work. Teacher centers growing again because people want teacher-directed PDs. Few like when people come in and tell you how to fix schools. More and more schools want PD based on needs of staff and students. Pushing for increase. Had been 40 million, now only 14. Teachers centers help get schools printers and equiptment, promote positive learning. 

We had fights with previous admin over school discipline. Being unable to suspend no matter what, we don't support. With emotional trauma we are seeing more and more incidents. Tough issue. Superintendents were told to make suspension very difficult. We're not for zero tolerance but common sense middle of road. We want positive learning collaborative. Another mayor simply didn't report incidents. Not a political game. Doesn't work for anyone like that. We need positive learning collaborative, results good in over 50 schools that use them. Discipline needs to be in best interest of school system. 

Mayoral Control--Mayor pushed very hard to make it part of budget. Has not happened. Don't believe it will be part of budget. We have complete evidence that mayors have all made mistakes, bad policy decisions, decisions based on politics. Don't want to go back to school boards, but there have to be checks and balances on mayor. PEP panel doesn't have to be in complete control of mayor, only done this way here. 

Mayor announced PEP choices, half were charter advocates. One was stopped for not respecting others' beliefs. Parents of NYC are not 33% charter advocates. Now, they vote as mayor says or are removed. Suggested different options. Did anyone think giving all kindergarten students G and T tests was a good idea? No, but was passed in this system.

Ten years ago, every public sector employee in NYS was put under Tier 6. At that moment, we knew that this was a small but influential group of people who did it with Cuomo. We are at a point where we can start reforming this Tier. Most people start teaching at 21. Tier 6 says you work until 62. That's 42 years of teaching. We have had members who've done it, but we want it an option, not the burden put upon them. We had to fix tiers in the past, but this is not just UFT. We have to work with all public sector employees, or people will use tactics to split us. Doing work through AFL-CIO, has taken us 5-10 years to reform in past. How can this city recruit teachers when they have to work until 62, pay 6% of salary, wait ten years to be vested.

First step is to get a reform, and that's where we're headed right now. We need different entities to give fiscal notes, identify costs. First editorial in Post about how workers want to fleece city. Thank you. There was no fiscal reason to do this, especially in NYC. Comptroller in NYC said this was straight up politics. We can now lobby and push this piece. Will do more work on these issues.

COVID--hopefully will be reduced, but is slow. Masks optional preK April 4 by mayor, Will still be access to PPE and rapid tests. We have to constantly monitor and take appropriate actions. We've been told by doctors there will be increase because 25% now BA2. Now from 1.1 to 1.5. First increase, but we want 0.0. Testing continuing. 

Heads up--When we get to spring break, UFT access shut down outside of country due to cyber wars. Doctors have said because BA2 more contagious than Omicron we should know severity before spring break. I see more and more people comfortable unmasked. Strongly recommend you continue to get rapid tests.

DOE restructuring--Superintendents getting nervous. They always say they'll make them reapply, but this time they are being thoroughly vetted. Sometimes this changes behavior for better or worse. We will see both. Speaking with chancellor and team, they say they want evidence people can support and help schools. Not what they were asked to do before. Some schools seeing many observations. Please discuss with principals. We're trying to get through school year. Had to do screenings last year for no reason. Speak to principals and keep us informed.

BCOs ready to end. Borough citywide office. Was good sounding idea, but didn't work. Upset because a lot of members work there. Will work to make sure they don't lose livelihood. May go back to pre-Bloomberg, when superintendents had lot of staff. 

On positive side, trying to enshrine pre-K and 3K. 

On bad side, how can we fix special ed, when DOE believes its job is to rationalize why not to provide service. It's inhumane and we must fix it. We need to remove paperwork so we can do our jobs. We're at end of March. Planning for next school year already behind. DOE not ready to move, but we want to. If people lose complete faith in system it's existential threat. We'll help, but we have to move. 

Point of order--Chair has no right to interrupt speaker with question about minutes. Says cutting off speaker act of anti-woman (something).

Mulgrew--We know it's election season. Our job is to do work of union. Many people online.

(Chant in background, unintelligible to me.)

Mulgrew--I get emails saying we need to do work. Please keep electioneering out of agenda. This part was set by AdCom and Executive Board. That's how work happens. 

Testing--Was on phone, was in DC, explaining why this is major issue. Last time standardized tests given, less than 42% took them. Feds now saying they want tests for 95% of students and want to label schools based on those results. We think results will not be that good. We don't want anyone judging schools based on these test results. Shouldn't be happening. People who hate us always write how it's all teachers' fault. This has to stop. We're pushing, and we won't stop pushing. We won't let it go. We need a waiver. Nothing else helps. With lists for every state, this will severely damage public education. Please explain to members. My school visits this week was about this.

Other locales say NYC has it great. We've been epicenter of pandemic, but in those places they don't have teachers. One district gives students half live instruction, half virtual. When kids come in, classes start at 50 per class. Going on all over the place. Recruitment, retention early. 

Waiting for calendar from DOE. Very early. Again, too many holidays. We can get 180. We can't extend school year before Labor Day or after June 28. Very happy with holidays. When calendar comes out, more than 500 of you will do SBO to combine parent teacher night and day into one. We've shown DOE 500 or 800 did this in elementary. Hoping to make this standard and SBO for other option. Will utilize chapter leader hub. 

Medicare Advantage Plus--Judge said city could go ahead, asked mayor not to. Many things unsettled. Our job is continued fight to make sure we have premium free health care for all members. Nobody asks what hospital charges are, but we're presented with all charges. We have hospitals charging 300 percent above Medicaid. Doctors were 62% of medical costs, a decade later hospitals 63%. 

We're now in a study looking at longterm effects of COVID. That data might give us leeway and flexibility with retirement and pensions. 

Over 400 people on negotiating committee, meeting next Wednesday. No one negotiating with city, our contract still in effect, 80% of unions already out. Will do training at UFT. Have expanded space. Want to make sure all members have access to a survey. Will use company to make sure it's objective. Key here is every chapter talk in general and for own chapters.

CL hub live next Friday. Had started before pandemic. We have many new CLs trying to get info and access. Have focus group on what you need to make job easier.Will modify as needed.

Speaker--Had focus group working on project to create dream site. Existing login will work. Will give grievance status, COPE, member report. Info on current campaigns. Will migrate from current CL section to here. Can contact reps and guests. Resources include CL handbook and training resources. Sample SBOs available. Forms available. Calendar will show upcoming events. Search engine same as that used by call center. Will help give answers to members. CL update available. 

Maggie--Was CL on panel. Shared complaints about site. Wanted all on same page. December we met and things were changed. Tired of huge CL binders that take up a lot of space. Now digitized. 

Mulgrew--As we move forward, we will build on it. You can talk members through APPR, special ed. complaints. We believe this tool will help. Thanks all who worked on it. 

Inquiry--When we're here to deliberate, according to Robert's Rules we need to alternate. What is guiding principal?

Point of Information--Are there rules higher than Robert's here?

Mulgrew--Yes there are. We are allowed to set rules through parliamentary process that supercede Roberts. That's why we end at 6.  Goal for me is to do business at union. If people want to do special considerations, two-thirds vote and up to body, not point of order. If people speak only for something, we ask if people want to speak against. About ability to have respectful conversation.

LeRoy Barr--Ballots going out April 8th, get out the vote, want great turnout. CL training Saturday and Sunday. Special ed. town hall Mar. 29. HS Awards April 8. MS conference April 9. March 13 great turnout for CTE awards. 19 early childhood. We are coming back. March 16 was anniversary of UFT. Happy 62nd anniversary. Union still strong, largest local in country.

Questions--

Q-- Helpdesk needs help. You call, you have to wait. We have resources here, but sometimes you have to reset password. Frustrating when they don't know what's going on.

A--DOE helpdesk--People call us when they give up on them. Then we have to call them. Parents have to call too. Doesn't build confidence in school system. It's a shame system is so bad. They spent a lot of money on it. FAQ for us is optical, because we increased benefit. We use our call center to drive info members want. DOE desk is embarrassment.

Q--Former CL asked when school quality surveys would carry weight. We have issues at PS 211, many of us left. We were in DN next Sunday. Principal still there. We need support. Thanks DR. 

A--We want retention at school level to count. Churn big issue, and usually fault of leadership. Should be number one indicator. When you have 30-40% leaving every year, you have big problem. Surveys are meaningless. Part of CBA with principals' union. Now that we are hopefully through pandemic, we have to focus on bad leadership that makes school improvement impossible. People hear a lot about these places where parents are unhappy. We need to deliver people ready to be school leaders.

Q--Heard Banks speak. Said kids don't need four years of HS. Why not incentivize early graduation? Why make them come 5 days a week, why not virtual? Opinion?

A--2.5 years problematic. Not his decision, but NYSED's. Five day a week schooling seems to work okay. If someone has creative idea we will listen, but need to understand what they will do. Some schools have four-day instruction and innovate day five. Some schools do six weeks on two off. More virtual? We learned a lot about it. A small percentage of kids did well. What are we going to do with two years of students who didn't graduate and now are working? Maybe we can create virtual school for D79 and try something, Must maintain class sizes. Must be tech infrastructure. We are not tech experts. 

Q--Last year did SBO votes virtually. Can we continue?

A--Yes. CLs like Election Buddy. 

Q--I was very sick, had negative CAR. Didn't get vacation days. Update?

A--Had to go back into arbitration. Few thousand people in that position. Arbitrator has jurisdiction. DOE "interpreted" that it meant if you had negative CAR days were not entitled to additional days. DOE asked how it would look if they had vacation days but owed days? We said deal with it at retirement. They didn't want to do any work. Ruling said vacation day not equivalent to CAR day. We say this violates ruling. Waiting for decision. 

Q--Paraprofessionals--This week we had PCMs in classroom. Will that continue? Will we have path to teacher?

A--Big question. Have negotiated where paras who qualify as subs can take charge of classrooms. We will have to go into negotiations. Many paras qualify to be teachers. Some don't want to do teacher paperwork. 

Q---OTs want to know what's going on with money we're not being paid, or being paid incorrectly.

A--We need to know, but will file union-initiated. DOE moving to get people paid, but it shouldn't happen. We proved they didn't pay. Shouldn't have to do this. Was no one in Tweed. We got movement. They are rushing it, and we have to keep process moving. Sometimes when we file grievance they stop paying. Should have never been in this position. Please send in all info so we can get payment done. 

Motions--

Thomas Conavoy--This month--Resolved-- UFT will advocate DOE be respectful of Diwali, promote multiculturalism. 

 Passes.

Meredith Soladis--Next month--Resolution on UFT expectations for new admin and chancellor. Resolved loss will not be remedied by spending more on bureaucracy, want fed money in public schools, student expectations reflect what students will know, smaller class sizes, Banks and Adams listen to teachers. 

Peter Lamphere--Moves to extend motion period ten minutes.  

Mulgrew--Out of order. We have elected delegates who have a meeting at 6 PM here. Will rep. UFT at NYSUT. Will make sure our agenda is protected. They have to do same work at national convention. We are debating motion on floor.

Point of Order--Nick Bacon--Invite says 6:30. 

Mulgrew--Was informed to clear room at 6.

Lamphere--Appeals chair's ruling.

Point of order--Can we debate motion on floor?

Mulgrew--We have to debate his point, that he feels he can make a motion while someone else's is on floor. ?

Point of order--Can we just get on with our business?

 Lamphere--Debatable motion.

Mulgrew--We have automatic adjournment in minute and a half. People tried to use Robert's Rules to hijack the work of the union. 

Chant of "UFT."

Mulgrew--You heard my report. You heard all the issues we are trying to deal with, We all have many real challenges with union as whole. Please try to be respectful of each other. Vote on challenge to chair.We have automatic adjournment. Room has to be cleared and set up for next meeting. Thank you all for coming today. Sorry we didn't get to do the work we came to do.