UFT's Tom Brown kept declaring how happy UFT retirees are. I maintain it is Retiree Advocate retirees who are the happiest because we know we are figthing the machine that wants to change our healthcare and enjoying the battle. To me, the Unity crowd does not look all that happy. Maybe a bit depressed over the possibility RA can win the chapter election and their gigs at the UFT. Check out the updated Retiree Advocate web site: https://www.retireeadvocate.org/ Saturday, April 20   Being ordered around by a 70 something and an 18 year old.   I'm taking a few minutes off from my wif ..read more

 Another fun meeting today. I'll report on the fun day tonight but if you are around join us after the meeting at 3 at the bar White Horse Tavern for eats and drinks.  Here's our handout which will be included when the ballot goes out       Question period at yesterday’s @UFT exec bd meeting. Exec board member, Ronnie Almonte asks: Welfare fund – our investment was 200 million a few years ago, now 600 million, but benefits haven’t increased. I’ve had the same experience as the open mic speaker. Joe Usatch: I will investigate. Investigate? Translation of paid burea ..read more

Always watch what the UFT does, not what it says -- Fiddling with the PEP Will NOT do it  --- The wisdom of Norm Albany to send $35.9B to NY schools as negotiations over mayoral control continue, Hochul says -- Chalkbeat Tuesday, April 16, 2024 Time to End it and Adams' incompetence may be a magic bullet: Mayor attacks on NYSED Mayoral control report This recent Ed Notes headline was too optimistic. The absolute incompetence of the Adams/Banks school administration apparently will not be enough to kill mayoral control. And the UFT, a key player, will whine about how bad they are but ..read more

Saturday, April 13, 2024 The UFT holds spring chapter elections every 3 years and 2024 may turn out to be one of the more consequential elections in its over 6 decade history.  I've always maintained that chapter elections every 3 years are more important than the officer/exec bd elections which also take place every three years, a year later than the chapter elections (spring 2025). Chapter elections can be precursors of possible weaknesses in the Unity machine. I always have hope that we will see some changes, hope that is often unfulfilled. But there are always glimmers.  Over the ..read more

“Research indicates that there is no conclusive relationship between school governance structures and student achievement,” the report reads. It added that there was no substantial evidence that mayoral control reduces educational inequities. Tuesday, April 10 Even before Bloomberg did his hostile takeover of the NYC school system in 2002, I was taking positions opposing it and the UFT support and lack of opposition to the coming disaster. I knew about mayoral control from George Schmidt in Chicago and kept warning Randi and the UFT repeatedly in Ed Notes. When we founded ICE in late 2003, o ..read more

Friday, April 5, 2024   Teacher Pension Election - Why You Should Care by Norm Scott There is an upcoming election for one of the three teacher trustees of our pension system (TRS) where working TRS members will have the chance to choose between the two candidates who are running (retirees can't vote). The election will be held in the schools on May 8, 2024. Why should you care?  Because the health and longevity of your pension relies on three teacher trustees along with two mayoral appointees, the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) president, and the NYC Comptroller overseeing a ..read more

Repost from ICE blog: ICE met on a zoom and discussed current major trends in the UFT: Three current elections pose a threat to Unity Caucus absolute control of the UFT (except for the 7 hs EB seats.)   TRS election Ben Morgenroth, who is running against the Unity candidate for one of the 3 TRS pension positions, discussed the election process (complicated), his petition campaign (going very well) and a campaign in the schools, where elections take place on May 8. The attendees endorsed Ben's campaign. There was some surprise at the response from so many schools on the petition returns ..read more

I'm still recovering from yesterday's Retired teacher chapter meeting and will report on it when I fully recover. Most of the meeting was about how after 50 years, Unity is paying attention to paras with a big election coming up. The Unity machine put on a full court press on how much they care about para retirees and set up a special support unit with a hot line, patting themselves on the back after ignoring para retirees for 50 years. I wonder if that hotline goes through the outsourced Salesforce crap that UFT members calling the UFT have to face? Former UFT Spec Ed VP Carmen Alvarez led th ..read more

I posted about the para chapter election earlier where an alt slate to Unity called UFT Paras for A Fair Contract is being formed. Unity Changes Rules for Para Election without the consent of the para chapter, EXBD AND DA Here is a reso for the March 18 UFT Exec Bd and the March 20 DA - which Unity will try to make sure does not see the light of day. I will update it with outcomes of the Ex Bd later. It’s time we fight for our paras in a meaningful and sustained effort. Both co-writers along with several others will be forming a slate for the upcoming para chapter election called ‘UFT ..read more

I've always believed that the chapter elections every three years are more important than the regular UFT elections (next one is spring 2025). These chapter elections in the schools and in the functionals are about to heat up. A group of paras are getting together to run in the election under the banner of UFT Paras for A Fair Contract. I reported on Thursday (Mar. 14) about picking up petitions for the retiree chapter election: Retired Teacher Chapter Election - Opening Day for Petitions - And Retiree Advocate will be signing for the 300 candidates on the slate The para election petitions we ..read more