New Action Priorities – Spring 2011
GOING FORWARD IN 2011 … OUR PRIORITIES SCHOOL CLOSINGS • We must organize a citywide fight to prevent these 50+ closings. This should be done at the same time each school mobilizes with the school community to beat back their own closings. • We must guarantee that every school is informed and
Say no to school closures! Demonstrate, Wednesday, at Tweed
When: 5PM. Date: Wednesday, December 15 Where: Tweed (52 Chambers) – march will start at 52 Broadway (UFT hq) Why: once again Bloomberg is trying to shut schools that serve poor kids. We stopped him last year. It will be tougher this year. Who: the UFT will call this protest, others may join
Faust in Gotham
Faust in Gotham You never taught inside a school, While dabbling in the classics, And yet, you do o’er teachers rule, Who teach the children basics. From Marcy Mount to Brooklyn and From Buffalo to sea, You rule o’er K-12, and more, In all your majesty. And yet, when Bloomberg roars, you
Diversity and Teach for America
by Jonathan Halabi (documents from Seattle battle with TfA are at the bottom, below the fold) Last Monday I tried to amend an Exec Board resolution about increasing diversity in the workplace. I was concerned about how the resolution handled Teach for America. I’ll explain: For the last 10 y
Stop the Waiver – Sign the Petitions
Have you signed both petitions to deny a waiver to Cathie Black, the nominee for NYC Chancellor? She does not have the necessary credentials (actually ANY education credentials) One petition urges NYS Education Commissioner, David M. Steiner to deny the waiver (click here). The other, initiated by N
Klein goes; his policies need to go next
The news that Chancellor Joel Klein resigned is welcomed by New Action as long overdue. In fact, it should be cause for celebration throughout the school system and in the communities of NYC. His performance as chancellor has had a terrible impact on teachers, students, parents, as well as administr
Per diems under the gun
Carol Ruiz is a substitute teacher in Brooklyn. There is no other group of members of the union I can think of that are more under-represented than substitute teachers. We are called upon to serve the children of the city of New York on a moments notice, and to work in some of the worst […]
Rally against budget cuts at City Hall; Rally at Bloomberg’s house against administrative abuse at Bronx Science
The news that Mayor Bloomberg has rescinded his layoffs is very welcome. His arbitrary pronouncement that teachers will forego a raise for the next two years is nothing more than maneuvering and playing to the media. UFT President Michael Mulgrew made it very clear, “There is no deal.” He welcom
New Tenure Plan
You Could Be Removed (after 2 years) before the Letters in Your File (after 3 years) New Action opposes the teacher evaluation system just proposed by the Board of Regents, with support from the NYSUT and UFT leaderships. The proposal would base a significant part of each teacher’s rating, up to 4
UFT election coverage from cityhallnews.com
Fresh Off 91-Percent Win, Mulgrew Enters Ring For Next Administration Tangle (click here for original article) By Chris Bragg Less than a week after winning election as United Federation of Teachers president with a Castroesque 91 percent of the vote, Michael Mulgrew reached a landmark deal with the