Archive Page 122

Layoffs? Fight back!

Published May 7, 2011 New York CIty Department of Education , UFT Closed
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by Jonathan Halabi

Mayor Bloomberg has announced his preliminary budget, with a reduction from 75,000 to 69,000 teachers, with over 4000 of that reduction to come from layoffs.

Some things we can do:

  • Demonstrate Thursday May 12. There will be actions downtown. Ask your Chapter Leader, who should be in regular contact with the District Rep, or check daily for updates on http://uft.org for details.
  • Mobile phone bank. Ask your Chapter Leader about which day the staff in your school can do lunch time mobile phone banks to your council person (even those who are on our side need reminders to stay there).
  • Ask your Chapter Leader to arrange a date to picket in front of your school. Doing something together, all of you, builds solidarity. It feels nice. And gets us ready for what comes next. If there is a common date in the district, all the better.
  • Ask your Chapter Leader if there is going to be a Council District meeting with the council person (when the meeting happens, you’ll want to make sure your school participates – even better if you are there Day 1 and can work on getting the site to be close by)
  • Watch out for fax campaigns!  Once they are announced it is easy to send the faxes. Leave the right page open on the computer, and everyone can send one – takes just a minute. And the politicians see them.
  • Pass good information. When you learn something important, share the information and where you learned it. Conversely, don’t pass rumors. People are nervous (with reason) and rumors are our enemy.
  • Finally, stay ready. This fight will not end June 1 or Brooklyn-Queens Day or the beginning of Regents. We are in for a battle, and Bloomberg is too. We don’t relax until we’ve spared the classrooms and saved our colleagues’ jobs.

A Real Peoples’ Victory/Good Riddance Cathie Black

Published April 26, 2011 New York CIty Department of Education Closed
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by Michael Shulman

The resignation of Cathy Black was nothing short of a peoples’ victory. In a nutshell, Black was unqualified for the job as Chancellor. This was apparent to everyone, with the exception of Mike Bloomberg. His choice of Black showed his arrogance and utter contempt for students, parents, community organizations and, of course, teachers.

Black compared her experience at the DOE with learning Russian in one week and then having to give a lecture in Russian. A question for you Cathy  -Why did you take this position in the first place?

Her comments about birth control and mocking demonstrators at a public hearing was not only evidence of being unqualified and unprepared- it was an act of racism and showed her contempt for the racially diverse population she was supposed to serve.

The PEP rally at Brooklyn Tech on February 3 was a moving event. It was a defining meeting for Black and Bloomberg. The puppet panel appointed to do the mayor’s bidding was given a lesson in how the students, parents, elected officials and rank and file teachers were prepared to stop school closings. The walkout of well over a thousand participants showed the mayor, PEP, and Cathy Black that the school community was not going to take school closings sitting down.

Will Dennis Walcott be any better? The answer is an absolute No! While he is much smarter than Cathy Black, his policies will be 100% the same as hers. They have to be—he is the mouthpiece of Mayor Bloomberg.  One of his first acts as Chancellor designee was to go to Albany to argue against seniority. Sound familiar? We have the same charge as pre Walcott –to fight layoffs and fight against the proposed draconian budget cuts.  Mike “I Need Another Term Because of My Business Expertise During  This Crisis” Bloomberg has to go. We should not be in this position in the first place. New Action opposed mayoral control, opposed our union sitting out the term limit fight, and was the first (perhaps only caucus) to support Bill Thompson for Mayor.

The Chief Administrator is ‘MOST Abusive Administrator’

Published April 22, 2011 Abusive Administrators , New York CIty Department of Education 2 Comments
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by Anna-Maria Thomas

When we speak of ‘Abusive Administrators’ only one name comes to mind: Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg represents EVERYTHING which is wrong with our NYC Public School System. May I take this moment to add the entire public school system across this country is in the hands of those who hope to destroy the future of our children to attain public education.

The move by Bloomberg to CORPORATIZE our education system must be stopped. Since Bloomberg’s tenure of mayoral control of our education system, the problems we as educators faced have worsen.

Again, I remind you THIS A NATIONAL PROBLEM as well.

We (as educators and as concerned community members) must demand a ‘RECALL’ on Bloomberg.

Bloomberg’s continued efforts to destroy our education system by

  1. Installing unqualified Chancellors who have no desire to improve the success of our students,
  2. The effort to remove the BEST educators by any means ‘rubber rooms,’
  3. The lack of willing to negotiate with our union for fair contract,
  4. The misrepresentation to the media and thus the public regarding the true picture of our failing education system for the past eight years,
  5. The inability of the new crop of principals to fairly evaluate faculty,
  6. And giving full control to these inept principals of the school’s budget to hire/fire teachers

…are prime examples of just some of reasons Bloomberg must be ‘recalled.’

Bloomberg must go! This is what WE must repeat until WE get rid of Bloomberg.

Respectfully submitted,
Anna-Maria Thomas, Ed.D
Educator/Guidance Counselor
New Action Caucus
NYC-DOE

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