*Report-back from the UFT Delegate Assembly, *
*December 16, 2015 * *
· The main issue was the new ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act),
which President Obama signed last week. And the New York State task force
report which came out the same day. It marks Cuomo’s total 180° on teacher
evals and Common Core. This could mark the turning point in the national
war against teachers and public education. *But*, *crucially,* the feds
and the state have *NOT* stopped the high-stakes standardized testing mania
that passes for so-called education in this country. The struggle
continues.
· Mulgrew was there in Washington when Obama signed the ESSA act on
December 10, along with Randi Weingarten. At the Delegate Assembly, we got
his “takeaway” on this, which no surprise, was total support.
· There was a resolution on “Delinking Testing from Evaluation”
handed out by New Action caucus (now in an election bloc with the MORE),
but it wasn’t put on the floor.
· We handed out a flyer: “Common Core Down the Tubes? Don’t Count
on It” from Class Struggle Education Workers. It is attached here.
*President’s Report*
President Mulgrew first reported on other issues:
· On January 11, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the
Freidrichs v California Teachers Association case. As I’ve reported, this
is aimed at busting and bankrupting teachers unions across the country. It
is part of the rightwing anti-union “right to work” campaign.
· Renewal Schools and School Closings: The UFT now has a “School
Visit” App which documents where the UFT visited a school They’ve visited
the 96 renewal schools over 600 times. Carmen Fariña does not have a
*policy* of closing schools; the ones being closed are because they are too
small to be viable.
· ICT programs – they are not being implemented and used
correctly. These classes are part of some IEP requirements.
· Breakfast in the classroom. This is a pilot program which was
started because 70 percent of breakfast meals were being thrown away. So
they are giving the kids breakfast in the classroom. But they have been
serving pancakes that are still frozen or breakfasts which are beyond the
expiration date. They have to stop doing this.
· The kids need breakfast, and lunch and it has to be done right.
The *New York Teacher *had a front page story that 8 percent of students in
NYC are in some kind of transitional housing. That is an enormous number
(I calculate that if there are 1,000,000 students, that means 80,000 kids
are without stable housing, and are living in shelters or group homes or on
the streets!)
· Los Angeles teachers: UFT will have a motion supporting these
teachers. Eli Broad, the wealthy entrepreneur and ed deformer is trying to
privatize the schools in L.A. It is rumored he just bought the *Los
Angeles Times* and wants to use it for his privatization propaganda.
· Chicago teachers: They just took a strike authorization vote,
and we have a motion supporting them.
· Success Academies: Eva Moskowitz is now calling for a shorter
school day, saying it’s too hard on staff and kids. Hello?
*The New ESSA*
· The turnaround in Washington, Mulgrew said, was apparent when you
hear Obama talking against the national test obsession and how it has to
stop, and how teachers have to be given respect. [Hey, wasn’t there a guy
named Arne Duncan and his other White House pal, Rahm Emanuel, who with
Obama’s approval, went a long way towards destroying public education in
this country?]
· Mulgrew’s line was that we in the UFT couldn’t do anything until
the federal government moved; now there is a changed political climate so a
lot is happening federally and state-wide. Obama’s Race to the Top
threatened to block funds for any schools that didn’t go along with Common
Core and the teacher evals. Mulgrew justified the fact that we went along
with this because he didn’t want the kids of NYC to lose Title 1 funding
for needy children. (Would that have happened to the largest school
district in the country? Seems unlikely.)
According to Mulgrew the new law is good because of three things: it keeps
the Title One funding, it says the feds cannot mandate teacher evals being
tied to student test scores; it changes requirements so there are “points”
of accountability for art and music and other programs that were sliced off
under NCLB.
[My note – Common Core was brought down by a right-left bloc between the
right wing and the teachers’ unions. Nationally the strongest force was
the right-wingers who wanted “states’ rights” to teach all their
reactionary stuff like wack-a-doodle “intelligent design” creationist
theory and climate denial. In New York State, it was different. The op
out movement representing mainly the influential suburban schools on Long
Island and Westchester were a huge force in the utterly justified campaign
which forced the Cuomo turn-around. Not so much in NYC where only 2
percent of parents participated.
*New York State Regents *
The regents voted a four-year freeze on factoring student test scores into
teacher evaluations. They also voted a four-year freeze on using results of
the students’ Common Core tests. It might be extended to five years,
Mulgrew said. This will give teachers a chance to participate in drafting
developmentally appropriate standards including for IEPs and ELLs.
He said we couldn’t do much about it now, because nothing is going to
happen in Albany until after the presidential elections. Why? Nobody in
Albany wants to talk to each other. The Albany legislature is now being
called “the prison pipeline.”
Mulgrew finished his report reminding us how a year ago at the Delegate
Assembly (December 2014) he was telling us to get prepared, because it was
“war” against Cuomo. What a turnaround.
*Holes in the Presentation*
There were big holes in this presentation, which were picked up later in
the Q&A, and other discussion.
· Big Hole One: There is a moratorium on Common Core, but what
about the local measures and the local tests. They are still in place.
· Big Hole Two: There is a New York State law that says teacher
evals are linked to student performance on standardized tests. So how are
they going to get around this one? This was pointed out by Delegate James
Eterno. Eterno said he was disturbed that UFT will try to do very little
in Albany in the next period. This came up in the discussion on the
redrafted motion on Buffalo receivership.
· Big Hole Three: the April 2016 tests. These tests are Common
Core, and are still on the docket to be given, even though they allegedly
won’t count for anything. They are lame-duck tests. Class Struggle
Education Workers is advocating that the union take the lead, along with
parents and students, to carry out a massive boycott of the April tests, to
drive the coffin nails into Common Core, and to stop the standardized
testing abuse, who’s only purpose is to drive up the profits of the tests.
That’s it for now.
*As one of your UFT delegates I report-back on the monthly meetings. These
reports are "my take" on the meeting. For official minutes, let me know and
I'll send them along to you.
Attachment:
Is Common Core down the tubes.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
