Memo to Working Teachers: Ignore Your Union Leaders

As the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) sideshow convention sputters to a finish in Los Angeles, one thing should be clear to working teachers around the country: our leaders are escorting us into the mouth of privatization while admiring its teeth. Look no further for examples of this than the two most controversial resolutions passed overwhelmingly by delegates on Sunday which address the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Though the CCSS have grown more toxic than Chernobyl on a windy day, the adopted AFT resolution describes the "potential and promise" of standards that are threatened by, among other things, a "political agenda to privatize education." The union acknowledges the existence of an insidious agenda to privatize public education, an agenda which paradoxically must be stopped before we can fix the CCSS. That's like saying we need to breakup monopolies before we can turn Walmart back into a mom and pop store. They are one and the same. Whether teachers love them or hate them, the Common Core brand has so polluted the air of meaningful progress in education that an exorcism may be necessary before AFT members can start distributing those "resource kits" meant to strengthen the standards and their twisted tests.

Yes, standards must be embraced, improved and utilized, but only at the most local of levels with experienced administrators and teachers monitoring their fruition throughout daily activities with students. And no, we don't need another brand name that polls better than the Common Core; standards should always begin with a lower case "s" and be incorporated into the curriculum based on how the professionals see fit. The AFT and others must stop propping up corporate brands like the Common Core; even Arne Duncan doesn't refer to them by their proper name anymore.

Duncan has said a lot in recent weeks, however, dismissing the National Education Association's (NEA) resolution that he resign as "local union politics" which he and most teachers stay out of.  Sadly, he may be right, as how many working teachers realize that their union's "resolutions" carry about as much weight these days as this blog post? Moreover, how many working teachers even know what happens at a union convention?  

What didn't happen over the weekend was the AFT echoing the NEA’s insistence that Duncan free up more time in his hoops schedule.  Delegates bizarrely called on President Obama to implement a "Secretary Improvement Plan" (SIP), stating that Duncan should resign if he does not improve.  After all, his "due process rights” will have been “upheld." Ignoring the obvious false equivalence and the imaginary timetable for Obama’s imaginary plan, what has Duncan, as Secretary of Education, done to earn tenure in the eyes of the AFT? According to the resolution, for the past five years (two years longer than the new teacher probationary period in New York, by the way) Duncan has:

...aligned with those who have undermined public education, with those who have attacked educators who dedicate their lives to working with children, and with those who have worked to divide parents and teachers. He has failed to bring parents, students, teachers and community members together to improve the quality of public education for all children, and he has promoted misguided and ineffective policies on deprofessionalization, privatization, and test obsession:

What reads like a warrant for Duncan's arrest is merely another lame attempt to keep the AFT's seat at the kiddies table in the White House, at once seeking to placate and punish Obama. The only way Duncan's first five years could have been more disastrous is if he had also taught a class or two along the way. Unions should call for nothing less than the immediate resignation of this "promoter of privatization" and organize daily rallies outside his office until he leaves with his bag of basketballs bouncing on his back. If the AFT wants the president and politicians of all parties to take them seriously, they must unequivocally hold political leaders accountable by standing in solidarity with the NEA instead of passing toothless resolutions that at most will make the president's press secretary chuckle at the reporters who remember to even ask about education.

Messages to leaders can and should assume many mediums, but as the AFT emphasizes in writing, there is an overt and covert attempt to undermine teachers unions in the United States today, and big money has a comfortable seat at the table. Duncan, Obama, Cuomo, Walker, and Christie are just some of the leaders who've pushed in its chair. Unions must shout louder than big money if they expect to be heard. Tongue-in-cheek jabs at Duncan's due process only muddy the issues even more. The AFT holds its convention every two years anyway, so if and when Duncan's SIP is up for review, he'll already be weighing job offers from charter schools with the scales tipping further in favor of privatization.

As Duncan observed, unions have their own politics. Just like Obama, union presidents have voters to answer to. However, part of the problem is that not enough members are engaged in political action both outside and within their unions, with many teachers ignoring politics at all costs under the assumption that someone else will fight for them. These teachers may continue ignoring politics, however, as long as they proceed as follows:

-Ignore NYSUT President Karen Magee's fear of the New York press; you are the best and loudest messengers for students. (And feel free to scream your hatred of the Common Core, since a looming loss of due process rights could soon make this impossible anyway.)

-Ignore UFT President Michael Mulgrew when he threatens to beat people up over the CCSS and mocks members who question the involvement of Eli Broad and Bill Gates.  Our devils cannot get the better of us. Mulgrew's Revive slate is hoping we'll also ignore their platform leaflet from the NYSUT election just over three months ago:



-Ignore AFT President Randi Weingarten when she stands with the likes of Duncan and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy; you don't need a seat at their table to be heard.

-And to teachers in New York, ignore all of the above leaders as they push a Cuomo endorsement in this year’s gubernatorial election; you should vote for Zephyr Teachout or Howie Hawkins anyway.

Ignore your union leaders and follow what you believe is the best course for the profession. After all, your leaders are doing a splendid job ignoring you.

  

As Labor Lays Dying

For the first time in anyone’s memory, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently met with actual public school teachers. Sandwiched between three vociferous rallies against the Lobbyist for the Students and his slimy associates, Cuomo played the “Who, me?” card at the meeting, feigning ignorance about the slow-bleed of his tax cap and charter schools. While the governor may indeed be clueless about the pedagogical implications of his asinine reforms, he’s well-aware of whom his policies benefit—the richest Americans presently pilfering public education and splintering his campaign war chest. With Wisconsin Governor and collective-bargaining slayer Scott Walker jetting into New York City next month to fund raise for Republican candidate Rob Astorino, teachers across New York lack any reason to vote for either major party in this year’s gubernatorial farce election. The Working Families Party could soon add itself to this list should the party of so-called progressives vote to endorse Cuomo at their convention this weekend.  

Similar to Walker and other plutocratic politicians, Cuomo views labor as a nuisance, wishing for nothing more than a Supreme Court ruling against public sector unions in the case of Harris v. Quinn. Unlike Walker, however, Cuomo needs unions (for now) to help inflate his ballooning political ambitions should they hover toward the White House. As a Democrat, Cuomo seeks the support of labor in order to tout his liberal credentials on the national stage. Since New York’s largest teachers union (NYSUT) dictates the AFL-CIO's endorsement for governor, expect to see more sit-downs between Cuomo and teachers in the coming months. The union should work to make these meetings public, inviting any other "thought leaders" to attend.    

Christmas could come early for Cuomo, however, as the Supreme Court will soon rule on Harris v. Quinn. With the swing vote in the hands of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who recently seemed to argue in favor of collective bargaining, the Court is poised to castrate the labor movement with the stroke of a pen. Like a zombie infestation, free-loading union members would stagger from the shadows, desperate to save a few dollars on dues with charter school CEOs salivating on the sidelines.  Public sector unions and the horses they rode in on would soon wither and swirl beneath the shadow of Cuomo’s presidential balloon. With labor no longer a political factor, politicians of all parties would now compete for the highest corporate bidder. Workers would lose what voice they had amid a system representing the few instead of the many.

Quick to issue ultimatums to teachers about how they should be evaluated, Cuomo and others have failed to issue similar ultimatums about one of the most important issues of our time—campaign finance reform.  After all, why should they? Those in power realize the game is rigged for the richest, and only flirt with reform in hopes of winning the devotion of political parties and unions across the spectrum. In the end, Cuomo knows he only needs the support of the rich to survive, and will throw up as many roadblocks as it takes before a bill to truly get money out of politics arrives on his desk. 

Sadly, many of the working families who proudly support teachers have succumbed to Cuomo’s fiscal succubus, buying into his bloviations while inadvertently deepening the chasm of inequality across the state. Rather than cowering before Cuomo, these families must rally for public education.  Cuomo views education as merely a means to an end, however, and should unions come to an end, he’ll find other means. 
 
With crucial issues at stake in the election, NYSUT leadership continues to pace the sidelines, serving tepid cups of tea to membership about Cuomo.  Now is the time for NYSUT to lead the charge against Cuomo, Astorino, and all other voices on the take. New York’s teachers are poorly served by labor leaders reluctant to even shout Cuomo’s name at a rally, or print his name in a newspaper.

The power of unions resides in the voices of the many, drowning out those of the few. It is within labor's power to raise a candidate to political office willing to fight for workers. Unfortunately, NYSUT and other unions today see it as the other way around, pleading for a seat at the kiddies table instead. Those truly fighting for kids should be the adults in the room, however, and it is up to them to advocate for public education before our democracy no longer permits it.    

100 Days into NYSUT's Future

As its first-ever contested election fades into NYSUT's past, uncertainty and optimism churn within New York's largest teachers union. Many members worry if the new leadership—led by President Karen Magee—will do anything to stifle the onslaught of Governor Cuomo's tax cap or his love affair with charter schools. While Magee has talked of the tax cap, her first walk may be towards renegotiating the state's teacher evaluation plan (APPR), aiming for a one-size-fits-all system that stretches from Montauk to Massena. Considering the unwieldy plans some of Magee's biggest supporters negotiated within their own districts, a revised APPR could pollute hundreds of other districts throughout the state.

Laced with Common Core tests and modules, APPR is an insidious way to evaluate teachers. However, NYSUT has a more urgent issue to combat than an evaluation system which last year rated 92% of its members as either "effective" or "highly effective." 

Economic inequality remains the greatest threat to public schools and our democracy.

Because of unjust budget cuts, 35,000 teachers in New York have lost their jobs since 2009. It will require the efforts of many to close this wound.  Just as democracy demands many faces, so does justice. Unions must be a face of justice, and if NYSUT and other organizations can't stare the plutocrats down, who will? With 600,000 members, NYSUT possesses the power to confront inequality across the state and nation. Magee and other leaders must address this issue at every turn, and through every medium. After all, it is a leader's job to inspire and educate the masses, and it will require many hands to exterminate the vermin of inequality.

Will Magee meet the task? Like all presidents, her first 100 days may answer this question. This August, NYSUT will decide who to endorse in the state's gubernatorial election. The oligarchical Cuomo needs NYSUT if he wants the support of the AFL-CIO. Cuomo has talked and acted as anything but an education proponent, threatening the "death penalty" for public schools while shaking hands at rallies for privately-run charters.  NYSUT need look no further than Cuomo for a connection to the privatization of public education. The organization only feeds this beast by supporting candidates so beholden to wealthy donors. Though logic calls on people far and wide to rally outside of Cuomo's doors daily, Magee recently said, "the field is open as to who [NYSUT] endorses." Such words do little to spur members against the pernicious policies of Cuomo, as raccoons require only a crack to gain entry.

Thanks to the Supreme Court's decision in McCutcheon vs. FEC, billionaires have permission to burn even more of their money on our withering democracy, which cries out for campaign finance reform.  Oxymoronic justices continue to equate spending with speech. As a result, those with the most cash continue to have the most say in our elections. A few people possess too much power, and power grows corrupt in the hands of the few. Educators throughout the nation can thank this imbalanced system for laws ending collective bargaining and tenure, tilting the pendulum further in favor of plutocrats. 

Workers could be dealt an even greater blow this June, when the Supreme Court may rule on Harris v. Quinn. Should the court rule in favor of Harris, public unions across the nation would begin bleeding members, lured away by the sirens of a few extra dollars saved in their paychecks. In addition to a diminishing voice at the ballot box, workers would also be silenced at their workplaces, and likely blame their listless unions for the collapse of their livelihoods under the dictatorial demands of bosses. 

With many districts careening toward insolvency, NYSUT must start chopping at the roots of inequality before it grows too dense. For example, the next time Magee talks to Cuomo, she should ask him about his duplicitous campaign finance law, meant only to encourage a challenger against Tom DiNapoli in this year's comptroller race. DiNapoli, who opted out of the law, has been a friend to public education, with many urging him to challenge Cuomo in a democratic primary, something DiNapoli has resisted. It’s likely Cuomo’s $33 million war chest has something to do with this; yet another voice silenced by money.

Magee should also ask Cuomo why he decided to disband his Moreland Commission, which had been tasked with investigating corruption throughout the state.  Was Cuomo's commission nothing more than a tool to prod legislators into passing his budget? Did Cuomo fear his own commission would soon start eating its host?    

The next 100 days will determine much about the future of NYSUT and other unions around the country. More people must begin asking and answering the right questions if we wish to salvage our schools and democracy.

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So Goes the UFT, So Goes the NYSUT Election?

Amid an outcry from members over the sale of public education to plutocrats, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has stopped accepting donations to its Innovation Fund from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Missed among its squirming within the tentacles of privatization was the AFT's slight gesture of solidarity, since a proposed raise in member dues promises to recoup half of the money the organization received each year from Gates. With organized labor drinking cold coffee these days, $500,000 from 1.5 million teachers suddenly buys a lot more democracy than $1 million from a guy who couldn’t teach his way out of a wet paper bag. The AFT should lead similar efforts to stem the stream of plutocratic money into itself and public education before our schools are overrun by robots.      

Meanwhile, as Governor Andrew Cuomo rams nonsensical and undemocratic education reforms down New Yorkers’ throats, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) will hold an election at its Representative Assembly (RA) on April 5 to decide who will lead one of the AFT’s largest affiliates for the next 3 years. Though democracy should be baked into the marrow of unions, NYSUT’s election reeks of disparity.       

As NYSUT’s largest local, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) will be represented by 800 delegates at the RA—roughly one-third of the votes. Each one of these delegates belongs to an invite-only group within the UFT called the Unity Caucus, run by UFT President Michael Mulgrew. In order to be “eligible” for membership in the Unity Caucus and vote in NYSUT elections, UFT members must “abide by its rules”, which include:

· To express criticism of caucus policies within the Caucus;
· To support the decisions of Caucus/Union leadership in public or Union forums;
· To support in Union elections only those individuals who are endorsed by the Caucus, and to actively campaign for his/her election;
· To run for Union office only with the support of the caucus;

· To serve, if elected to Union office, in a manner consistent with Union/Caucus policies and to give full and faithful service in that office;

These draconian rules—in addition to shamelessly soliciting the votes of retirees across the country—have kept the Unity Caucus in control of the UFT for nearly 50 years.  With no room for dissent in Unity, there’s no room for dissent in the UFT. Consequently, with no room for dissent in its largest local, there’s less room for dissent in NYSUT.  Before any votes are cast at the RA, the “individuals who are endorsed by the Caucus”—in this year’s case the entire Revive NYSUT slate of candidates—have an 800 delegate lead. Should 800 devotees to undemocratic caucus exert this much influence in an organization of 600,000 members?

Mulgrew, whose achievements as UFT president so far include zero contracts and a state-imposed teacher evaluation plan (APPR), has a lot riding on a Revive victory, including a suitcase full of back pay if he can parlay it into an AFL-CIO endorsement for Cuomo. Revive’s room temperature stance on Cuomo has done little to allay fears they won’t try to win over the Lobbyist for the Students and push an endorsement, or at least force NYSUT to remain neutral. For example, at a recent NYSUT candidates forum in Long Island, Andy Pallotta, running for re-election on the insurgent slate, meekly admitted he wouldn’t “personally” endorse Cuomo after being pressed by a skeptical audience. The UFT-bred Pallotta’s sincerity strains credulity in light of his $10,000 expenditure of voluntary union money (VOTE-COPE) at Cuomo’s birthday party and his designs to donate $250,000 more to the New York Democratic Party, an election-year goody bag for the governor.

Unity delegates represent a myriad of members and interests throughout the nation’s largest school system. Shouldn’t they at least be allowed to vote for the individual candidates of their choice? If anything, a group representing so many members in NYSUT’s first-ever contested election should consider carefully which candidates it chooses to endorse, unlike this year, when Mulgrew endorsed Revive before many of his members even knew there was an election. Though most teachers in New York have made up their minds about Cuomo, few even know who Karen Magee is.      

Cuomo will continue to reward his highest bidder, however. Even if Mulgrew does get his back pay, he’ll still have to deal with Cuomo’s APPR and the metastasis of charter schools throughout the city. Mulgrew would be best served by rallying his members against Cuomo’s duplicity, such as his proposal to use the state’s budget to “protect” charter schools while at the same time calling for the “death penalty” for public schools.     

NYSUT's Past is Precedent

Those still not buying Mulgrew's misguided motivations need look no further than NYSUT’s recent past for a precedent. In the 2002 gubernatorial election, the Union was sidelined after the UFT endorsed Republican George Pataki in his race against Democratic challenger H. Carl McCall.   NYSUT was forced out of that race while a younger and well-financed Cuomo poked McCall throughout the primary.  Pataki easily took care of a wounded McCall in November, with many NYSUT members appalled by their Union’s lack of support for McCall and the UFT’s bow to Pataki.  The words of a rank and file teacher from a 2002 New York Times article echo what could soon reverberate again throughout the state:

''I am embarrassed by this endorsement,'' said Barbara Glassman, a Queens special education teacher and supporter of Mr. McCall. ''We have a tradition of backing our friends, and Carl McCall has consistently been a unionist and friend of education.''

It didn’t hurt that Pataki included $200 million in the state budget that year for the UFT’s raises, which immediately followed then UFT President Randi Weingarten awarding Pataki the UFT’s John Dewey Humanitarian Award. Weingarten "grew up in politics" with Andrew Cuomo and groomed Mulgrew as her replacement. Similar to her protege, Weingarten was also in search of a contract in 2002 and had run out of strings to pull, repeatedly backing the wrong mayoral candidates to face Michael Bloomberg, an enemy of the labor movement. As McCall himself observed at the time:

“You know, they [the UFT] need a contract,” McCall said. “They need more money. And, you know, he’s holding them up. ‘You want more money? Then do something for me.’ ”

McCall may as well have been talking about the UFT and Revive's current flirtation with Cuomo. Following the UFT’s endorsement of Pataki later that year, McCall spoke into the future and Mulgrew: 

“Anybody who would support the Governor on the basis of his education program and his education policies would be betraying the schoolchildren of New York State.”

McCall was likely unaware of his power for prophecy at the time.

An Opportunity for MORE Voices

With major NYSUT positions and policies at stake this year, New York City teachers unfortunately need a written invitation to be heard by a local that suppresses some of its strongest voices.  Facing an intransigent Unity, where can these voices go to be heard?

Ironically, back to their state union.

Running as independents in the NYSUT election are seven members of the UFT, led by Queens teacher Arthur Goldstein, who’s challenging Pallotta for executive vice president. These candidates encompass passionate, rank and file voices within the UFT, some who've even been heard on the national stage. Goldstein, a longtime UFT chapter leader and “NYC’s best teacher-blogger" (according to Diane Ravitch), is seeking to “wake up the sleeping giant that is our membership .” A staunch defender of public education, Goldstein has relentlessly censured city, state, and national leaders alike for their attacks on the profession. NYSUT will be well-served with him as its legislative leader, a strong voice for a position in desperate need of revival. 

UFT candidates for at-large directors include Julie Cavanagh (who unsuccessfully ran against Mulgrew for president last year), James Eterno, Lauren Cohen, Jia Lee, Mike Schirtzer, and Francesco Portelos, a whistle-blowing teacher from Staten Island who's been exiled from his school and recently jailed for excessive satire.  Portelos's strife taught him the value of unionism and can lend valuable experience in a climate in which many teachers have bullseyes on their backs.      

Should these UFT dissidents win prominent positions in NYSUT, they would suddenly have a bully pulpit to channel an activistic UFT demographic, broadcasting the multitudinous needs of their members around the state and nation.  No longer pinned down by the Unity Caucus, NYSUT's largest local would unfurl a tapestry of voices above the dictates of the few.  Never before has such an opportunity presented itself to the UFT's rank and file members.   

A Stronger Union

On April 5, Union delegates from around the state will gather in New York City beneath a wrinkled banner of democracy. Hopes remain high, however, that this banner will re-emerge smoother than before, with more members pressing its principles.  Elections are only as healthy as the number of people who vote, after all.  Though Mulgrew, Pallotta, and Revive may have locked up the votes of 800 delegates, they cannot guarantee a majority. This year's RA should attract more members than ever, fighting for a stronger NYSUT.

And much to Arthur Goldstein's satisfaction, the sleeping giant may have already been awakened...

                        

  

This November, Vote RODE

As if voters demanded more evidence of his ineptitude, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo publicly pondered education policy on multiple occasions this week, once in a television ad and again at an Albany rally.  

The Lobbyist for the Students now thinks he knows exactly which way the breeze is blowing inside the hurricane of education deform.  With legislators under pressure to legislate and reform the Board of Regents, Cuomo tumbles in the wind, cozying up to parents against Common Core tests while paradoxically insisting the tests be used to evaluate and award teachers. The same man who two weeks ago described Common Core as causing “massive chaos” throughout the state, now claims it’s “heading in the right direction.”  Cuomo suggests that the “massive anxiety” over “unfair” tests will subside once the scores are used primarily to punish teachers and not students.          

Rather than brandishing a sign at a rally against Common Core, Cuomo spoke to the signs at a rally for charter schools, promising to stop the closure of schools that don’t even exist yet.  The governor rushed to speak for schools run by his billionaire buddies while touting an undemocratic tax cap that has drained the resources of districts throughout the state.   With $800,000 from charter supporters fattening his campaign wallet, it’s no wonder Cuomo has yet to “form a hard opinion” on whether his teacher evaluation system (APPR) should be used to evaluate teachers at charter schools. After all, why leave the hiring and firing of teachers up to due process when a CEO can take care of it?    

Given the choice between corporate Cuomo and charter-friendly Republican Rob Astorino, many voters in New York have resigned themselves to four more years of education malfeasance. Cowed by Cuomo’s campaign dollars, education advocates find only futility in the search for someone to oppose the governor’s bloated political machine. Yet parents and teachers have a real issue to push, an issue directly involving their kids, communities, and our democracy. New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and other organizations must mobilize their resources behind a campaign which forcefully challenges Cuomo’s pernicious attacks on public education while shining a spotlight on Citizens United and the dissolution of our political system beneath the paws of Quid Pro Quo. Will a candidate emerge as a spokesperson for this cause and, at the very least, expose Cuomo to a wider audience? This could provide Cuomo the perfect opportunity to share his vision of education with a national audience. Many Americans would gladly debate the presidential hopeful regarding the merits of merit pay, Common Core, and charter schools, likely extinguishing any hopes he had for 2016.    

Supporters of public education in New York and around the country cannot be intimidated by the largess of PAC-funded politicians, as the fight for their schools is happening in the same arena as the sale of our democracy.  Voters must blur the lines between parties, shouting louder than the dollars of plutocrats. 

Perhaps what is needed is a new political party, which, in the tradition of Jimmy McMillan, never fails to remind voters of its cause. I’m proposing the creation of the Running for Office is Too Damn Expensive Party (RODE).

You can make your checks payable to save public ed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

The Prince of Common Core

According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Common Core standards have caused “massive confusion, massive anxiety, and massive chaos” throughout the state. In the same interview, the self-anointed “lobbyist for the students” also bizarrely implied that he’s ready to pick up a placard and join parent protests against the same standards he recently called “state of the art.” Cuomo is clearly conflicted over Common Core, and his foot sinks deeper into his mouth whenever he says anything about education these days.  The governor’s own Common Core panel has so far only stoked this confusion, soliciting from speakers ways to merely improve public opinion on the flawed standards.     

Sealed in the same glossy package, Common Core relies on high-stakes tests to bring home the bacon and fry it in the pan. Reformers have used these tests to both punish and profit from the public, enforcing emotional and financial consequences in the name of higher standards.  As a result, if Cuomo’s own teacher evaluation law (APPR) is to have any teeth, Cuomo needs Common Core as much as Common Core needs him. In another ambiguous utterance, the governor recently chastised the Board of Regents after they proposed allowing teachers to appeal any dismissals related to Common Core’s implementation. In other words, the union-busting Cuomo is okay with Common Core as long as some teachers get fired. What Cuomo doesn’t know, or want to admit, is that Common Core withers and dies without high-stakes tests feeding its fetid soil, the same high-stakes tests at the vanguard of his APPR.

In a 2011 letter to Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, Cuomo urged the adoption of a teacher evaluation plan that he said would be the “building blocks to greater performance in our education system.” As Cuomo’s plan runs riot throughout the state, however, the governor now says he has “nothing to do with” education in New York. Cuomo’s equivocation over Common Core should remind New Yorkers of another classic equivocator, his father and former New York governor Mario Cuomo.

Dubbed “Hamlet on the Hudson", Mario Cuomo could never make up his mind about running for president, agonizing publicly over the pros and cons of a presidential bid. While the elder Cuomo pondered his power, Prince Andrew's ambitions simmered.  Now, similar to his father’s vacillation over seeking higher office, Cuomo waffles over Common Core, exhibiting the contradictory tendencies of his father. The difference, however, is that Cuomo’s indecision is directly affecting students, parents, and teachers on a daily basis. His refusal to push for a pause in high-stakes testing while only vaguely criticizing Common Core's implementation does nothing to help communities already saddled with the gap elimination adjustment and Cuomo’s undemocratic tax cap, with many schools soon facing insolvency.  

Cuomo assumed he could ride the wave of education reform all the way to the White House in 2016.  Ironically, his double-speak on Common Core could drown him in this quest, with the full-force of his father’s legacy washing over him. As he now tries to walk his commitment to the Common Core all the way back to joining parents on the picket line, those parents might be asking, what will the Prince’s sign say?

Sadly, Andrew Cuomo doesn’t even know the answer to that question.

 

     

Cuomo vs. the Committee of 600,000

Between 2011 and 2012, New York teachers (NYSUT) spent $5.9 million to influence the political process. Opponents of unions will point to this as business as usual, just another example of Big Labor’s dominance of the system. Campaign donations in hand, politicians pull strings to protect and promote lazy public school teachers. However, business has been everything but usual in public education of late.  As teachers around the country grapple with budget cuts and Common Core, 300,000 of their colleagues have lost their job since 2009, and morale is at a twenty-year low.  With public education under assault from all angles, just how much did NYSUT’s millions buy for its members?

As it turns out, not much. During that same two-year period, the Committee to Save New York (CSNY), a pro-corporation, anti-union PAC formed with Governor Cuomo’s blessing, spent $17 million on lobbying—about $11 million more than teachers.  Fueled by large contributions from a few anonymous billionaires, CSNY and Cuomo successfully advanced their agenda in New York by slashing worker pensions and corporate taxes, topped with a pernicious property tax cap on school districts. Though CSNY recently filed papers to dissolve itself, saying that its “mission was largely successful”, (coincidentally coinciding with new requirements to reveal its donors) more groups like CSNY are bound to metastasize, touting the same desire to “neutralize the impact of special interest money.” However, when a small group of wealthy people can quickly coalesce and spend three times as much money on lobbying as 600,000 union members, does this level the scale, or knock it over?

Since the Citizens United ruling in 2010, what's happening in New York is happening all around the country, as a minority of wealthy individuals and the PACs they fund muffles the masses, and public financing initiatives have stalled with plutocrats’ billions subsuming the system. Though Cuomo himself is pushing his own version of campaign finance reform in his current budget, how sincere is he, given that he’s only aided and abetted the current system as governor? Will Cuomo refund the $33 million currently in his re-election war chest? Doubtful.       

With rank and file teachers’ anger toward their governor’s policies spilling out at forums and rallies across the state, NYSUT’s officers recently dropped $10,000 of union money at Cuomo’s birthday party, dancing the night away to Billy Joel amid the embers of members’ money.  VOTE-COPE, the union’s voluntary political action fund, is supposed to be put to prudent use, supporting politicians who “understand the importance of education.”  The fund raises the volume of NYSUT’s voice and helps engender favorable conditions for organized labor. Cuomo, however, has been anything but favorable to New York’s parents and teachers, slashing school aid while stubbornly moving forward with moronic standardized tests. Andy Pallotta, NYSUT’s executive vice president who authorized the donation to Cuomo, would like his members to believe that $10,000 was the price for a seat at Cuomo's table—albeit an expensive one. Pallotta and Revive NYSUT (the slate of candidates he’s running with to unseat NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi and his officers) liken Cuomo to a bossy principal or superintendent who they want to “win over.” However, is $10,000—or even $5.9 million—enough to win over Andrew Cuomo, or any other politician whose pockets are already overflowing with corporate cash?

Cuomo’s actions speak for themselves, and Pallotta and other union leaders' seats, while still in the same room, are now at the kiddie table.  Workers have been shooed away from the grown-ups by plutocrats and corporate interests. Unable to compete with corporate dollars, unions must change course and admit that their members’ modest political donations are no longer enough to win over politicians like Cuomo. If union dollars no longer shout, what then must they say?

For one, it need not be the job of unions to win over politicians. Politicians must win over all voters, including union members.  As echoed in VOTE-COPE’s mission statement, member donations must go toward candidates who already understand the importance of education and have proven this through their records. Union money cannot be wasted trying to change the minds of leaders who’ve already had their minds made up by the dollars of hedge fund managers, Michelle Rhee, and Bill Gates. Member donations should be used to defeat—not convert—candidates like Cuomo, and our present and future leaders must pay a political price for siding with corporations over people.

As union membership shrinks to its lowest level in 98 years, it is in every member's interest to help others form unions and launch campaigns to educate the public on how unions benefit all working people. With America as unequal as ever, each union member lost to budget cuts tips the scale further in favor of the one-percent.  Teachers unions can be instrumental in helping parents better understand current education reforms like the Common Core so that they’ll be best able to fight for their kids at the local level. The more parents know, the more supportive they’ll be of educators, ready to vote for leaders and laws that uphold the social contract. As voting rights fall under conservative crosshairs around the country, unions can also help get out the vote, engaging citizens in federal, state, and school board elections.  

Each year, NYSUT’s Committee of 100 travels to Albany to lobby for the organization's interests, just one way members can engage in the struggle to save public education. NYSUT needs a committee of 600,000 fighting in every corner of the state, from legislators' offices to doctors’ offices, town halls to shopping malls. With the clouds of Citizens United and corporate money darkening the political landscape, unions must parlay members’ financial support into grassroots activism, not futile efforts to persuade an anti-union governor who shines his shoes with $10,000 bills. Though $5.9 million is a lot less than $17 million, it will be worth a lot more after educating and amplifying the voices of everyone who cares about public education.