NYSUT Asks Teachers to Fire Themselves

Is self-immolation back in style?

Rather than urging members to reject high-stakes tests, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) is pining for teachers to create the tests, even though the state fully controls how the results will be used. After all, Governor Andrew Cuomo's latest teacher evaluation law (APPR) gives Albany—not local school boards—the last word on how well students must perform for teachers to be rated "effective" and not subject to harassment and dismissal. Even if they were as flawless as diamonds, nothing is stopping the state from using the tests to saw into schools everywhere, as bogus benchmarks and HEDI bands will soon hum the tune of "failing" schools.

NYSUT's call for teachers to write high-stakes tests instead of shred them is an assault on reason. Though at last year's Representative Assembly (RA) the Union unanimously passed a resolution that members' children not take the tests, NYSUT has since done zero to spread this message. It seems a resolution passed by thousands of teachers to protect their own children doesn't deserve a billboard or a commercial during the NFL playoffs, for example. 

The Union did, however, spend $2.4 million on a commercial that had nothing to do with junk science and everything to do with fiction. According to the 30-second ad (which yes, aired during the NFL playoffs), "progress" has been made to protect schools—even though Cuomo's ludicrous law remains unchanged. And NYSUT has no plans to challenge this law anytime soon, as it is conspicuously absent from both the ad and the Union's 2016 legislative agenda.  

Perhaps NYSUT finds great dignity in teachers hastening their own demise, akin to Kamikaze pilots or Buddhist monks. Yet if NYSUT is ready to sacrifice members on the altar of privatization, its tool of choice should be a resolution meant to save schools and not shut them.

For given this choice, most teachers would rather go down shielding children from abusive tests instead of embracing new and equally abusive ones.

Don't be Fooled by Cuomo's Mea Culpa on Testing

As New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pretends to listen to parents and teachers, he hopes they don't know how to read.

Buried at the bottom of a recent press release announcing the "recommendations" of his education task farce is proof that Cuomo is open to changing nothing: 

The Education Transformation Act of 2015 will remain in place, and no new legislation is required to implement the recommendations of the report, including recommendations regarding the transition period for consequences for students and teachers. During the transition, the 18 percent of teachers whose performance is measured, in part, by Common Core tests will use different local measures approved by the state, similar to the measures already being used by the majority of teachers. 

Yes, tests will still count for 50% of a teacher's evaluation.

The so-called “local measures" will require the state’s seal of approval, and the cut-points on the convoluted “matrix” that determines if teachers keep their jobs will be tweaked just enough so heads roll—regardless of how “fair” the tests appear. Moreover, the number of tests will double as students will take one test to grade their teachers, and one test that will, according to Cuomo, be "meaningless" until the 2019-2020 school year. So much for reducing the amount of testing. 

School districts can now expect a full-court press by Cuomo and his slimy associates to convince them to agree to his asinine teacher evaluation law (APPR) or lose more funding. After all, the (Common Core) tests won't count for another four years, even though communities and careers will still depend on tests.   

Additionally, everything else in the Lobbyist for the Student's infamous Education Transformation Act remains, including receivership and weakened due process rights. As Cuomo maintains, the law will not change. The test is still king.   

   

Though federal law now says states don't have to use test scores to rate teachers, Cuomo doesn't care. He will use any means necessary to break public education and hand the pieces over to his Wall Street donors. Cuomo is too greedy and prideful to try to save face. 

Education historian Diane Ravitch recently wondered why Cuomo thinks he can control education since the New York State Constitution grants that power to the Board of Regents, not the governor. Cuomo gets control by linking ludicrous laws to budgets which are rammed though in the middle of the night. As he once said, he is the government, and public education and all of its democracy threatens Cuomo's control.   

It's time for spineless, heavy-hearted legislators to take control away from Cuomo and ram through legislation on behalf of the communities they claim to represent. 

Nothing short of a complete rebuke of Cuomo's toxic agenda will stop 500,000 test refusals now. 

On Cuomo and Incompetency Based Education

Like sweet soma in Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World, a dose of "competency based" education has arrived to pacify the public.

Rather than with super-sized standardized tests taken once a year—tests which are less popular than purgatory—the profiteers of public education now seek to lure schools into oblivion via the sirens of software.

If the plutocrats get their way—and they usually do—steaming piles of tests will be served even more frequently, albeit sealed in smaller, digital packages. The fates of schools will ride on kids' keyboards, as each log-in will at long last expose the incompetency of their principals and teachers. 

With No. 2 pencils soon going the way of pay phones and mix tapes, politicians will call for even more computers inside (and out of) the classroom. Besides, it's the 21st century, and technology is finally smarter than people. Tying teacher evaluations to computer-based tests will make sense to many, at least at first. Kids will enthusiastically complete tasks formerly known as high-stakes tests and be cajoled by computers into achieving proficiency.

Over time, however, this will become a fool's errand; the "bar will rise" just enough to placate parents and turn effective teachers ineffective. Educators will also ironically have no choice but to embrace this software since their careers will depend on it. Computers will spew forth weekly ratings of teachers and schools that will make Bill Gates swoon. Meanwhile, companies like Pearson, Questar and Google will collect pearls of data on our kids, for sale on the open market.  

Though the opt-out movement has apparently burrowed deep enough beneath the skin of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that the Lobbyist for the Students is reportedly considering amending his test-centric teacher evaluation law (APPR), it remains to be seen what, if anything, will actually change. All signs point to Cuomo once again including education "reforms" in the state budget—a cynical and selfish ploy which leaves schools in the hands of the infamous three men in a room.

If Cuomo was serious about improving education, he would compel the legislature to take up changes to his APPR immediately instead of five minutes before the budget's due.

Embedding education in the budget has forced heavy-hearted legislators to either forsake funding or vote for ludicrous laws they don't even read. And though Cuomo has hinted that he now wants nothing to do with high-stakes tests, don't be surprised if the words "technology" and "competency" are peppered throughout his proposals. Cuomo may indeed offer to remove traditional tests in exchange for competency based benchmarks, technology touchstones or pathways to proficiency; he's still searching for the right euphemism. As usual, all of this will come at a cost, with districts who agree to these deforms promised increased bandwidths and refurbished iPads. Sleazy budgetary bribes are how Cuomo "gets things done", after all.

It was just ten days ago that Cuomo expressed a desire to replace teachers with computers.  Parents and teachers must therefore verify but not trust his overtures on education, be they from anonymous "administration officials" (i.e. Cuomo) or Cuomo himself.

And if Cuomo thinks computers are the answer, he should first try replacing himself with one. 

NY Education Commissioner Calls Teacher Evaluation System "Random"

At a recent meeting in Albany, New York State education commissioner MaryEllen Elia called the state’s teacher evaluation law “random" and could not explain just how her department determines so-called “college and career readiness.”

Welcome to New York, where Andrew Cuomo has stacked the bullshit so high it can be seen and smelled from outer space.   

It should reassure no one, however, that Elia—who Cuomo handpicked to enforce his asinine education laws—can give no good reasons why high-stakes tests should not cease and desist; for the profitizers of public education have thrown empirical evidence overboard in dragging us to the depths of their hubris and greed.

In the name of “equality”—but at the expense of justice—more schools must be closed and more teachers must be fired. It is the only way Cuomo’s donors can feel better about themselves and their portfolios. Students are to be siphoned and sorted by standardized tests, the only data that matters to the Lobbyist for the Students, even though he recently called the tests “meaningless.”

So what if no one wants to become a teacher in a few years? Computers will give the weakest children a more “personalized” education anyway and can be evaluated via less random updates to their operating systems.

As for the Holy Grail of education deform—“college and career readiness”—should we not be concerned when children are ready for colleges and careers, but choose neither? What then? Have their teachers failed them? Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, education means something beyond financial success?

On the other hand, should we not be concerned that the careers of thousands of middle class workers hang in the balance, all because a few ass clowns in Albany are convinced that being ready for life means getting a 1630 on the SAT?

Public education is under assault by a confluence of affluence and ignorance. And though leaders like Obama and Cuomo have feigned concern by rolling out comical committees and “testing action plans”, nothing will change until these leaders and their lackeys are rolled out of office for enabling the false philanthropy of education deform.

And with the Opt Out movement poised to gain even more traction in 2016, possibly reaching 500,000 test refusals, the chances of this happening may be less random than we think.
  

Teachers Know Nothing About Politics

So says New York Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan.  

In a recent interview, the chair of the assembly’s education committee bemoaned the ignorance of educators, conflating their angst over laws levied against their livelihoods with their Albany naiveté:

"Sometimes I wish teachers would have a better grasp of the political process. Since Race to the Top, we’ve talked about teacher evaluation [sic] every year because we were sort of forced to by Race to the Top."                                                                  
                  Catherine Nolan (D-NY)
                  June 16, 2015

Though New York’s Race to the Top money evaporated high above the Catskill Mountains before any drops could trickle into classrooms, Nolan lamely implies that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will soon stride into schools across the state and ask for his money back if more teachers aren’t fired. 

When asked about her bill to inform families about abusive state tests, Nolan pivoted to Duncan’s infamous “white suburban moms” comment, blaming her legislative inaction on some federal monster stalking her in the gloom.

It should surprise no one, however, that Duncan does indeed resemble Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, ready to suffocate your child's school with douchebaggery:     
                                                                                  

Nolan proceeded to praise the “continuing process” of Albany—a state government which has historically been as fluid as a vial of horse manure. The careers of educators everywhere apparently now cling to the calves of leaders like Nolan, who three months ago voted to demolish teacher tenure while hitting our kids on their heads with mallets patented by Pearson.

Sadly, Nolan understands education about as much as teachers understand politics, yet parents, teachers and students suffer when ignorant assholes like Andrew Cuomo pass laws on behalf of billionaires.

When asked specifically about the teacher evaluation law she voted for—which includes a convoluted and clunky “matrix” to determine a teacher’s overall rating—Nolan would only say that she supports the seven six members of the Board of Regents who publicly rejected the ludicrous law.

If only Nolan agreed with the dissident Regents before she decided to enshrine the source of their rebellion into law.  

Though politics is a convenient scapegoat, Nolan and others must understand the educational process before surrendering to the political machine. Bad laws are worse than no laws, and take much longer to repeal. New York teachers will likely wait longer than prohibition before getting tenure back, for instance, and the opt-out movement balances on the border of oblivion, its fate likely residing in the Supreme Court.

If Race to the Top is truly to blame for Cuomo's quest to destroy public education, then New York teachers can expect even less help from Nolan should someone like Wisconsin Governor and Alfalfa's brother from another mother Scott Walker win the White House next year. Walker is determined to crush organized labor from the federal perch, and heavy-hearted, spineless democrats like Nolan will scurry beneath boulders if and when Walker assumes office.  After all, if politicians can’t stand up to their own party, they cannot be expected to stand against other parties.  

  

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is not as innocent as he looks

Though teachers may not fully understand politics, they are at least starting to stand up for political change within their own union.

At NYSUT’s annual representative assembly in Buffalo last month, it was standing-room only at the inaugural meeting of Stronger Together, a union caucus formed last year to counteract the kowtowing complacency of NYSUT's current leadership. ST caucus seeks to engender an inclusive, proactive union, a union that hopes to see the train's headlights before tasting its wheels. 

NYSUT passed ST caucus-authored resolutions at the RA, for example, which denounce the Common Snore standards and their inane tests, and the UFT's Michael Mulgrew punched no teacher in the face.

Teachers union thugs in Buffalo

ST caucus will also help remind the public that although teachers may not fully grasp the realities of the political process, they do grasp its potentials, and know that a wise and just society does not place process over product.

New York's political process has left its schools with a rotten product, however, and Cathy Nolan and others seem okay with that, for now. 

Don't worry, teachers...the next legislative session is right around the corner...

The Oracles of Cuomo’s Orifices

The Pen is Mightier than the Person slogged through the sludge of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent op-ed on education so you wouldn’t have to. You’re welcome.   

Cuomo begins with a long-winded olive branch that only pokes his audience in the ear:

The education system is deeply entrenched, localized, unionized and personal to the families of the state—as it should be.

Cuomo’s correct—public education is in a deep trench. Parents, teachers and students are taking cover against the bayonets of the governor’s billionaire bidders and the pernicious fumes of his budget. 

Cuomo bizarrely claims he prefers “unionized” schools while simultaneously auditioning for Scott Walker’s running mate. The AFL-CIO even passed a resolution demanding the removal of his education reforms from the budget, calling them a "circumvention of the collective bargaining process."
 
Cuomo’s anti-union stench only thickens further down the page:     

Not surprisingly, the teachers unions and educational bureaucracy oppose parts of my plan.

Wrong. Educators oppose all of Cuomo’s plan, including the current teacher evaluation law (APPR). Fueled by greed and hubris, it is a plan designed to undo the same schools Cuomo says are so “personal to the families of the state.”

There is no reasoning or reasons to compromise with someone who also writes:   

The acceptance and implementation of an evaluation system predates my administration.

Just like the state’s email-deletion policy predates his administration, so does the evaluation system Cuomo once wanted to “force down your throats.” In addition to emails, Cuomo would prefer to erase everything he has ever said about education, and it is impossible to decipher from which orifice his oracles are emerging:        

Virtually everyone also agrees that New York's teacher evaluation system is not accurate and is skewed in its construction to provide favorable results for teachers.

Who, exactly, is “virtually everyone”?  Virtually no one supports Cuomo’s plans, however, save those who stand to profit from the destruction of teachers unions.

The governor then turns wonky and indignant:

…only 38 percent of high school graduates are ready for college or careers. How can that be?

This nebulous number is allegedly the percentage of students on pace to score 1630 on the SAT.  The national average for the SAT is 1500, but that doesn't stop Cuomo from declaring 62 percent of kids unprepared for life. Though it’s not clear which colleges and careers these students are not “ready for”, Cuomo is not ready for a career as a statistician, or a realtor:

Suffolk County will want to know how its teachers and schools compare to those in Westchester County.

Right, because APPR scores are the first things people check before moving from Patchogue to Pleasantville. In fact, parents around the state have been so curious about how their own teachers rate that a whopping zero parents requested to see the scores in the cities of Syracuse and Rochester last year.

The Lobbyist for the Students next touts his heroism in the face of high-stakes tests:

I have signed a law reducing the significance of testing for students, including eliminating standardized testing for students in grades K-2 and removing standardized test results from students' permanent records for five years.

Cuomo thinks Common Core tests are so flawed that they shouldn’t count for students but should count against teachers. See the above reference to Cuomo’s orifices.     

Local school districts are then blamed, once again:  

My proposed reforms to the evaluation system reduce the amount of testing by eliminating the existing local component of the system that leads to more testing.

Though education should be “localized”, high-stakes tests should come from faceless, monopolistic corporations and be graded by people found on Craig’s List. The same tests Cuomo wants to banish from a student’s permanent record are somehow superior to tests created by that child’s teacher. See the above reference to Cuomo’s orifices.

The op-ed concludes in a fiery ball of ignorance and deception:

I have proposed that testing comprise 50 percent of the [teacher] evaluation. The State Department of Education suggests 40 percent. Still, teachers and administrators prefer that the emphasis be on classroom observation as opposed to testing. Interestingly, whatever percent is assigned to standardized testing will only affect a small minority of teacher evaluations as only 20 percent of teachers are in subjects and grades that have state testing.

The governor neglects to mention that per his budget, teachers rated ineffective on the testing component will be rated ineffective overall, regardless of how well their classroom observations go.  To further ensure failure, observations will be conducted by “independent evaluators” from outside the district. So much for a “localized” education system.

Furthermore, if local tests will not be used and 20 percent of teachers are tied to a state test, will tests comprise zero percent of the evaluation for the remaining 80 percent of teachers?

See the above reference to Cuomo’s orifices.  

Andy, Sandy and Friends

Behind every sociopath is a bad cook.

Just how much money did New York Governor Andrew Cuomo accept from a giant media company? 

News Corporation CEO and Walking Dead extra Rupert Murdoch must know, since the crustaceous oligarch reportedly paid Cuomo $700,000 to publish a book read by less people than this blog.  

Curiously, Murdoch and his Fox News Channel have also been kind to the governor’s live-in girlfriend, smiling TV chef Sandra Lee. Lee’s frequent appearances on Fox and Friends—semi-homemade advertising time for her books and brand—are also brought to you by News Corporation. Cuomo likely has less indigestion these days with Fox Cash lining the cupboards of the Mount Kisco mansion he shares with Lee.

After all, what’s good for the girlfriend is good for the governor.  
 

Sandy Lee: A Friend to Fox (and Andy C.) 

What exactly has Murdoch received from the state in return for his kindness to Cuomo and Lee?

Tax breaks, of course.

One of Cuomo's first acts as governor was to exempt News Corporation subsidiary HarperCollins from sales tax for e-books and online-only publications. While HarperCollins made $53 million in profits last year, the move has cost New York State at least $35 million a year since 2011, with the proportion of books now sold through small, independent book stores at less than ten percent nationwide.

Sadly, Murdoch’s money controls the media and many minds.

Speaking of minds, public schools in New York are due a lot more than $420 million, but Cuomo thinks this amount is better invested in Murdoch and tax breaks for the movie industry. Though box-office bombs like Fox’s Won't Back Down are optional nightmares for movie goers, insolvent school districts are not an option for parents, students and teachers throughout the state, thousands of whom have turned out at forums in recent weeks to tell Cuomo that they won't back down against his insidious need to annihilate their schools.    
     
Cuomo’s palms itch around billionaires, but curl into fists near kids. Withholding billions from their schools is no way for Cuomo to cement his self-created legacy as the Lobbyist for the Students, and neither is stripping teachers of their due process rights.  Besides, every principal knows that bad teachers usually fire themselves before submitting to the taunts of unruly students year after year. Those who do otherwise and still spend the majority of their adult lives helping other people’s kids are most often called former teachers. 

Of course, Cuomo’s war on union members is red meat for Murdoch and Fox, with the governor one Koch brother donation shy of sharing a ticket with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in 2016. Walker stood up for Murdoch recently when he promised to protect the elderly Aussie from ISIS, just like he protected other billionaire assholes from union members soon after assuming office.

Rupert Murdoch's Dream Ticket?

Walker stopped short of calling the brave unionists who stormed the Twin Towers on 9/11 terrorists, however. At least some middle-class workers are off limits these days.     

With their governor seeking to subsume public schools on behalf of his benefactors and pass ethics reforms aimed at his enemies only, New Yorkers have no choice but to resist Cuomo's reforms and refuse his tests. Though it's looking more likely by the day, they cannot wait for the U.S. Attorney to cart Cuomo away in cuffs; civil disobedience is a more direct path to democracy anyway.
         
Let Andy and Sandy know they are not your friends.

Don't take their tests, buy their books, or multiply Murdoch's money.      
      

NYSUT Must Spit Up Cuomo’s Baloney

What Cuomo wants to feed New York now tastes far worse than baloney

New York Governor and all-around asshole Andrew Cuomo recently denounced the same teacher evaluation law (APPR) he once wanted to “force down your throats”, calling it “baloney.”

While Cuomo’s APPR did indeed taste like baloney four years ago, instead of steak, the Lobbyist for the Students now wants to feed public education raw sewage, mixing everything from tax breaks for the rich to broken due process rights into his fetid stew.

As if his proposals weren’t shitty enough, Cuomo is also holding taxpayer dollars hostage to them. Already neutered by his Gap Elimination Adjustment and undemocratic tax cap, schools will receive a measly $1.1 billion if and only if they grant the state (i.e. Cuomo) the power to fire as many middle-class workers as possible. Cuomo seeks to kick districts in the face after kicking them between the legs.
With New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) finally out of the picture, Cuomo’s campaign donors can swarm the schools, subsume policies, and further segregate our kids.

It is an understatement to call what Cuomo is proposing the “end of local control”; he is telling public education—the bulwark of democracy—to get lost.

So as not to limp quietly into the graveyard of civilization, both public education and NYSUT must appeal to the people—democracy’s saving grace.

In forums last year throughout the state, for example, thousands of teachers and parents came together and irrefutably indicted the Common Core Standards and their accompanying high-stakes tests. Parents and educators cried into microphones while Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch cried into her vodka.



Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch will do whatever Cuomo says 

As protests against abusive state tests multiplied, Cuomo himself at one point bizarrely announced he was ready to pick up a placard and join the uprising. The same tests he once demanded makeup 20% of his teacher evaluation law had caused—according to Cuomo—“massive confusion, massive anxiety, and massive chaos.”   With his latest proposal cementing at least 50% of a teacher’s job to state tests, Cuomo apparently wants 30% more confusion, anxiety, and chaos to run riot throughout the state. 

Fortunately, civil disobedience usually arrives just in time to save democracy.    

If Cuomo thought the backlash against Common Core last year was chaotic, he needs to step out of his mansion more often.

Nothing inflames democracy more than a douchebag doing the bidding of Big Business, and communities around New York are catching onto Cuomo and his baloney tests, so much so that a record number of students are expected to refuse to take them again this year. With some teachers even refusing to proctor the tests, the message is clear: Cuomo and his donors will need to find another way to burrow beneath public education.

NYSUT must mobilize around the I Refuse movement, allowing democracy, not Cuomo, to rule our schools.

No parent, teacher, or cafeteria worker should serve our children Cuomo’s putrid slop.

 

Andrew Cuomo Hoists Himself on the Canards of Perverted Teachers and their Pensions

"Alas, poor NYSUT!"

In an improvised interview from his mansion on New Year’s Eve, New York Governor and unabashed sociopath Andrew Cuomo bizarrely morphed into Campbell Brown, conflating and spewing the faults of his own teacher evaluation law (APPR) with the imaginary epidemic of perverted teachers:

“I understand the union’s issue; they don’t want anyone fired,” Cuomo said. “But we have teachers that have been found guilty of sexually abusing students who we can’t get out of the classroom.We have a process where literally it takes years and years to get a bad teacher out of the classroom. “

Perhaps the New York State Police should ask Cuomo exactly who these teachers are and where they can be arrested. Cuomo, the former attorney general who reportedly failed the bar exam four times, should understand that “guilty” sex offenders in New York are either in jail or have limited access to minors. If one were to actually slip through the cracks and become a certified teacher, the parole violation alone would blow a hole in our criminal justice system as wide as Cuomo's ego.

Not to mention the attention Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and former Commissioner of Education John King would receive for allowing the teacher in the classroom in the first place. Tisch would likely deflect blame under her breath while kicking King further under the bus on his way down to Arne Dunked-on in D.C.

Cuomo should also understand that a sex offender has a much better chance of getting a job in his prized privately-run, publicly-funded charter schools, since 30% of teachers in charters are not even required to possess a New York State teaching certificate. Both Cuomo and Tisch apparently want to make it more difficult only for those seeking jobs in unionized schools to make a career out of teaching.  

Cuomo’s crusade to fire more teachers is fueled by both his donors’ desires for more charters and Cuomo’s own desire for revenge against New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) for not endorsing him in either of his gubernatorial campaigns.

Forced to postpone his State of the State speech due to the death of his father and former New York Governor Mario Cuomo—who coincidentally passed into eternity on his son’s double inauguration day—Cuomo has also rebranded himself on social media for his second term, taking the low road against the middle class as his father lay dying: 

In Cuomo's alternate universe, the interests of students and teachers are
mutually exclusive...

Teachers and their families request that when Cuomo further threatens their lives and livelihoods in his State of the State that he at least do so at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center and not in a series of Tweets.

Meanwhile, the Union has rightfully taken to the streets in response to Cuomo’s education malfeasance, rallying outside his mansion during his New Year’s open house and outside the Buffalo History Museum during his second inauguration of the day. Protesting teachers froze outside while Cuomo threatened their pensions inside.

Guests to the governor's mansion were randomly selected to kiss the Prince’s ring—and check the First Amendment at the door. 

Cuomo’s slimy associates reportedly would only allow NYSUT members to speak to Cuomo if they first removed Union apparel, and tickets to the event devoted three paranoid sentences to warnings about photographs.

The Pen is Mightier than the Person was able to obtain an exclusive copy of Andy Cuomo’s Golden Ticket:

...and integrity comes with asterisks.

Cuomo’s fear of photography has as much to do with trashing the rights of his constituents as it does his fear of saying something stupid, which he achieved anyway with his remarks about perverted teachers.

On the other hand, Cuomo’s inflammatory and ignorant Tweet about teachers’ pensions was not spontaneous but rather written into his inaugural address. 

A rebuttal of this canard, however, should be obvious to all:

As NYSUT prepares to rally at the governor's State of the State on January 21, members should frame his insidious words within those of his late father, who, in surreal contrast to his son, actually loved and respected teachers. (He married one, after all)

The elder Cuomo’s sentiments cannot but resonate through the halls of Albany and the minds of all New Yorkers:

"We believe we must be the family of America, recognizing that at the heart of the matter, we are bound one to another; that the problems of a retired school teacher in Duluth are our problems; that the future of the child—that the future of the child in Buffalo is our future…”

And while we urge the Lobbyist for the Students to also remember his father’s words, those who paid attention in English class already know how this vengeful tale will unfold… 

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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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.