Fiorillo on UFT and Mulgrew: We Need More than Words

Read ICE's Michael Fiorillo's guest post at NYC Educator: We Need More than Words

Michael opens with:

So, Michael Mulgrew finally found the time to respond to Mayor Bloomberg’s - and, given Arne Duncan’s smiling presence on stage, President Obama’s – declaration of war before Thanksgiving. Bloomberg presented the full menu of the privateers who are busy cannibalizing the public schools: merit pay, high stakes tests as a weapon, attacks on tenure, seniority, ATRs, accelerated public school closings and charter school colonization. Mulgrew’s response sounded good: the language was strong, direct and missing the saccharine tone of Randi Weingarten’s old missives to the membership. Nonetheless, I’d recommend that everyone watch what Mr. Mulgrew does, rather than what he says.

And closes with:

As currently led, the UFT cannot be reformed or made into an effective vehicle for defending teachers, and is in the process of bringing its members, the public schools and ultimately itself down in the deluded thought that it can maintain itself by collaborating - their term, not mine – with people who seek to destroy it. Only a revolt by an informed membership, then to ally itself with parents and students to oppose privatization and corporate control, provides any hope of saving public education and teacher unionism in NYC.

But head on over to NYC and read the entire post.

Michael didn't mention the Unity collaborators, New Action, which were handed seats on the UFT Ex Bd by Unity endorsement in order to keep the ICE/TJC dissident voices like Michael off the Board.

Michael Fiorillo will be amongst the 6 ICE/TJC candidates in this year's UFT election, along with Francis Lewis HS CL Arthur Goldstein and 4 other strong candidates.

Imagine these voices, though only 6 out of 89 on the Ex Bd. A small step, but a beginning of, as Michael says, "a revolt by an informed membership, then to ally itself with parents and students to oppose privatization and corporate control, provides any hope of saving public education and teacher unionism in NYC."

If you are in a high school, it is especially important to get your colleagues to check ICE/TJC slate when they receive their ballots in March as that simple act will be a vote for all of the above plus people like James Eterno for president and other excellent candidates who will be revealed soon. ICE/TJC needs people to distribute literature in schools and help promote the election slate.