34 is too many, and Unity has failed, failed, and failed again. How such an inept bunch of losers manages to pull the wool over the eyes of so many is a mystery. No sense of history among new teachers, and that works for them. I voted for ICE.
My principal said at our most recent Exec. Bd. consultation that if enacted by Klein, he would have to consider the seniority of teachers in hiring etc. due to its impact on the budget. He also said that if he was forced to reduce class size,say from 34 to 30, we would be going multiple sessions, from 7am to 5pm. This would be a tremendous negative for any teacher with a family,classes or a second job after school. Didn't anyone realize that Klein would look to take a positive (cutting class size) and turn it into a negative?
My school is already on that schedule. They really need to build more of them.
"No sense of history among new teachers, and that works for them."
What is the evidence that new teachers are voting Unity/NA?
The big explanation I keep hearing is that retirees get to vote, and, being out of the loop except for Unity-controlled publications, they vote Unity (not big readers of blogs, the elderly).
Is this true? And on what planet is it fair or even logical that retirees get to vote?
Retirees (48,000 or so) do get to vote and I'm not against it as they are UFT members. Their total vote is capped at 18,000 so anything above that makes each vote a fraction. Historically, about 85% vote Unity as Unity has a lot of access to them and offers them all kinds of goodies (like reduced due, certain benefits, cheap ($5) classes, trips, etc.) Also, a much higher percenage of retirees vote (around 45% last time if I remember correctly.)
The reform we should look for here is to reduce the number below 18,000 to lesson the impact of their vote.
In the retiree chapter leader and delegates election last June, a surprising 27% voted for an opposition group, though it included both ICE and New Action which also has some loyalty from the old retiree group that used to vote opposition and may not be aware of their sell-out.
Even more onorous is that Unity got all 300 retiree delegates to the DA, a voting block that when added to the 89 Exec Bd members and the rest of the Unity clan, makes challenges to the leadership extremely difficult. Another reform would be to reduce this number and give the opposition a % of delegates to match their vote. Because of the New Action factor this time, even an increase in non-Unity retiree votes will be muddled.
The opposition can still deal with this but the real problem is the usual 70,000 (70%) working UFT members who did not vote last time. The idea is to eventually win a majority of the active teacher vote even if the overall election is lost and then use that support to force through a package of reforms.
Thank you for the thorough explanation.
It is *insane* for people who do not have to work under this contract to vote on the working conditions of the rest of us. Why don't we just let Brazil vote in US presidential elections?
As a new teacher, I've known retired teachers since they send them to mentor us. They were all thoroughly, totally, out of touch, for the simple reason they aren't teaching anymore.
Off topic: Glass Houses is the first album (yes, album, kiddies) I ever bought.
Preliminary numbers today:
very low turnout
but not for retirees
22,400 voted out of 50,000 retiree ballots sent out.
Unity got well over 18,000
New Action got 1600
ICE/TJC got 1061
Retiree vote totals were greater than the combined total of elem, ms, and hs. Looks like only 22% of them voted.
Ballot snafu could have had an impact. But probably not much.
Other than in this area New Action came in a distant 3rd to ICE/TJC in every area: elem, ms,hs,functional
Still, New Action gets 8 seats on Exec Bd/Unity gets 81 and ICE/TJC get none.
Democracy inaction.
Detailed results will be posted.
can anyone answer why we don't vote in the schools? Seems like it would increase vote totals/involvement? Is this a "sinister" way of depressing the vote? And they call ICE people "Stalinists" By the way I voted ICE, and so did many of my friends. I noticed that Norm mentioned several high schools, my high school was not named and my CL is unity. Many of my colleagues voted ICE.
If those figures of retiree voting are correct, they are a scandal, as they seem to indicate that the system is tipped toward increasing the weight of retirees.
First of all, paper mail is the preferred medium of the elderly. I barely give a cursory glance to my paper mail, let alone check it more than a couple times a week, since it's almost all either junk or something I expected.
Yes, voting must be conducted in the schools. If the retirees want to vote so much, let them visit the schools to cast their ballots--at least they would have that little exposure to what's going on today in schools. Why doesn't someone compare percentage of votes cast (among actual teachers) in the prez. election vs. votes cast (in schools) for the contract? I'm sure the contract vote had a higher turnout. If not voting in the schools, how about telephone or online voting? Or at least distribute the ballots in school.
Meanwhile, I bet a lot of new teachers are underrepresented in the union for the simple reason that it can be very hard to join. I had to fill out and submit the cards four times before I was actually enrolled.
P.S.
How about little buttons that say "Don't blame me, I vote T-J-C."
Commenting by HaloScan
