Fri 4.20.12 – Monthly Meeting

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RSVP for NYCoRE’s Member Meeting – Friday, April 20, 2012

Join NYCoRE for its  April Monthly Meeting!

Meeting Info:

This Month’s Political Education Pieces: Cultural Circles

Date: Friday, April 20, 2012

Where: NYU Pless Hall 3rd Floor Lounge
82 Washington Square East

Time: 6:00 to 8:00 PM

Some food will be provided.

Please Bring ID

Please RSVP to give us a head count for food, and to notify security.

Thanks, NYCoRE Member Committee

 

3.10.12 – State of the Union – Part II: Next Steps Register Today

*** Register online here ***

STATE OF THE UNION – Part 2: NEXT STEPS

MARCH 10: 10am-4pm
Graduate Center for Workers Education (25 Broadway)

On February 4, over 200 people attended  State of the Union – Part 1, featuring 15 workshops focusing on issues facing the UFT in the age of ed deform.

That was only the beginning.

Join us on March 10 to help plan the next steps in moving our union forward, and unite those who came together on February 4th into a common organization.

As the UFT and NYSUT agree to an evaluation system that requires 40% of evaluations to be based on state or local high stakes tests, mandates unannounced observations, and allows for an independent appeal on only 13% of first time ineffective ratings, it becomes even more urgent to discuss how we can build a movement in our union to fight for an alternative to the concessionary approach.

We are asking for a $5-$10 contribution at the door to pay for expenses incurred for this event.

Childcare available upon email request before Thursday 3/8

For more info, find us on Facebook: State of the Union or email sotuuft@gmail.com

Here are some questions that will be discussed:

  • What should the organizing priorities of union activists be right now?
  • What are some basic points of unity that bring us together?
  • What strategies and tactics can achieve the change we want to see?
  • What is a union caucus?
  • How could one be democratically structured to include the diverse political and pedagogical views among our membership?
  • How can our rank and file chapters be more organized?

 

Why do we need a new caucus?
We believe our strength lies with our members, organized into strong chapters. This requires active effort to educate our membership about how their union works, and involve them in democratically determining its direction.

We believe in social justice unionism. We fight for equitable public education and against racism in the schools. Building an alliance of students, parents and community members as a key part of our strategy. The UFT must fight for our members and our students.

Our working conditions are our students learning conditions.

We prioritize members working together to build power in our schools. Through collective struggles, our members will gain confidence and organization to mobilize an escalating series of actions, in our communities, city-wide and nationally, that can begin to take on the bigger challenges facing our union, educators and public education as a whole.

Every educator in America knows that our profession, and our students, are under attack. The onslaught of high-stakes testing, privatization, weakening or elimination of job protections, school closings and charter co-locations threatens the very existence of
public education as we know it. Unionized teachers in particular have been singled out for demonization.

The strategy put forth by our union leadership to take on these challenges is inadequate. UFT officials rely primarily on lobbying, media blitzes and procedural law suits. When occasional mobilizations are called, they are organized without a long-term plan for escalating actions or increased membership involvement. The union leadership takes a concessionary stance in order to maintain its “seat at the table” with politicians and corporate forces like Bill Gates, who turn around and attack teachers and the union at every opportunity. Union leadership then sells serious concessions to the members as victories claiming – “It could have worse”.

Some of the key policy failures of the UFT leadership:

  • supporting mayoral control even in the face of the devastating impact
  • a weak stand against closing schools
  • a compromising position on charter schools and co-locations
  • giving up on the fight to reduce class size
  • the acceptance of rating teachers based on high-stakes tests
  • agreeing to merit pay even though every single study shows the failure of this policy
  • steadily deteriorating working conditions and power in the workplace
  • erosion of job security and tenure protections
  • a one-party undemocratic system that shuts out the voices of the members

 *** Register online here ***

SOTU Part 2 Flyer

3.1.12 – No History Is Illegal Campaign Wraps Up

Dear NYCoRE Members,

As we wrap up our month-long campaign, No History Is Illegal, we can count more than 11,500 people who visited the campaign website, and nearly 1,500 people across five continents who pledged their support. These include many amazing stories of solidarity, such as:

At Roosevelt High School in LA, students painted a mural depicting UNIDOS students fighting for ethnic studies.

At Yale University, Mexican American Studies students organized a Skype Teach-In.

And, at Knox College in Illinois, students in a Historian’s Workshop opened their class discussion on these issues to invited guests—friends, prospective teachers, and professors—and ended by writing letters to students and teachers in Tucson.

Support for Tucson teachers and students continues to grow. Most recently, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) released a statement on the suspension of Mexican American Studies in Tucson, “…the AERA Council emphasizes the substantial body of research that reveals that such courses improve critical thinking and reduce stereotyping and bias among students. Characterizing the legislation as educationally indefensible, AERA urges the Arizona State Legislature to repeal HB2281.”

Rethinking Schools posted a preview of their Spring editorial, which acknowledges the ridiculousness of banned books but focuses on the heart of the issue, saying, “Many commentators focused on the outrageous act of banning books. But the books were merely collateral damage. The real target was Tucson’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program, whose elimination had long been a goal of rightwing politicians in Arizona.”

Of course, the struggle does not end with the month of February. If you are looking for ways to stay with the campaign and support the teachers and students in Tucson, consider organizing a screening of Precious Knowledge in your community. And watch the premiere of Precious Knowledge on PBS May 17.

You can also join or support Librotraficantes, the caravan to smuggle banned books into Tucson. This group will be traveling from Houston, Texas to Tucson March 12 to 18 carrying ‘contraband’ books and creating a network of underground libraries.

The blog Banning History is collecting video testimony of people reading passages from the banned books.

We continue to encourage you to tell the story of how you shared the struggle of Tucson in your classroom by writing a testimonial on the No History Is Illegal website. You can also directly support the teachers in Tucson by making a donation to the Save Ethnic Studies legal defense fund.

Thank you for being part of this amazing act of solidarity.

In Solidarity,

Teacher Activist Groups
(Association of Raza Educators, Education for Liberation Network, Educators’ Network for Social Justice, Metro Atlantans for Public Schools, New York Collective of Radical Educators, Rethinking Schools, Teacher Action Group Philadelphia, Teacher Activist Group Boston, Teachers 4 Social Justice San Francisco, Teachers for Social Justice Chicago)

 

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