NEW YORK -  The new year has only just begun, but the United Federation of Teachers, the union that represents teachers in New York City, seems determined to make it a banner year for union selfishness.

The New York Post reports that UFT President Michael Mulgrew recently pitched a fit over the state’s plans to expand its standardized testing sessions for math and reading to three hours.

“It’s pretty clear right now the last thing we need is more testing,” Mulgrew said, according to the Post. “Test prep is one of the biggest dangers that our kids face in schools right now. Preparing kids to take standardized tests does not lead to real learning.”

What nonsense.

How many class sessions do teachers need to show students how to fill in bubbles on a test sheet?

How many class hours are required to help kids understand the strategies behind answering multiple choice questions?

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The Occupy movement may have been kicked out of nearly every one of their makeshift encampments this fall, but don’t worry. They are counting on unions to keep them nice and warm this winter, and that includes the United Federation of Teachers union, which forces New York City to hemorrhage tax dollars at the expense of children’s education.

The Occupy movement had little concern about the effect they had on other people or the costs that they racked up. If you’re going to have a revolution, after all, you need to break a few eggs — other people’s eggs, apparently. But for gosh sakes, don’t ask the Occupiers to get chilly!  In a recent spate of email correspondence, John McGloin (who we featured on Big Government weeks ago) gives the weather report and makes lemonade from lemons.

This is from the email exchange between a few Occupy insiders…

We should not be fighting nature when it is unnecessary.  It is cold outside and everything slows down in the cold.  We don’t need to hibernate, but we don’t need to pretend its [sic] September.  It is important to remember that occupation is a tactic, not the goal. Although there were definite advantages to having a centralized place on the ground, our movement doesn’t depend on centralization, and in many ways Bloomberg did us a favor.

If you’re going to overthrow the entire capitalist system, you can’t fight nature and you obviously need a decent meeting space. One great idea – hold meetings in storage locker! Luckily, the United Federation of Teachers has provided just such spot for Occupy. (more…)

While Marxists spout equality and equal worth, they are not above claiming ownership of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Turns out some are more equal than others.

LaborNotes reports:

“Unions and other sympathetic groups called out their members to defend the [Wall Street] occupation—rallying to a phenomenon that’s put wage cuts, layoffs, and foreclosures squarely in the national debate. …

“Red-shirted Communications Workers—many of them recently on strike against Verizon—graduate student members of the United Auto Workers, building services workers in their SEIU Local 32BJ purple T-shirts, and Transport Workers Local 100 members were among the unionists visible in the crowd.

“The victory came ‘because of our unity and strength,’ said James Taylor of 32BJ. He also thought [New York City Mayor] Bloomberg had made a political calculation: ‘Especially with the unions out here, they can’t claim it’s just a bunch of college kids.’”

Unions of every stripe have embraced the #Occupy movement with full-throated chants and jeers.  According to LaborNotes, unions deserve the credit.

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New York City families and school choice advocates were handed a major victory late Thursday evening when a Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled that 22 failing public schools must close and 15 charter schools must be allowed to share space in public school buildings.

The ruling gives hope to many New York City families eager to see their children receive a quality education. The NAACP and the teacher unions so despise non-unionized charter schools that the groups were willing to see students remain trapped in ineffective schools for selfish political and financial reasons.

Thursday’s ruling corrects that injustice.

Education Action Group believes that all parents should have the right to choose where their children attend school. Each child deserves access to an effective educational experience that will prepare them for life.

The state Supreme Court has previously ruled that the New York Constitution requires that students receive a “sound, basic education.”  There is nothing that says that education must occur in a traditional government-run school.

That principle was indirectly affirmed again last night by the Manhattan Supreme Court judge’s ruling.

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From The Daily Caller:

Minority parents in New York have a message for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT): you are hurting our children.

In New York Monday, charter school parents staged another of several rallies to voice opposition to a lawsuit brought by the UFT and NAACP against the New York City Department of Education. If the organizations are successful with their suit, it would prevent enrollment or re-enrollment in 17 charter schools and stop the closure of 22 public schools.

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Many civil rights groups around the nation have strongly supported school choice initiatives, mainly out of concern for inner-city children who have traditionally been stuck in sub-par schools.

Civil rights leaders understand that education is the key to escaping the cycle of poverty that’s prevalent in many inner-city neighborhoods. Kids trapped in poorly run, dangerous schools often don’t receive the instruction required to move on to  college or a decent job.

Those children need quality options like charter schools, or government vouchers to pay tuition at private schools, if they are going to have a chance to succeed. Most civil rights leaders understand that concept and want to help children seek quality education beyond their geographic school district boundaries.

So why isn’t the NAACP on board?

That organization has joined New York City’s United Federation of Teachers in filing a lawsuit that would prevent the closure of approximately two dozen failing schools, prevent several dozen charter schools from sharing space in public school buildings, and prevent the opening of at least two new charter schools.

In other words, the NAACP is suing to keep a lot of black kids trapped in really bad schools, with no options for escape.

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During a recent television appearance, former Vermont Gov. and Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean said “charter schools are the future” and suggested that the charter school/teacher union “battle is coming to an end.”

Yeah, right. Or, in Howard Dean’s language:  YYYEEEAARRRR, right!

The “battle” may be over, but the teacher unions’ desire to co-opt (and ultimately destroy) charter schools remains.  The tactics have changed.  Instead of the Gatling-gun approach, they’re now resorting to the Boa Constrictor method.

In fact, the unions have been surprisingly candid about their new strategy of infiltration and suffocation.

United Federation of Teachers Vice President Leo Casey considers charter schools competition that will cost teaching jobs in traditional public schools. His goal is to organize the teachers so public support for charters will drop off. He said this at the recent socialist Left Forum:

“If we do not figure out how to organize charter schools and if we are not successful in doing that, we will end up in the same place as the auto workers. So there is no more key question before us as a union and a broader labor movement with regard to education than how we approach charter schools and our ability to organize them.”

This reinforces something Detroit Federation of Teachers President Keith Johnson wrote a year ago:

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Teach for America has been a breath of fresh air in some of America’s worst schools.  The program, founded 20 years ago, recruits the best and brightest college graduates to commit to being teachers for at least two years in dozens of inner city schools around the country.

Studies have shown that students in classes with TFA teachers did demonstrably better on math tests than students in non-TFA classrooms.  Many TFA teachers continue beyond their two year commitment.

TFA teachers, by their very nature, are go-getters. Most were excellent university students who could have gone straight into high-paying careers, but chose to spend some of their early years working with American youth. They do what it takes to get the job done.  They’ll stay beyond the final bell.  They essentially toss the collective bargaining agreement out the window.  It’s that type of drive that gives heartburn to union organizers who want the school to operate according to the contract.

Washington Post columnist George Will called Teach For America “a template for transformation.”

Randi Weingarten recently praised TFA in Education Week, saying:

Teach for America has attracted thousands of highly educated, idealistic young people to undertake one of the toughest jobs out there in some of the most challenging environments.…

Educators are all in this together.  One group should not be pitted against another, when our focus must be on the devastating cuts that threaten great harm to a generation of children.

So consider this skunk at the garden party. Leo Casey, vice president the New York City United Federation of Teachers, seems to believe that TFA is somehow bad because too many of the teachers are white. The film clip of his comments comes from EAGtv:

The teaching force in New York City has become steadily whiter under [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg and [former schools Chancellor Joel] Klein and it is connected I think in significant measure to the use of groups like Teach for America which are significantly whiter than the teaching force.

Yes, at the socialist-organized Left Forum, Casey tossed the race card on the table, accusing Teach For America of “whitening” New York City public schools.

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Though it is often hidden, covered up, or excused, every now and then, union bosses give the public a glimpse of what they really think about unions when it comes to their own workers being unionized. In fact, it’s really not that uncommon for union bosses to engage in the same so-called “union-busting” activities they like to accuse companies (and Republicans) of doing.

Last year, for example, there was the incident of the longtime employee who tried to unionize the United Federation of Teachers, only to be fired. There was also the incident just a couple of month ago when the staff reps at UFCW Local 400 petitioned to unionize, only to be called ”completely clueless, unappreciative, and incompetent” by a member of the UFCW’s management. Of course, there was incident of the UAW imposing cuts on its own union staff last year, as well as the Teamsters’ Jim Hoffa getting tough when the union staff at the Teamsters headquarters threatened to walk off the job in 2009.

Despite all of these examples (and more), it is somewhat unusual, though, for union bosses to get caught so blatantly seeming to act in concert to bust a union within their union as the Amalgamated Transit Union bosses have been accused of doing: (more…)

Teacher union leaders have been known to bark back when their strongest job protection – tenure – is referred to as a job for life.

“Despite current misconceptions tenure is not ‘given’ by the DOE. The only legal requirement for tenure is actually time; three years for teachers. After a three year period, within license, of being on payroll and the DOE has done nothing to stop the clock, you are automatically granted tenure,” Kaufman writes. “In fact you can be theoretically rated unsatisfactory for each of the three years and still get tenure if the DOE doesn’t fire you or cause you to extend your probation.”

The Education Action Group believes that the New York City teachers union’s impending lawsuit over the release of teacher ratings exposes its true motivation to protect sub-par teachers and preserve the failing system.

New York education officials’ made the bold move to release rankings of 12,000 fourth through eighth-grade teachers recently to inject more accountability into an education system plagued by huge union-related costs, terrible graduation rates, and thousands of teachers that simply collect checks to do nothing.

The financial and other abuses the teachers unions perpetuate on public schools is a national problem that can only be corrected when citizens have unfettered access to all information available to make informed decisions. Transparency is critically important to ensure that all students receive the best education possible.

The New York City teacher rankings would, like recently released Los Angeles teacher ratings, lay the groundwork for a more transparent, effective public education system.

Unfortunately, the NYC teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers, has vowed to take the issue to the State Supreme Court in Manhattan today because UFT President Michael Mulgrew contends that the system is “unreliable and in a developmental stage,” the New York Times reports.

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By now, most Americans know how hard union bosses pushed, tugged, bullied and threatened, using tens of millions of their members’ money on advertising and lobbying, all to get health care reform passed.

Most Americans also remember (though many did not believe) the promises that health care reform would make health care “affordable for all.” And no one can forget how the legislation was sold to Americans:

The Chairmen of the three Committees with jurisdiction over health policy in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced comprehensive health care reform legislation today that will reduce out-of-control costs, encourage competition among insurance plans to improve choices for patients, and expand access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

Well, on March 23rd (not quite six months ago), the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law. That same day, a jubilant Andy Stern even recorded this video for his SEIU members, congratulating them on ow the SEIU “changed America forever.” That was then… The Chickens Start to Come Home (aka the Law of Unintended Consequences) Almost immediately after the passage of what is now called “ObamaCare,” like a pebble thrown into calm waters, waves began to develop. Karma. The first sign of trouble began when a number of companies began taking hundreds of millions of dollars ($1 billion in AT&T’s case) in write downs due to the projected cost of ObamaCare, making Congress and the Administration furious. In fact, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) was so furious that he ordered a show-trial hearing to be held and then he abruptly cancelled it.  It soon became clear why, as noted by the Daily Caller [emphasis added]:

Publicly, Waxman said the investigation showed the companies’ disclosures were properly filed. But a new report from committee Republicans reveals the documents Waxman obtained included embarrassing evidence that the health-care law could drive up insurance premiums and force employers to dump employees from their health plans. “Turns out Obamacare means if you like your health plan you can lose it. The president didn’t have to actually strong-arm companies into dumping their employee health insurance because his bill carried financial incentives to virtually guarantee that result,” Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Rep. Joe Barton, Texas Republican, said. Most significantly, documents unearthed by the investigation highlight companies that are considering dumping employees from their current health-care plans in the face of new costs from the health-care law. President Obama repeatedly promised his health-care law would let Americans keep their current insurance if they’re happy with it.

The dumping begins… Over the past couple of weeks, months after Henry Waxman’s initial embarrassment, a big problem has begun to emerge for the Democrats who worked so hard to pass ObamaCare.  News has begun to break that companies are, in fact, beginning to dump their employees (or retirees) health care benefits.

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The irony would be humorous if it weren’t so sad: The United Federation of Teachers, the New York City branch of the American Federation of Teachers, which pushed ardently for ObamaCare has now requested – and received – a waiver from its mandates.

The UFT is a member of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT).  In September 2009, the NYSUT’s website published “Health care reform: facts vs. myths.” Here’s an excerpt:

• Myth: Health care reform will force you out of your current insurance plan or force you to change doctors.
• Fact: You can keep your existing insurance; reform will expand your medical options, not eliminate them.

ObamaCare was such a great idea at the time - the AFT gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Healthcare for America Now, the leading organization pushing for the government takeover of health care.

It was announced Thursday that the UFT has requested and received an Obamacare-waiver after it discovered their members would end up losing their health insurance plans.  Uh oh.

According to USA Today, “The waivers are effective for a year and were granted to insurance plans and companies (i.e. the union and its affiliated “UFT Welfare Fund”) that showed that employee premiums would rise or that workers would lose coverage without them.”

If the union thought ObamaCare would benefit the country, then why seek a waiver?  And can we now count the union as a partner in the effort to repeal it?

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It’s truly fascinating, and not the least bit ironic, when union bosses treat their own workers as bad or worse than the employers they attack.

As union bosses clamor for enactment of so-called “card check,” (otherwise known as Employee Free Choice Act), it seems that when confronted with union issues among their own employees, they act every bit as barbaric as the robber barons of yore.

In a move of stunning hypocrisy, the United Federation of Teachers axed one of its longtime employees — for trying to unionize the powerful labor organization’s own workers, it was charged yesterday.

Jim Callaghan, a veteran writer for the teachers union, told The Post he was booted from his $100,000-a-year job just two months after he informed UFT President Michael Mulgrew that he was trying to unionize some of his co-workers.

“I was fired for trying to start a union at the UFT,” said a dumbfounded Callaghan, who worked for the union’s newsletter and as a speechwriter for union leaders for the past 13 years.

[snip]

Callaghan said that yesterday morning, he was hauled into a meeting with UFT officials, including CFO David Hickey, and told only that he was being fired from his job and had a half-hour to clear out of the office.

“They gave me no reason, no letter, no cause at all,” said Callaghan, who insisted that he has received no reprimands or notices about problems with his work. He noted that he wrote six stories in the most recent newsletter for teachers.

Callaghan said the union-busting bullying continued after he was told he was fired, when UFT leaders called in a detail of six uniformed cops to remove him from his office because he wasn’t leaving fast enough.

Callaghan said he decided to unionize the 12 UFT writers after a colleague was fired last year without cause.

“We have no protections and no disciplinary process,” he said.

While the UFT is an example of the hypocrisy that permeates the union movement, it is only one case out of many over the years.

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