John Powers on Cuomo and the UFT

Upated Sunday, Oct. 3, 10am
I'm reposting this with modifications. I originally posted John Powers' piece without attribution because I had not yet gotten his permission to use his name. Also some updated info on Cuomo and the constitutional convention. (Note the comments section.)

Just channel surfing on my new 46 incher but had to take a break from "Healing Powers of Juicing" when this came across ICE-mail:

Andrew Cuomo wants to hold a Constitutional convention to reduce pension benefits. Don't vote for this guy. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-22/cuomo-enters-new-york-governor-s-race-vowing-reform-update1-.html

It was pointed out to me by NYC  Educator that the article quoted above does not say that Cuomo will call a constitutional convention. And a commenter said that even if he did, the UFT still has enough power to pack it. I'm not so sure what would happen if the NY State budget crashes and the anti-union forces start attacking over the 7% interest rates and start publishing names and pensions as part of the attack - see LA Times witch hunt against teachers.

I was coming out of the gym yesterday and ran into some retired teachers and secretaries who asked whether our pensions were safe. Who can tell if there are more economic collapses and the money just isn't there? Think deflationary spiral - which occurred in the 30's. I believe I read that pensions were reduced then. I told them I thought that Cuomo might go after pension interest rates.

Does this mean I think Palladino, who would do the same thing I believe, can't win? Let's say I agree with Joy Bahar when she said his only chance to win is if all his illegitimate children vote. I can't stand Cuomo and actually don't care who wins between him and the lune. Actually on Brian Lehrer yesterday with Gotham's Elizabeth Green, Palladino actually came out even or better than Cuomo on education. So Cuomo will win as Palladine self-destructs but I'm voting for Howie Hawkins (see below).

Here is the piece from John Powers, a UFT chapter leader at Liberation HS in Brooklyn:

Hi,

At last week's DA Mulgrew spoke passionately about the state of politics in New York and across the country. He highlighted "crazy" Palladino and the importance of voting so that he can't get elected. Not one word about Cuomo was mentioned until I was called on during the Q and A.

My question: Getting back to Palladino and the election. What is our plan for Cuomo? He appears to be anti-union and anti-worker. He also wants to hold a constitutional convention so that the language protecting our pensions can be changed. What are we going to do about it?

Mulgrew acknowledged that things could get ugly and that ultimately we have to support whoever gets elected and that is why it is important to make sure our other [pro-uft] elected officials get in to support us. 

My Thoughts: Mulgrew did not want to have this discussion in front of delegates otherwise it would have (should have) been a part of his regular report. However, he was honest. And it's this honesty that reflects the larger problems and concerns of our union. There is a small elite group of leaders within the UFT/Unity machine who ultimately call all the shots without rigorous, critical dialogues (outside or inside Unity). This, of course, is undemocratic and leads to dumbing down the membership. It also affects our ability to create the possibilities related to imagination, hope and solidarity, all important ingredients needed to help defeat the austerity initiatives of people like Palladino and Cuomo as well as help build a better America. 

The issue of Cuomo also speaks quite a lot about our always settling for the lesser of two evils instead of creating structures and conditions that are healthier and more beneficial for workers, their families and communities. We are under attack and the UFT and the rest of the union labor movement continue to rely on politicians to have their backs. Times are a' changin.'

It may not matter as much as the UFT thinks to have supported so many "winners" in the recent primaries if many of them turn around and stab us in the back because of the economic/political/corporate/hedge fund/ banker /Citizens United Ruling/ oligarchical gang banging that is going on here and across Europe. We'll see.

With all of the crucial education issues being highlighted today and the wonderful, imaginative work of a small group of real reformers, the most important local issue everyone should focus on right now is CUOMO AND THE UFT LEADERSHIP'S PLAN TO DEAL WITH HIM.

PENSION PENSION PENSION PENSION PENSION. Want to wake people up? PENSION PENSION. Hey Retirees, do you like your current pension benefits? Hey 15, 20 and 25 year teachers, is your piece of pension paradise still important to you? Hey Newbie, here is what life will be like for you down the road with your future children, mortgage, student loans and medical expenses, do you want a good pension?

I think you get my drift here. 

This is not the best of all possible worlds. This is the best of all possible worst worlds.

Hoping My Pension Will Be There For Me,

John Powers

CL Liberation HS
     

Howie Hawkins of the Green Party is pro-union and anti-fracking. He's a long shot, but he is the only one that I see who is advocating a state wide ban on hydraulic-fracking, and who opposes charter schools.

For Immediate Release:

May 20, 2010

For More Info:

Howie Hawkins, 315 425-1019

Mark Dunlea, 518 860-3725

Says Democrats' and Republicans' Support for Charter Schools Benefits Their Campaign Contributors, Not Children's Education

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party nominee for Governor of New York State, said today that he opposed increasing the cap on the number of charter schools in New York.

"The Democrats and Republicans are using the budget crisis to push charter schools on behalf of their campaign contributors in Wall Street banks and hedge funds who see profit opportunities in capturing public revenue streams. We should be taxing these wealthy interests at higher rates to fund public education rather than allowing them to dismantle public education, attack teachers unions, and create a segregated two-tiered educational system for their own profit," Hawkins said.

Hawkins noted that the only major national evaluation of charter schools, which was conducted by a Stanford University group, funded by pro-charter foundations, and released a year ago, found that, compared to regular public schools, 17% of charters got higher test scores, 46% had gains that were no different than their public counterparts, and 37% were significantly worse.

According to a recent NY Times story, hedge fund managers have been mobilizing to support likely Democratic nominee Andrew Cuomo. "I oppose charter schools. Public money should be used for public schools that are accountable to the taxpayers through elected school boards. The innovations that charter schools supposedly offer can be achieved within the public schools through site-based management involving teachers and parents. I oppose the incentives in the stimulus package and the Race to the Top grants being used by the Obama administration to coerce states in fiscal crisis to pass laws that expand charter schools, evaluate teachers by their students' performance on standardized tests, and replace the public accountability of elected school boards with the corporate CEO structure of mayoral control," said Hawkins.

"A century ago education reform meant replacing mayoral control with elected school boards because school systems had become corrupt crony networks in which mayors dispatched patronage jobs to unqualified teachers and administrators and contracts to construction and maintenance firms in return for campaign contributions. The old corruption is now coming back in Chicago, New Orleans, New York, and other cities with charter schools and mayoral control. Not only are charter schools diverting money from public schools, but politicians allied with real estate interests have closed public schools on valuable urban land in order to profit from their redevelopment," he added.

According to reporting by Juan Gonzalez in the Daily News and on Democracy Now, wealthy investors and major banks have been making windfall profits by using a little-known federal tax break to finance new charter school construction. The program, the New Markets Tax Credit, is so lucrative that a lender who uses it can almost double his money in seven years. Under the New Markets program, a bank or private equity firm that lends money to a nonprofit to build a charter school can receive a 39% federal tax credit over seven years. The credit can even be piggybacked on other tax breaks for historic preservation or job creation.

In Albany, the drive for charter schools has been spearheaded by Tom Carroll, a leader of the Change NY right-wing movement that helped elect Pataki Governor. Carroll sits on the board of directors of NCB Capital Impact, a Virginia organization that used New Market Credits to pull together investors for all the Albany building loans. The Virginia organization gets "a 3% originating and management fee" for all school construction deals that Brighter Choice arranges.

Much of the support from hedge funds for Cuomo is being organized by Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, who include the founders of funds like Anchorage Capital Partners with $8 billion under management, Greenlight Capital with $6.8 billion, and Pershing Square Capital Management with $5.5 billion.

Public rhetoric to the contrary, the charter cap actually accounts for a very small number (eight to thirteen according to various reports) of the 500 points New York can earn on its Race to the Top application with the federal government to obtain an additional $700 million in funding. The guidelines also state that charter schools should "serve student populations that are similar to local district student populations, especially relative to high-need students."

New York's charters schools significantly under serve both minority and disabled students. A recent article in the Daily News reported "how in the South Bronx, charter schools have only about half the number of English language learners as do the district public schools that serve the same neighborhood. Charters as a group also enroll a much lower percentage of students with special needs than do district schools."

A UCLA Civil Rights Project study release in February found that charter schools have increased segregation. The study found that nearly 3 out of 4 black students who attend charters are in "intensely segregated" schools, with student populations that are at least 90 percent minority, twice the rate of regular public schools.