Randi Weingarten just posted this statement.
The difficult choices New Yorkers face at the polls
As I head back home to vote on Nov. 4, I’ll be casting my vote for the candidates endorsed by NYSUT, my statewide union, starting with Eric Schneiderman for attorney general, Thomas DiNapoli for comptroller, Tim Bishop for the U.S. House of Representatives, and a strong pro-public education, pro-worker majority in the state Senate and Assembly. And I’ll be voting on the Working Families Party line. If I lived in another state, I’d be starting with the governor—but not in New York.
It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening in New York, especially after campaigning across the country for gubernatorial candidates who unequivocally support public education, respect teachers and will fight for the investment our schools need.
But in New York, the decision is painful. I am deeply disappointed and appalled by Gov. Cuomo’s recent statement that public education is a “monopoly” that needs to be busted up. (Frankly, it’s only hedge fund millionaires, right-wing privatizers and tea partiers who would use that terminology.) Public education is a public good and an anchor of democracy that is enshrined in our state constitution. Public education needs to be nurtured and reclaimed.
At the same time, the other major candidate, Rob Astorino, would be no day at the beach for New York’s students, educators and working families. His letter was a needed salve to teachers, but his embrace of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s politics of destruction, public education funding cuts and attacks on workers’ voices is not a model for New York.
Whichever candidate is elected governor on Nov. 4 needs to know that I (and so many others) will hold his feet to the fire to strengthen public education. Our public schools and our students are a sacred responsibility, and our educators are national treasures. It’s well past time to fund our schools, care for our children, support our teachers, and stand up for workers and working families everywhere in our state.
Randi Weingarten
– See more at: http://www.aft.org/difficult-choices-new-yorkers-face-polls#sthash.XfQPasN8.dpuf
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I don’t really understand the basis for wanting to break up the public schools “monopoly.” It’s a public good, a public trust. Does anyone want to break up the public monopoly of airports? Or public highways? How about the US military? I don’t understand this thinking at all, other than Cuomo has presidential aspirations and believes that this rhetoric will gain big money donors.
The problem is that education is not really a public good.
You apparently do not feel that an educated populace is a good thing? Somalia might be a good place for you then–no government or other “public goods.” Must be a paradise, right?
I think an educated populace is a good thing.
For example, it would be nice if more people knew that “public good” does not mean “anything that would be good for the populace”.
Threatened,
The term “public good” has a technical meaning and education does not fit that meaning. The same is true for food. A well nourished population is certainly good for a society, but that does not make food a public good in the way economists use the term.
Let us discuss the issue on other than as an economic ‘term of art’. How about legally? “The right to a free public education is found in the various state constitutions and not in the federal constitution. Every state has a provision in its constitution, commonly called the “education article,” that guarantees some form of free public education, usually through the twelfth grade. The federal constitution, on the other hand, contains no such guarantee.
“…Nevertheless, once a state decides to provide an education to its children, as every state has, the provision of such education must be consistent with other federally guaranteed constitutional rights, such as the Fourteenth Amendment’s right to equal protection under the law and the First Amendment’s right to the free exercise of, and the non-establishment of, religion.”
(cites from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1882/Constitutional-Requirements-Governing-American-Education.html )
S and F,
Saying that someone has the right to a free education does not require that the government actually produces the education, merely that the government provides resources to pay for it. We generally think people should be free from hunger, but we typically give those who are hungry a voucher for food rather than having the government run farms to produce food for the hungry.
We can pass laws that make a good no excludable (one of the technical requirements for a good to be a public good), but no law can make a good non-rival (the other technical requirement for a good to be a public good). Education is excludable and students are excluded from schools all the time for not living in a district and are rival if congested as every teacher knows when a class size gets too large. Education is what economists call a club good, though one with significant externalities that warrent public subsidy.
Kate, it’s coded for Wall Street investors and large donors. The charter lobby money is only the tip of the iceberg because a generous federal loophole allows Wall Street to launder debt through construction of charters in “empowerment zones” that revert back to taxpayers after they set up property deals with rent schedules that are balloon payment time bombs.
Remember, Cuomo was the Attorney General for NY State when the financial crisis was mushrooming all across the globe, and as far as he looked, he could not find any examples of criminality or law breaking. That kind of loyalty is not soon forgotten.
Don’t worry, privatization of airports and highways is probably on the Wall St agenda. And the military has plenty of private contractors doing its work. Where there is big government money, there will be privatization here.
Justateacher,
If you have flown in or out of Reagan National or Dulles airports in Washington anytime in the last quarter century you have arguably used a privatized airport: http://www.mwaa.com/263.htm
TE, much in our society is privatized. Then public schools should not be. I go to a private grocery story; a private gas station; a private department story. They open and close; they come and go. That is no argument to privatize public education, which is a fundamental responsibility of society. Have you noticed that none of the highest scoring nations in the world have charter schools or vouchers. They have public school systems. Or should we emulate Chile?
Dr. Ravitch,
I would argue that clothing, feeding, and sheltering are all fundamental responsibilities of society. One important question is how should society best fulfill those responsibilities. Just as it is not obvious that the best way to fulfill the responsibility of feeding members of society is for the government to directly run all farms in the country, it is not obvious that the best way for the government to fulfill the responsibility to provide all citizens with the opportunity to get an education is for the government to directly run all the schools in the country. In fact, the repeated use of private schools as the outstanding examples of education suggest that independent schools can be very high quality indeed.
Too little too late Randi. You, WFP, and AFT screwed up bigtime, and the mistake will cost NYers for many years to come. You could have endorsed Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu from the beginning and then there would be no difficult choice at all right now. You created this mess as far as I’m concerned.
I agree with you!
I, too, agree. They all screwed up BIGTIME.
Yup!
That’s because the Unions were accepting cash from the very people who are destroying public education all while turning to the teachers and saying pay your dues we are fighting and looking out for you guys. Yeah right! Teachers must form their own Unions if not they will suffer the consequences.
I’m not seeing where Weingarten says she’s not voting for Cuomo. Is this written in cipher? Can someone break the code for me?
I was thinking the very same thing. NO WHERE does she say she is NOT voting for Cuomo. And after what she has said during the past week, I simply do not trust her.
I’m waiting for Randi to come out against domestic violence, child abuse and the Third Reich.
Fred, thank you so much for your continued biting — yet right on — criticism of the powers that be! And yes, Randi is part of the “powers that be.” Anyone who forgets that is missing the boat….
I don’t see it either….. would have been far more effective and transparent for her to actually use the words: “I’m not going to vote for Cuomo or for Astorino – I’m going to write in xyz”…. I’ve heard the “will be holding their feet to the fire” rhetoric from Randi before…. what EXACTLY does that action look like?
I do not believe a word of it. Just the other day, Randi excused Cuomo’s reprehensible comments on public education. I am tired of being played.
She has to negotiate with him no matter what….
So—she’s not voting for Governor at all. There’s a courageous stand.
Soo, WFP line includes Cuomo…
http://workingfamilies.org/2014/10/mike-boland-im-voting-wfp/
“And I’ll be voting on the Working Families Party line. If I lived in another state, I’d be starting with the governor—but not in New York.”
Maybe she’s going to start at the bottom and work her way up the line to governor.
Great thought!
That’s exactly how I interpreted the statement!
I can’t even tell you the amount of Women’s Equality Party mailings and phone calls I have received in the past 2 weeks. The communications basically mask that Cuomo is the candidate and instead urge you to vote for equality of women. DiBlasio’s face appeared on one of the mailings with no images of Cuomo.
As a NYC public school mom (who reads this blog), I find this approach so dishonest. I fruitlessly tried to tell a caller yesterday that I wasn’t going to vote for Cuomo and the caller harrassed me saying don’t I care about women and their right to earn the same amount? As if Cuomo is all about working women (or men) and their needs!
Randi Weingarten is a joke! She is as bad as Cuomo as she changes her story as often as he does. Just the other day she was encouraging teachers to vote for him. She is not going to do a damn thing to fix education if Cuomo is reelected!! All talk, no action!!! Hopefully the teachers are smart enough to make the right decision and stand beside parents who will be voting for Astorino in an effort to save their children’s education and future. Voting any other way will just ensure a Cuomo win.
They are both monsters, Cuomo and Astorino, and Randy is their little Igor . . . .
Randi has been all over the place – she endorsed APPR and Common Core until the grassroots rose against them. Why didn’t she just listen in the first place?
Also, I heard her praising the Chicago strike as “a win”, but where was she when it was going on? Why didn’t NY fight against APPR when they were forcing it on us?
I’ve been talking to my neighbors and friends and here in Upstate NY (25 miles north of NYC); we all know Cuomo will win but I too cannot in good faith vote for Andrew Cuomo. At one time I thought he was a real leader; now I feel he is nothing but an interloper in the bed of Bill & Marcia Gates! I have thought about writing in my own personal choice (K. Mitchell!) yet I understand the need to endorse the WFP political power! I will be voting GREEN! and praying for the best possible outcome!
Big question: Will there be another Robocall “for Hochul” tonight:
http://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2014/11/02/weingarten-tries-to-steer-new-york-voters-toward-cuomo/
There already was. I hung up on “it.”
Mr. Astorino, you won’t be getting the vote of me/my husband either!
I’m not sure why it’s a difficult choice. Vote for the candidate who supports locally controlled public schools. Vote your interest and the interest of children, teachers, and public schools. End of discussion. I agree that Cuomo will most likely win. But, when do we start busting the Democrat/Republican monopoly over public education policy? This is a good place to start.
Why I’m voting for the Green Party in 2014: http://publicschoolscentral.com/2014/10/29/why-im-voting-for-the-green-party-for-governor-of-new-york-in-2014-its-time-to-bust-the-democratrepublican-political-monopoly/
If I’m not mistaken, all that says is she won’t be voting for Cuomo on the WFP line. There are, in fact, a few other places to vote for Cuomo. And after our union made such a huge push to make sure Cuomo got on the WFP line, essentially rendering it irrelevant to those of us who are working families, it’s kind of ungrateful not to vote for the miserable candidate the rest of us are stuck with. I’d vote WFP if it said Zephyr Teachout. Right now, it says just about nothing, and the statement above means just about nothing too.
Yes, you can vote for Cuomo on the Women’s Equality Party ticket. I’ve received many mailing and phone calls urging me to vote for that party with no mention that it’s Cuomo.
I heard somewhere he’s also running as a Democrat. I’d consider voting that line if only I knew what they stood for. I can only suppose it’s whatever Cuomo stands for.
Cuomo created Women’s Equality Party to destroy WFP. Back stabber and double-crosser that he is.
Mark Collins, yes, we have the WFP, now Cuomo’s WEP. Tim Farley, a principal, suggested a new party to confuse voters: WTF.
Great point. Bringing smiles and laughter. You made my day.
Thank you Mr. Goldstein for clarifying my reply – I will be voting Hawkins/Jones as the WFP has been watered down by Cuomo’s nonsupport of the working families in NY State!
This is dissappointing. She makes it sound like there are only two candidates and that both are poor choices. Yes, they are both poor choices, but there is a NYS gubernatorial candidate who has been speaking up for public education and teachers for years now – Howie Hawkins. Vote Green Party if you care at all about education.
Andrew “Evil Spawn of the Good Father’s Name” Cuomo is deliberately manipulating the definition of “monopoly”. Monopoly, he or anyone who has ever taken Economics 101 or the equivalent, should know can only refer to a Profit Making Enterprise—a private company whose objective is to make money, create a return on investment.
Cuomo and the Hedge Fund miscreants who control him are using terms like “monopoly” to confuse and manipulate public opinion with the intention of ultimately getting more of those public dollars siphoned off into their own bank accounts.
Cuomo and his puppet string holders don’t understand—or, more likely are hoping WE don’t understand the distinction between “monopoly” and “community”; the latter is what nurtures a public school and helps it improve and thrive. I’m very happy that the community around my child’s school is one that is actively supported by the surrounding families, allowing us to know and love one another, or even at a minimum, to recognize that we’re all in this together, and our schools will be as good or as bad as the level of our commitment and involvement—and the educational background and financial stability of our households.
This is going to be my go-to response the next time my wife accuses me of monopolizing a conversation.
Government monopolies and government-granted monopolies are both standard terms in economics with well-understood meanings.
For example, if a country had a state-owned postal service that forbade any competition, it would not constitute a misuse of the term “monopoly” to say that the state postal service constitutes a monopoly, even if the state-owned postal service is not a profit-making enterprise for the state.
Although it would be a spectacularly ineffective monopoly.
I’m no economist, but it doesn’t seem to me that the public school system has a monopoly on education, any more than the USPS has a monopoly on mail.
The USPS is the only organization allowed to deliver first class mail. Admittedly being the only organization that is allowed employ people to actually walk letters to each household is not nearly as valuable as it used to be.
Remind me what first class mail is again?
That, in a nutshell, is the problem the USPS faces.
How the field of economics defines the provision of public education is just one piece of a larger picture. Their narrow and academic definitions are sound bites that appear regularly in the propaganda pushed by privatizers.
Let’s stick to legalities: Cuomo as governor took an oath to faithfully uphold the constitution of the state of NY, which includes ‘provision for the support and maintenance of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this state may be educated.’ This would appear to be the ‘monopoly’ he’s pledging to ‘bust’.
If I were a New Yorker I’d be voting green. A significant number of votes for that party will clarify that Cuomo does not have a mandate on this issue.
S and F,
There appears to be nothing about using geographic admission criteria in your quote from the state constitution. A system of choice schools where every student is assured a seat in some reasonably convenient school would seem to fulfill the requirement.
I am with Randi. I am voting for the green party as a protest vote.
but Randi doesn’t say she’s voting with the green party either, does she?????
It shouldn’t be as a protest vote, you should vote for the Green Party because they represent the best solutions to the current problems our society is currently facing. Geesh people this is exactly why the Dems and Repubs do whatever the hell they want with no fear of ever being held accountable for their actions. Vote for who you feel is the best candidate period.
Dear Real One, Here Here – I put my comment on the wrong post! I also find it very disturbing that only 38% of the electorate will vote today – how sad is that! I will be voting Green today; Hawkins & Jones. Momofadifferentlearner who supports my local public schools.
Why does she continue to ignore Howie Hawkins???? It’s so easy to dismiss Astorino; he’s not that different from Cuomo. But Howie Hawkins is a pro-public education candidate. She should be supporting him. I just don’t get it.
you don’t get it because it’s not about who is the best candidate for education; it’s about where the money and power lies…
Here Here!
Good job I’m happy to hear you are voting Green and definitely optimistic about the future when reading just how many people are starting to see the light. I started with Nader and have not voted for a Dem or Repub since. You made the right choice and kudos to you.
I meant to say and “I’m” really optimistic in the post above. This auto correct feature on these phones really is annoying.
I don’t disagree with Randi one bit.
For once she is right and saying and doing the right thing.
But whether or not Randi is genuine or politically manipulative (and sometimes I theorize that she herself does not really know the difference in herself because I think in many ways she has lied to herself over the years), it does not matter.
It is too little and too late for her credibility to take any flight now. But I never think it’s too late for all of us to reinvent our unions and multiply our strength.
To Ms. Weingarten, I offer some homage:
Randy, Randy
political eye candy
did you think
you’d remain
forever so dandy?
ready to sell out,
and now to be
handy?
back and forth:
east was west,
and south was north,
flip flopping
more strongly
than the winds
of Sandy.
Oh Randy, my Randy,
rhetoric you’d bandy
between teachers
and reform
did you really think
the truth would deform?
your schemes and your themes
are globally warmed
you cannot hide now
behind icebergs melted,
and the public harmed
and education pelted
Randy, Randy
What were you thinking?
Try as you may,
we teachers are sinking . . .
“Is” really annoying. Can someone tell me how to disable this crap on my phone?
iphone?
What is really annoying? What is “Is”?
Robert,
I think the poster Is complaining about autocorrect.
I needed to do a close reading . . . .
I would like to see Diane Ravitch comment on Randi’s statement.
Em,
I am glad that Randi rebuked Cuomo for his vicious attack on public schools and teachers. I have a low opinion of him. I am voting Green. I think Randi made as strong a statement as she could. No one will know what she does in the voting booth. I hope she votes Green.
Surely you must think she could have made a stronger statement, given that initially you literally did think she had made a stronger statement (i.e. that she would not vote for Cuomo).
FLERP, I don’t write Randi’s statements. I changed the title to make it accurate.
I don’t think Diane is misleading at all about how she feels about Randi. Diane and I don’t 100% agree about Randi, but Diane’s politics, which clearly are not anything substantially like Randi’s in the net final analysis, are aligned with teachers’ politics and needs.
Maybe Randi will listen a little more to the wisdom of Diane. Their friendship means nothing to me. It is irrelevant to Randi’s views and actions and those of Diane’s and NPE. Follow both women’s actions and statements closely over the last 5 years, and the fact base proves this over and over again beyond the gossamer of a doubt.
Which is why I don’t know why people doubt any of Diane’s motivations.
I think this should be made very clear.
I don’t care who Randi really is. But I personally celebrate and grow every day upon what Diane does and says. And I don’t look to here as some kind of savior, but she does facilitate indeed.
There is NO superhero here. . . .we must all continue to become our own Diane Ravitches and Karen Lewises and Mercedes Schneiders . . . . . This is an US movement, and we honey boo boos have to stop blaming big bad mama June Shannon Weingarten and look to our adult selves to rectify this situation.
Yes, have your blame-Randi festivals, and please invite me, because I can’t stand her any more than anyone else. In fact, let’s make a large life size poster and throw darts. But beyond that, there is no more “her” despite her power.
There is only US . . . .
I don’t mean for this to sound like a harsh missive, but given that everyone is challenged, let’s support each other.
Let me give you a stunning example of this: MORE was formed as a caucus to essentially rebel against the UFT and Weingarten. MORE has been formed, has fought for the last 3 or 4 years, and MORE’s head guy Brian Jones is now on the ballot for lieutenant governor with Howie Hawkins, and both are on the NY Green Party. I am not saying I think that MORE’s angle of “social justice” does not miss the mark as perceived and needed by NYC teachers, but the existence of MORE makes a bold and seminal statement. This is prime evidence that David will be a contender for Goliath. Remember that before now, David was not even born, as Goliath was able, back then, to kill every new born more than Herod.
Karen Lewis’s rise to power is another such example, although the power structure of the CTU was far more democratic and subject to power fluctuation compared to the Fort Knox known as the UFT
I am proud of both men, who have risen rapidly for good reason. I am proud and enthralled by Karen and her accomplishments.
This is still going to be a very long fight, but we must use shining examples of these outliers to build upon.
And watch for Francesco Portelos, another rising star in NYC public education politics. The guy is on fire!
Cuomo will be the governor for the next four years … how do we deal with Cuomo? How do we build alliances? Are we currently working with parents about parent issues? How do we build alliances with parents in suburbs and inner city parents? and, most importantly, how do we make schools more attractive to all parents?
Dance parties!
Astorino, the Westchester County executive, 3/18/14released a video on his campaign website saying he and his wife are protesting Common Core by opting out of the exams this week for their children in third and fifth grade….Astorino called the standards “Cuomo’s Common Core” and said New York’s parents and teachers will lose local control over classrooms.
Again last month Astorino went on record saying, that he plans to to repeal the Common Core standards and replace them with in-state developed standards, if elected. “Now we know what we’re getting into (with Common Core): a true experiment, an experiment where we may not get the answers for 10 or 15 years to see if it ever worked,” Astorino said last month.
I agree with and applaud Astorino’s take on the CCSS. I’d vote for him except that he, like Cuomo, is a very big advocate of the charter school movement.
Actually, I’d CONSIDER voting for him. I didn’t really check his entire platform once I saw that he was pro charter.
Randi Weasel Garden: Exaggerated student teaching and thin teaching experience. Therefore, never forgets to remind us of her concern for her “kids.”
Late mumbo jumbo re Cuomo just the latest bit of hedge fun career. Remember when she named George Pataki the Educator of the Year while he was busy thwarting the CFE settlement.
Wretched, desperate, tragic role in maintaining Unity’s power even if it means sell out of members and public education.
Well, once again the BS artist puts her spin on a situation she herself has caused.
Diane,
If she wanted to endorse the Green Party, she should say so. Or better yet, apologize for derailing Teachout in favor of Cuomo. I personally am sick and tired of her making these statements to cover her ass!! She has yet to support good candidates as you yourself pointed out in your post on the Connecticut governor’s race. She has no shame and no regard for any public school teacher when she helped make sure that Teachout would not get the WFP endorsement.
I will no longer vote any WFP candidate or have any regard for such a cowardly political party.
Schoolgal, Randi Weingarten is one hundred percent politician. Nothing else. And she will ally with the Democratic climbers, period. There will be no genuine stands against them coming from her.
Perfectly put, Mercedes . . . .
Of course Randi will vote for the governor. If not, what difference does it make? Compare her personal vote to the vote of the massive organizations she is aligned with and who have endorsed Cuomo or who have not actively said they are voting for the Green Party.
It would have been far more useful, powerful, and moral for Randi to have declared publicly that she is voting for the Green Party, which would have had far more impact than her tiny little hand moving that lever in the booth.
But, please, ladies and gentlemen, don’t look to Randi:
http://thetruthoneducationreform.blogspot.com/2013/02/run-for-your-life.html?view=snapshot
Look only to yourselves and your allies.
I have yet to hear why Randi did not endorse Zephyr Teachout, the only candidate who speaks for us.
All the respect and admiration in the world for you, Diane, but I don’t see how we risk losing an ally by criticizing/alienating Randi. She’s not an “ally” in the first place. She’s the president of our national union; elected to represent public school teachers throughout the United States.
And if questioning her decisions and motives alienates her, I’m curious how we would lose her, anyway. What would she do? Snub us? That’s not what is expect from an elected official, much less an ally.
I’ve given Randi a lot of slack. I understand that it’s a big and difficult job. But I (and many, many of my colleagues) have had enough. Too many unexplained absences, silences, and moves that our contrary to our interests.
This will be the first election in a Lon time in which I’ve voted for the candidate who I think truly deserves my vote. No more lesser of two evils. No more political moves. Green Party all the way.
Easy look no further than her wallet and bank account
Have you ever heard of the Green Party, Randi?
She should have supported Teachout, and she should be supporting Hawkins. If thousands of teachers voted for him, it would send a message, at least. If you’re going to lose, you ought to at least speak up for yourself and not go down licking the boots that are kicking you.
Remaining loyal to the two-party system when there is no appreciable difference is killing teachers (sometimes literally). Voting for Cuomo out of fear for Republicans is laughable, and she just ignored Hawkins. As long as that happens, we will never have more CHOICE (ironically).
The AFT needs better leadership.
Don’t wanna judge nobody, don’t wanna be judged
Don’t wanna touch nobody, don’t wanna be touched
Don’t wanna hurt nobody, don’t wanna be hurt
Don’t wanna treat nobody like they was dirt
But if you do right to me, baby
I’ll do right to you too
Got to do unto others like you’d have them
Like you’d have them, do unto you
Don’t wanna shoot nobody, don’t wanna be shot
Don’t wanna buy nobody, don’t wanna be bought
Don’t wanna bury nobody, don’t wanna be buried
Don’t wanna marry nobody if they’re already married
But if you do right to me, baby
I’ll do right to you too
Got to do unto others like you’d have them
Well, like you’d have them do unto you
Don’t wanna burn nobody, don’t wanna be burned
Don’t wanna learn from nobody what I gotta unlearn
Don’t wanna cheat nobody but don’t wanna be cheated
Don’t wanna defeat nobody if they’re already been defeated
But if you do right to me, baby
I’ll do right to you too
Ya got to do unto others like you’d have them
Well, like you’d have them, do unto you
Don’t wanna wink at nobody, I don’t wanna be winked at
Don’t wanna be used by nobody for a doormat
Don’t wanna confuse nobody, don’t wanna be confused
Don’t wanna amuse nobody and don’t wanna be amused
But if you do right to me, baby
I’ll do right to you too
Got to do unto others like you’d have them
Say, like you’d have them, do unto you
Don’t wanna betray nobody, don’t wanna be betrayed
Don’t wanna play with nobody, don’t wanna be waylaid
Don’t wanna miss nobody, don’t wanna be missed
Don’t put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist
But if you do right to me, baby
I’ll do right to you too
Ya got to do unto others like you’d have them
Like you’d have them do unto you Z-Man
“Whichever candidate is elected Governor on November 4th needs to know that I… will hold his feet to the fire to strengthen public eduction.”
Well, for all those teachers in NY enduring Professional Detention today, with its harangues about Common Core, Danielson and MOSL (all supported by Weingarten and her apparatchiks), at least this statement will provide some dark comic relief.
Here’s some more comic relief, from the Capital NY story:
UPDATE AND CORRECTION: In a statement late Monday night, Weingarten said her memo did not clearly state she wouldn’t vote for Cuomo. “I didn’t say I would, I didn’t say I wouldn’t. I said it’s painful and heartbreaking,” the statement said.
The headline and lead have been updated to reflect more accurately the vagueness of Weingarten’s post.
I’m sure that teachers with targets on their backs – ATRs navigating a professional minefield, teachers rated ineffective due to opaque VAM scores in subjects they don’t teach, teachers threatened with excessing due to charter invasions,etc. – with effectively no union to fight for them, are deeply moved by Ms. Weingarten’s heartbreak and pain.
Interesting article from the Nation and how the WFP managed to weaken their cause by endorsing Cuomo. (Like anybody with a brain couldn’t figure out this would happen!!)
http://m.thenation.com/blog/186641-no-quid-pro-quo-no-cuomo-vote-howie-hawkins-november-4
Yes, schoolgal…it is a really interesting article. Thanks for the link
Did RW actually commit to not voting for cuomo? An obtuse letter.
Obtuseness might be forgivable, but this is willful misdirection.