Mulgrew's Myth

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No wonder so many softballs were thrown at President Mulgrew tonight in the seminar. I don't recall a single question from a high school teacher. Was there one?

I did spot the high school Vice President and a Chapter Leader in the studio audience. But it was one PS question after another. Either way, it would have just been another softball.

Mulgrew opened with his own myth. That the UFT doesn't want a contract that hurts the children we serve. But, this one does! My question of - Why is there nothing about class size reduction in this contract? Which I submitted 15 min before the start on their online form but was not asked. I suppose if I asked - Why is there nothing to reduce the testing of our students in this contract? Or, Why is there nothing to bring back enriched curriculum with arts, music, and electives? I suppose these wouldn't have been asked either. And, for us teachers: Why is there nothing to reign in bully principals? 

I have always asked myself, Would I stand for my own children to be educated in this way? With class sizes so large, with high concentrations of high need students, with stripped curricula? This has always been the driving force behind not being able to keep my mouth shut about this system.

Instead of a meaningful discussion we got redundancy; another rehash of Unity contract propaganda. How many times was he asked if retro was paid after one retires? How many references to the career ladder combined with a murky mix of Prose schools?

There should have been a rebuttal afterward from an opposition caucus. But, let's be real. This crowd is so insecure it has to rig everything in advance. There's no way they will allow an intelligent dissenting opinion to penetrate the ditto head culture. They are counting on most of the members to say "F---k it!," Hold their noses and check the "Yes" box.