That's the sort of thing we get from Bill de Blasio, who the New York Post would have you believe is the next Che Guevara or something. Ironically , that sounds pretty Bloombergian to me, at least. But alas, now we have a Democratic administration in DC, and they've managed to push through the aid package we should've had months ago. So de Blasio's goons are no longer turning over seat cushions and searching for spare change. Yet here they are with an obligation to negotiate an incentive.
But things have changed. They're no longer so broke they need to find cost-saving measures. And yet, there is this obligation. So what do you do if you're a lying weasel, like Bill de Blasio, but you want to look like a legendary statesman? It's a conundrum.
I guess what you do is what he did. You toss out a poison pill you know to be unacceptable. You say to the UFT, well these people can have the ERI, but those people can't. Now I'm an ESL teacher, and we're always in short supply. (That's why the geniuses in Albany have abdicated responsibility, and basically declared newcomers don't need no stinking English. You see that? Problem solved.) I assume, if the UFT were to agree to these demands, I'd be ineligible.
I don't know about you, but that would really piss me off. I spent years trying to get a job as an English teacher, but I didn't have much success at first. While I was waiting to find a permanent appointment, I started teaching ESL and decided I wanted to keep doing it. By the time the city got around to offering me a permanent English position, I didn't want it anymore. I took half a year off, played in the worst Irish wedding band on earth, and got the credits I needed for ESL certification.
I was appointed instantly when I was finally certified. To be penalized, decades later, for meeting a need the city had and still has, would be outrageous. I'm glad UFT leadership has declined this demand.
Nonetheless, it's not difficult to see that the city simply put that demand out so it could weasel out of its obligations. See, we offered you a deal but you turned it down.
I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised. De Blasio has been a disappointment from day one. He left all of Bloomberg's people in place and the DOE is just as hostile as it was before he came in. I don't know how many times I've brought slam dunk cases to step two grievances only to be shot down by the goons who rep the city.
Goons they are, and the head goon is Bill de Blasio. If he cared remotely about working people, he'd keep his commitment to us.
Go ahead and prove me wrong, Mr. Mayor. I'm waiting. And I'm seated.
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