Minutes--passed
UFT President Michael Mulgrew--Asks for moment of silence for Lowell Wayne, Michael Levine, and Edward Hines, all of whom did work for union.
State budget--Multiple meetings about mask mandates. NYC has a mandate issued by DOH, not governor. Court case that issued stay had to do with governor's mandate, not NYC mandate. Things are moving toward options on masks. Governor says it's premature to speak of dropping mandates on schools. Positivity is going down. There is a movement, though, among people who see Omicron nearing its end in our area. We still have concerns about vax percentage for 5-11 year olds, and all students.
For us, the conversation has to be with NYC DOH. We are talking to doctors. People are pushing for masks optional. Members have diverse views. We will work with doctors.
Legislators want to move quickly so as to focus on primaries and elections. We fought for CFE and advocated for federal money. Legislative reception in Albany tonight--endorsed Kathy Hochul. We have a lot of people running for Congress and this will go through NYSUT and AFT. This is early, but we are moving forward.
Hoping we can move forward with understanding DOE priorities. Educational agenda has focused on early childhood. Need to preserve that. People who put this system together were not really part of DOE. They knew bureaucracy would hamper them. We need to keep it in place and keep quality up. Next focus will be graduation levels in other branches. Schools are working a lot on their own, without DOE support. Frustrating that people are so used to having to work on their own. This will be big challenge with this administration.
Questions--
NYSUT governor endorsement--Is there a reason we didn't make it more participatory for UFT?
Is NYSUT endorsement. We follow their lead. Over 700 NYSUT local presidents. They have their process. We haven't endorsed governor in long time, but respect their process. Many felt strongly about it.
Can you speak to retirees about mayor's support for new health plan?
I will bring it up. When his admin dug in and saw the plan, it made sense. I don't know of anyone else who designed their own program, put it out for bid, and is now making sure it works.
Reports from Districts--
Rashad Brown--Black History film series. Finishing up second film this week. Had good turnout and feedback. Next one Thursday.
Wendy Walker Wilson--Thanks everyone that supported awards ceremony and scholarship fundraiser.
Anthony Harmon--Saturday CL training part 2.. Working on part 3 March 5 and 6.
Karen Alford--March 19 elementary early childhood conference, in person or virtually. March 22 elementary town hall.
Shelby--Fireside chat with Mulgrew for paras upcoming.
Rashad Brown--Injectable HIV treatment now. Working on details for how it relates to members.
Resolution for President of US to pardon Marcus Garvey--Rashad Brown--Asks for pressure on President Biden to exonerate Marcus Garvey, accused of mail fraud, was political. J. Edgar Hoover targeted him. Crime came down to an enpty envelope. Our students don't know who he is. He did a lot for us, as a people, as a nation. created pan-African movement, is seen as prophet. Waiting 82 years for pardon.
Barr--If you learn about this stuff, about Hoover's counter-intelligence, it began with Marcus Garvey. Take opportunity to study it.
Passes unanimously.
Acknowledgement of contribution of Haitian Revolution--DeShana Barker--Important we honor and acknowledge contributions of Haitian Revolution. Often our students are not acknowledged, nor are their ancestors. Haiti expanded limits of freedom and US reaped benefits, influenced Louisiana Purchase, end of slavery, modeled strength and perseverance. This supports our students. Asks for support.
Passes unanimously.
Move to eliminate distributive scoring.
Mike Schirtzer--We expect Regents will happen in June. Teachers have been sent out to scoring sites. Seems more cumbersome than usual this year. Should be in home schools. Private and charter schools do it. We think we can work out issues to make this adhere to state regs. Will be more cost efficient. Asks for support.
Passes unanimously.
Janella Hinds--Very happy about this. Thank you all for your support. You should know HS scoring is different from elementary and middle school scoring. Thank all of you for your support. March 4 will be our Herstory event, virtually, to celebrate contributions of women to UFT. 4:30.
6:33 We are adjourned.
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