UFT Executive Board June 15, 2020--UFT Suppports Black Lives Matter, HEROES Act, and a Not Insane September

5:50 Roll Call

UFT Secretary LeRoy Barr--All resolutions and minutes have been passed via email.

Reports from Districts

Janella HInds--Sterling R. and she just hosted HS committee meeting, over 500 members, discussed September other things, 90 minutes.

Rashad Brown--Pride Committee met, will have drag queen story hour to celebrate diversity and pride month, will be drag queen bingo. 

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--Second week in row--No new Covid deaths in membership. Moving forward, we have some resolutions, but we're very focused on September. People seem to think there's an imperative to open school. Oddly, it might be safe here, but in the rest of the country things are moving backward. Will be around until there's a vaccine.

Our budget is in peril. We need the HEROES act. Senate constantly on break. We want the package before July 4 break. If not, city budget will have significant cuts. How can we open schools with all these cuts? That won't work. City budget has to be balanced by July 1.

DOE sent out info on square footage. Most useless, from Blue Book, flawed for years. That's why we want walkthroughs. You can enter buildings with request. You should coordinate with principal. Even if we just do in person teaching, there isn't enough staff to split in half. Looks like each school will need at least three cohorts. Some may go to four. So walkthrough is necessary, and soon.

I don't know if we will open, or if we will be able to work with DOE. Either we have a vaccine, we go remote, or we social distance, which is most complicated. Without HEROES Act, I don't know what will happen. We're still pushing safety, livelihood and profession.

Injustices keep piling up, but majority of Americans are saying enough is enough. We have a resolution, NY State is passing good legislation. If they move school safety to DOE it's not defunding police, but simply moving a division's payroll. City Council upset at lack of response to City Hall.

This week we have a DA, and there's a lot of anxiety on school openings. Entire MLC has asked city for early retirement incentive. We'll see what happens. We are trying, We have to get both city and state to act. We'll see where bill goes, but I don't want to give false hope. Last retirement incentive was in 98. Many elected officials don't like them.

Medical accommodations--We've asked state and want to make list of which will be acceptable. If we are opening in a social distancing school setting, then UFT and students may need them. We will need more home schooling. There has been some movement, but both CSA and we would like more. I only want to talk to them about school opening right now.

Questions

September--Teachers talking about masks. Necessary?  Yes it is. They are essential if we are in buildings.

Will students keep masks on all day? We don't know. Talking to DOE.

When principal declines walkthrough call DR.

DOE and school say people are returning. What about cleanliness in school? How do we know they're sanitzed? They've been there for three months. There is no Covid there now.

If schools follow criteria we lay out, then that should be enough. We have an agreement that ILTs are not officially recognized by us. ILT is now being subsumed by PD committee, which is made up of a majority of teachers.

Principals will not be left to own devices in school openings. We will check that each school had a mutual walkthrough. If there is no collaboration we will step in.

Childcare--very tough. Hoping schools figure out a lot at their level. It's never been done before.

Safety walkthroughs should consider ventilation and other factors. UFT may ask safety to check buildings as well. Air exchange ratios must be as high as possible.

Will DA meet over summer? Possibly. People will be quite concerned.

What will we do if members believe buildings are unsafe? We will check it out and do what we have to do.

Doesn't believe 683 will be in person. They're not prepared. 

CDC says accommodations will be granted. Who will evaluate? If you need accommodation, you will get it from your doctor.

Members who live far away and have children may cause us to change what we have to do. We may have to do something dramatically different.

In Europe, they did K-8 live and HS remote. Some have done the opposite. Thinking NYC would want K-8 as much as possible.

We will extend open market to accommodate budget. If we don't get federal package, I don't even know how we'll open safely.

We have DA on Wednesday. Will try to answer as many questions as possible. People upset, angry, wish I had better partner than DOE.

For us, we only hit our remote groove in May, but how can we plan with no budget? Regardless, we focus on safety, livelihood and profession. We will also work on social good. We will miss a lot of end-year events.

We'll have a big party when we have a vaccine.

Q--What do you recommend teachers and CLS focus on?

A--Breaking up into cohorts. You may have ten classes of ten, but only eight teachers. Not sure we can even cover in person learning. When you get to three, we can finally cover it. We will have to come up with something different.  We need to focus on what we can cover.

Q--683--Guidance is all of us have to be live two hours, but when you add it up, with other specialties, they have many others. Will be in front of screen all day.

A--Won't work. We will clear up.

We still have a dramatic shortage in some areas and there will be new hires. We will have a package for them. IT department free, just finished project with Welfare Fund. 

 Thanks everyone for work, for input on resolutions, and we will talk Wednesday. 6:32

Second Roll Call. We are adjourned 6:40

Motion:        To approve the following:

BLACK LIVES MATTER RESOLUTION

Whereas, the United Federation of Teachers reaffirms Black Lives Matter, and 

Whereas, the statement Black Lives Matter means that until people of African descent are treated with dignity, humanity, and respect in all areas of our society and the barriers to their safety and health and full participation in the economy and wealth creation are dismantled, all lives do not matter, and

Whereas, our work is grounded in the fight for fairness so that every person we serve achieves their highest good, and 

Whereas, throughout our history, our union has demonstrated that belief, time and time again, through our collaboration with and support for local and national organizations working toward the equity, access, and empowerment of every student and family we serve, most recently affirmed in a resolution passed by the UFTs Delegate Assembly on December 12, 2018, and 

Whereas, representation of and participation in heterogeneous communities allow each of us to grow in our understanding of the human condition and establish our role in the improvement of our society, and 

Whereas, the UFT supports culturally responsive educational practices, including but not limited to, efforts to diversify New York City’s educational staff so that it more closely reflects its student population, and the expansion of Black studies as well as Asian, Latino, and Native American studies programs and LGBTQ history in our P-12 classrooms, be it therefore

Resolved, the UFT reaffirms our commitment to policies, initiatives and movements that promote respect for and inclusion of Black students and educators and move affirmatively to make it a reality, and, be it further

Resolved, that the UFT continues to urge its members to amplify our demand for justice, change and equity by supporting activities in the schools throughout the year, including but not limited to, Black Lives Matter in Schools week scheduled for February 2021and, be it further

Resolved, that the UFT seek reapportionment of city and state funds to bring resources into Black communities to foster self-determination through education, entrepreneurship, home ownership and the means to reverse the generational economic disparities and, be it further

Resolved, that the UFT proactively engage in the necessary work to dismantle inequities in our systems through its coalition partners so that our students and families have access to, including, but not limited to affordable housing, quality healthcare and healthcare coverage and youth employment , and, be it further

Resolved, that the UFT will continue its advocacy on behalf of making sure our students and communities are not discriminated against, or profiled and, be it further  

 Resolved, the UFT stands in solidarity with Black students and educators as well as all communities of conscience, in the struggle for a more supportive, equitable, and fair school system and society.

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE HEROES ACT 

WHEREAS, the federal Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions, or HEROES, Act is designed to provide broad financial relief to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and state and local governments devastated by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic; and

WHEREAS, nearly one-third of reported coronavirus deaths occurred in nursing homes, and we must fund resources — including testing, drug treatment and personal protective equipment — for workers and residents at long-term care facilities; and

WHEREAS, the HEROES Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a partisan majority on May 15, 2020, and was sent to the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to take it up; and

WHEREAS, over 885,000 jobs vanished in New York City during the COVID-19 outbreak, the city’s budget hemorrhaged tax revenue and now faces a $9 billion shortfall next year and the city is not expected to begin a recovery until 2022, but McConnell stated on April 22 that he would rather see states that are struggling to fund public employees’ pensions declare bankruptcy than provide federal support; and 

WHEREAS, the possible development and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine is a long way off, yet McConnell opposes the use of mail-in ballots for elections, thereby exposing walk-in voters, especially the immune-compromised and seniors, to potential coronavirus infection at polling sites; and 

WHEREAS, AFT President Randi Weingarten initiated a letter to McConnell, signed by retiree leaders throughout the United States including the UFT’s Retiree Teacher Chapter Chair Tom Murphy and UFT Treasurer Debra Penny, asking him to introduce and support the HEROES Act; therefore, be it 

RESOLVED, that the UFT reaffirms the message of the Weingarten letter to McConnell; and be it also

RESOLVED, that the UFT affirms its full support of the HEROES Act and similar pandemic-related funding for the nation, and urges NYSUT, the AFT, the AFL-CIO and the Association for Retired Americans to join us in working for passage of the HEROES Act; and be it further 

RESOLVED, that, in addition to thanking those federal legislators who already support the HEROES Act, we strongly urge all UFT members to take action by asking friends and family in other states to call and email their Republican senators and representatives to persuade them to support the HEROES Act. 

                                                                                                                                                          Carried

CHANGE TO THE DA RULES

June DA will operate with the same remote rules of order as implemented in the May DA. In addition, we propose the following amendment:

1. The Question period will be extended to ½ hr.

                                                                                                                                                          Carried

Motion:        To approve the following:

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SUMMER CONTINGENCY ENDORSEMENTS

WHEREAS, the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly will not meet until Sept. 2020; and 

WHEREAS, unforeseen legislative and political contingencies may yet develop that could affect the interests of our members; and 

WHEREAS, there could be unpredicted vacancies of New York City Offices; and

WHEREAS, political organizations, campaigns and candidates are still engaged in ongoing activity to win the general election on Nov. 3, 2020; and 

RESOLVED, the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly authorizes the Executive Board to consider, make or modify endorsements during the summer in order to have a timely impact on any such campaigns.

                                                                                                                                                          Carried

Motion:        To adjourn.

                                                                                                                                                          Carried

Respectfully submitted,

LeRoy Barr

Secretary

RESOLUTION ASSERTING THE NEED FOR SCHOOLS TO BE SAFE FROM CORONAVIRUS BEFORE REOPENING

WHEREAS, even as New York City begins emerging from shutdown measures intended to constrain the spread of COVID-19, the disease remains a public health threat, with rates of both positive test cases and COVID-linked deaths in the city rising in the first week of June; and

WHEREAS, the de Blasio administration plans to return students to New York City public school classrooms on Sept. 10; and

WHEREAS, to follow the social-distancing guidelines established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the number of people in each school building will have to be significantly lower and we’ll have to establish practices and policies in schools that keep the intermingling of large groups of people to a minimum; and

WHEREAS, to reopen, schools must have widespread access to coronavirus testing to regularly check that people are negative or have immunity, a process for checking the temperature of everyone who enters a school building, rigorous cleaning protocols and personal protective gear in every school building, and an exhaustive tracing procedure that would track down and isolate those who have had close contact with a student or staff member who  tests positive for the virus; therefore be it

RESOLVED, the United Federation of Teachers asserts that our members should not return to schools and our members’ other worksites unless there are protocols and procedures in place to ensure the safety and health of the staff and students; and, be it also

RESOLVED, the UFT will work to ensure policies and procedures are in place in September that allow UFT members to fulfill their professional mission as public school educators while safeguarding the health and safety of school communities, and will hold the city to account in this process.

School in the Time of Covid

Florida has set a new record for new Covid cases. This, evidently, is what happens when you have some MAGA moron in charge whose sole interest is promoting business and commerce at the expense of humanity. What can the rest of us learn from that?

Israel opened schools. They have about 40% more students than NYC does. However, since they reopened, they've had to close 130 schools, and the number is growing rapidly. Are there any lessons there, and is Bill de Blasio paying the remotest attention?

Well, there's the obvious. Covid is still around, and when people get together it spreads. I've seen friends die, family sick, and watched others I know lose family members. I know a UFT member, generally healthy, in his 30s, who spent weeks in a hospital fighting Covid-induced pneumonia. I'm sure you have your own stories. Everyone does.

Despite this, the governor, mayor and chancellor can't wait to open school buildings. They labor under the outlandish misconception that, if we provide space, schoolchildren will practice social distancing. These are the same guys who deemed it an unacceptable risk to have Easter week off. You know, if they were off, they'd all go out and socialize, talk to one another, and spread the virus. Of course if we sent them into school buildings they'll behave completely differently, say the Three Wise Men. Just don't ask them why.

My school building has 4,600 students. The geniuses at Tweed have decided, when we reopen, that we can accommodate fewer than 1,000. This means that students can come in, at most, once a week. However, special education students, lucky them, are prioritized. They are in more need of face to face instruction, they say. Evidently they're also more in need of high infection risk too, but hey, those are the breaks.

My students are also in need of face to face instruction. It's what I do best. However, I've no doubt a lot of my students are undocumented. I'm sure that, even if medical care is available to them, many won't take advantage. For one thing, they don't know English. Many don't bother with things like Parent-Teacher Conferences, even though we do all we can to accommodate speakers of other languages. In case that's not enough, a lot of families have a healthy fear of Trump's Gestapo Lite, otherwise known as ICE. Some might ignore sickness, especially at early stages,

Not only that, but the mayor has determined some teachers won't be able to report to the building. Staff of a certain age are at high risk. Staff with compromised immune systems ought not to come. Those with certain diseases might be at unacceptable risk. I'm hearing that they expect 20% of staff won't be reporting in person.

So what does that suggest for the other 80%? Evidently their risk level is acceptable. They can contract the virus and they probably won't die.  That ought to be good enough for anyone, of course. Never mind that they may live with people who fall into the other 20%, and never mind they may transmit it to them as well.

De Blasio indicates again that in-person student school attendance won’t be compulsory in the fall, saying there will be remote learning available for students whose parents don’t feel comfortable sending them to school.

— Ben Max (@TweetBenMax) June 12, 2020

Well, that's a pretty good option for families who don't want their kids bringing Covid home in their backpacks. Of course, some families haven't got the option of leaving kids home. However, since most kids will be going to school buildings one or two days a week tops, these families haven't got options, or at least good ones. (And this is a prime example of the inequity de Blasio and Carranza frequently pretend to address.)

Yet the mania from the mayor and chancellor is for 25% steam ahead. Is it worth it to open buildings so that students can show up one or two days a week?

I don't think so. Online education sucks compared to the face to face kind. However, if the mayor and chancellor would help us out by promoting real faces on Zoom and Google Hangouts, they'd help both us and our students. As far as I can tell, they aren't even going to bother with that.

I hope my high school students graduate with more common sense than Cuomo or de Blasio. Otherwise I fear for their survival.

On Remote Learning--Show Me Their Faces

Remote learning is a big topic these days. I'm always reading about it. Not only that, I've been doing it for three months. WSJ and the Post say it's awful, though I don't remember them ever saying that about the cyber charters that infest these United States. They're pretty well-known as patently abysmal. A lot of them are scammers who get paid for students who never show up.

Now I'm personally familiar with at least some students who never show up. Starting next Wednesday they become my primary professional focus. I'm not overly optimistic about the prospects of most students currently failing my classes. They seem to be failing all their others as well. I mean, I'll make myself available, but some of these students have been unreachable for weeks. I'm going to focus today on the students who've passed, which is almost all those who've been showing up to my Zoom classes.

Here's my big complaint--I can't see them. I have no idea what on earth they're doing behind those avatars. Are they listening? Are they playing video games on their phones? Have they muted themselves so they can watch video? Are they sleeping? If so, are they even sleeping alone? Who knows? Certainly not me. They could be doing anything. If they were in my classroom, I'd walk over and orient them one way or another.

Actually, if students were showing their faces, I'd feel confident giving assessments. If I could actually watch them in real time, and if I could see what they were writing in Google Classroom, I'd be confident enough to believe it was them, or at least most of them, actually doing the work. Earlier this morning I gave students credit for homework that I'd entirely gone over in class. Now some of them know the material, and I know they do. At least one of them doesn't. I have been taking ten points off for late homework, but honestly that student deserved a zero.

The student I just mentioned, and several others, come to my online class most or all of the time. However, when I call on them, they don't respond. Now there could be a lot of reasons for that. Once, I called a student, she didn't answer, and when I said her name again she wrote in the chat that she was in the bathroom. Evidently she brought her device with her, if indeed she was there. Now if she had her camera on, I'd see she wasn't there and call on someone else. I have no issue with kids using the bathroom, but as things are, some of them may be spending entire classes there.

The simple requirement that students show their faces would make this easier. Of course, there are students who likely cannot. With 10% of NYC kids being homeless (Great work, Mayor de Blasio.), I'm sure there are students who simply cannot do it. Perhaps we could make allowances for special circumstances. But the default should be camera on, assuming we want to do this right.

For a few weeks, I offered extra credit to students who left their cameras on. It turns out the only ones who took me up on it were my very best students, the ones who I'll be deciding whether to give 98 or 99 later this week. (Actually I'll give them all 100. It is, after all, the apocolypse.) The others just ignored me. The students currently failing for being there (but not really being there ) continued to use those icons. After all, there's a great advantage when the teacher can't tell you to stop playing with your phone, to wake up, to turn the light on in your brain, to answer a question, to pay attention, or even to pretend you're paying attention.

Here's the thing--we're going to be doing this remote learning thing for the foreseeable future. There's no way we can open schools the way we did last September. The more I read about what Tweed's planning, the more I think they have no viable way to safely open the schools. Yesterday I heard someone say the chancellor anticipated it would be too risky for 20% of staff to report to school buildings. You might determine that means the chancellor is very concerned with those whose health is more at risk than others.

On the other hand, you might determine the chancellor is not concerned with the other 80% of us. It's not a big logical jump. Even if you're 21 years old and all perky and stuff, you might not want to contract Covid. It could be detrimental to your health. And just in case that isn't enough to give you pause, you might live with your parents at that age. You might live with your grandparents at that age. I don't need a medical degree to know that it isn't just how sick you can get, it's also how sick you can make others.

Now sure, I kid the chancellor a little bit. But I've got the definite impression he wants to open schools to some degree or other. I've seen no evidence that any of the plans I've been hearing are safe. In case that's not bad enough, it doesn't appear he, or any of the geniuses who work at Tweed, have given thought one to how we who do the actual work can do it effectively.

A simple thing like seeing student faces would make a world of difference.Why doesn't the chancellor know that? Because he's never done this work in his life. Why doesn't he just ask those of us doing the work?

If you see him, do me a favor and ask him that.

Letter from the Chancellor

Dear Colleagues,
 
I hope you and your families are safe and healthy. At this moment the entire country is in turmoil, and none of us know what to do about it. I don't either, but it's important that you think I'm somehow in control, even though I have no idea how to handle what the hell is going on not only in the city, but also in the state, the country, and the world. You know, just like you.

It is my job to try to make you think otherwise. That's why I boldly announced that we would continue instruction last Monday as we were doing citywide PD. I knew that was awkward for you, so I announced it to parents and to principals, but didn't bother contacting you at all. But that damn New York Post couldn't write up a story about how kids weren't doing diddly-squat, even though truth be told they were not.

We started planning for this return the moment that we closed buildings in March. While it didn't do much good since we had no idea what the hell was gonna happen next, one thing is for sure: we haven't got the faintest notion just what we're gonna do when September rolls around.
 
Since we cannot yet predict what September will look like, we can—and we must—be prepared for a range of possibilities. Our job is to be ready and nimble. What if we are invaded by mutant clowns from Mars? We have an entire focus group looking at that. If that happens, we are 100% prepared!
 
Just in case that doesn't happen, there are 8 key areas outlined below. We've discussed these things with absolutely everyone except working teachers, who are complainers, and who tend to ask questions like, "How the hell can we open school buildings during a pandemic and also prevent Covid infections?" It's these nattering nitpickers and nagging nuisances who never nod to our nebulous needs.

As you all know, we left schools open for weeks after we closed Broadway. We also ignored hundreds of thousands of your signatures until the pressure became too much for us to bear. I myself, upon seeing 108,000 signatures of UFT members demanded there be 108,000 signatures of epidemiologists instead. Hey man, the mayor said everyone on board, and I value my job just as much as anyone else.

Look, if your principal asked you to work under circumstances hazardous to your health, would YOU want to be the one to tell him he's nuts? Of course not. You'd ask the chapter leader to do it for you. Well, I haven't got a chapter leader.

In the meantime, I want to ensure you are aware of these key planning considerations:

1.    Enhanced Health Measures: This is priority #1 for a clear reason: the New York Post is killing me writing about how online education sucks. Therefore, I need to open the buildings whether or not it's a good idea. I will give you lots of stuff to make you think it's not actually insane. This includes PPE and other equipment, supplies, social distancing protocols, and monitoring of health indicators required to protect our children, teachers, and staff. Sure it will be impossible to get 1.1 million kids to cooperate, but let's pretend otherwise and continue to work with the Health Department. After all, they did a great job keeping schools open after we'd had proven cases of Covid. They know how to avoid rules while pretending to do something. 
 
2.    Trauma-Informed Transition Back to School: The start of the 2020-2021 school year will be unlike any other that we’ve experienced. Everyone will be a nervous wreck. Naturally, both teachers and students will be concerned for their lives. That's a pretty basic instinct we must all try to overcome. This means we must focus on things like sports and sex and do our best to ignore imminent risks to our lives and those of our loved ones.
 
3.    Blended Learning: We know that there are a whole lot of cyber charters, and we know they all suck. We also know that what we've been doing these past few months, while better than nothing, is no substitute whatsoever for real classwork. However, those bastards at the Post keep saying we suck, and we need to do whatever we can to persuade them otherwise, even though we all know they will continue to trash us no matter what. Of course we should really be safe and not open the buildings at all, but de Blasio only has a year to go and I'm gonna need a new gig in 2021. Sorry guys, but I can't simply do the safe thing and leave the buildings closed.
 
4.    School Start Date: We are wholeheartedly working towards a September start date, while working closely with DOHMH to get them to pretend that it is safe to return to school buildings and offices. 
 
5.    Rolling/Phased Starts: Traditionally, all staff and students begin their respective school years at the same time. We are seeing so far that other countries are modifying schedules, and/or starting groups of students in person at different times. What I plan to do is make index cards with school names, toss the stack of them down a stairway marked with various starting dates, and whichever date your school name falls on will be when your school starts. I figure that's as good a method as any.
 
6.    Social Distancing and Split Schedules: Based on health protocols, we must assess how social distancing could be implemented. Of course we have no idea how to do that, and you don't either. What we plan to do is dump this issue on principals and let them figure out. After all, it's leadership 101 that when faced with impossible problems, it's best to delegate and then blame others for the inevitable and massive failures that will occur.

7.    Building Operations: Building operations also need to be adjusted to ensure that schools and other DOE work settings are safe, healthy places for students and staff. Sure, none of you have ever even seen a clean classroom in this city, so don't expect to see one in September either. However, we'll make a great show of giving custodians an extra few hours to wipe stuff down, and when your buildings look exactly as they always did, we fully expect you to ignore it.
 
8.    School Support Services: School busing and school food operations will also need to be adjusted to accommodate health and safety operations. We have no idea how the hell we will pull this off, but we'll do our very best to pretend otherwise. We will also completely ignore the pressing need for childcare that will occur citywide as parents and working teachers have no options whatsoever for their children.
 
In each of the above areas, we must prioritize equity, excellence, and resilience. Equity means that we will try to screw up equally no matter which neighborhood you reside in, and whatever different physical spaces you may share with Eva Moskowitz. Excellence ensures no matter what program we agree upon, and no matter how poorly envisioned it is, we will call it excellent regardless of whether any learning is taking place. Resilience means teachers better shut up and go along with whatever the program ends up being.
 
We will be engaging with one another at Tweed and patting one another on the back no matter what happens.

I thank you for your continued flexibility and patience. I assure you that it will be needed more than ever in the coming chaotic months.

In unity,
 
Richard

Trump Says Fine People on Both Sides of Pedophilia Rally

As pedophiles rallied at Lafayette Park, President Trump today once again derided what he called the fake news.  He further demanded the press be fair and balanced in its coverage of stories about so-called bad apple teachers. He stated there were blame was on both sides, and that there were fine teachers in both the pedophile and non-pedophile groups.

"Those fake news Washington Post only shows one side," said the President. The Post Office needs to quadruple rates so that Amazon can't deliver stuff so cheaply, especially that fake news stuff that never mentions what a great job I'm doing. No one knows the Post Office better than me."

Trump's complaints, and his subsequent tweetstorm was predicated by recent teacher suspensions. After two AP teachers were caught on camera in acts of pedophilia, 57 others decided to resign from their positions teaching AP courses. This is because they were told their union would not defend them against the alleged pedophilia, which was caught on video and seen all over the world.

Union officials stated that, while they provide lawyers to defend teachers against charges to remove teachers from their jobs, they did not offer legal protection against any atrocities teachers may commit while doing their jobs. Several of the teachers were quite vocally disappointed.

"What if I kill someone, for example," mused one of the departing teachers. "Shouldn't the union defend me against murder charges?" The 57 teachers were surprised to learn that, unlike Donald Trump, they could not, in fact, murder someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it.

"Pedophiles have rights too," stated one of the teachers. "I'm very disappointed that they get hung out to dry like that. What if any of us were to go on a killing spree? What if we spent our free time robbing banks? Shouldn't we be protected?"

"This is an outrage," stated another. "Just because we've found a few pedophiles in the teaching force, we ought not to be stereotyped like this. Now they're all, oh, we're gonna pass laws that if they catch you performing pedophilia in one town, every other town is gonna know. That's so unfair! How is that poor pedophile gonna ever find another teaching job?"

While pedophiles rallied at Lafayette Park, there was a strong counter-rally. However, the counter-rally was quickly dispersed after the National Guard pelted them with rubber bullets and tear gas. At least we think it was the National Guard, since none of them were wearing any visible ID.Trump then walked into the park and held up a bible, He then derided the counter-ralliers for carrying signs when free bibles were available in many hotel rooms nationwide. He suggested they were members of Antifa.

Public sentiment has been running high against pedophile teachers. President Trump stated the whole controversy was overblown, and that there were good people on both sides. At a rally, he stated that pedophiles ought to go out and do what they do, and that they shouldn't worry too much about small details, which were always overblown by the "fake news." Trump suggested while the pedophiles were abducting children, they ought not to worry too much about whether they hit their heads while being dragged into automobiles. He said they shouldn't be too nice with them.

There was one positive development for the pedophile teachers, however. Several schools in Florida offered to hire all of them. The teachers are weighing their options. None have yet agreed to move to the Sunshine State, but there is always that option.

The President praised Florida, and stated he was grateful that at least some people were willing to look past stereotypes. He repeated his contention that despite their behavior, they weren't all pedophiles. He condemned the papers for printing fake news and renewed his call for a state-run network that would present  the news exactly as he described it at his neo-Klan rallies. 

UFT Executive Board June 8, 2020--No New UFT Covid Casualties, APPR Canceled for this School Year

 Roll call--5:53

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--6:05--There is good news--For the first time in twelve weeks, there are no passings, and no moment of silence. NYC went into phase one today. We'll wait to see, and in two weeks we may be in phase two.

Did candlelight vigil yesterday for George Floyd. Important moment in history, and at same time we have to figure out how to open schools in a pandemic. We have members saying we should get police out, we should keep them, some saying we should stay out until there is a vaccine, many POVs. We are going to focus on safety, and protection of livelihood. We also need to focus on advocacy to push changes for the better.

Someone will always be unhappy, but real change has to happen. We believe in putting money into social services and that will reduce crime. Some disagree. We will support changes that will happen, following lead of Floyd family, and we believe there will be change. There is real hope that things will get better, even in the middle of this pandemic.

Angel Vasquez--Focus on bills that passed Senate and Assembly--police reform-First makes use of chokeholds a crime---Second establishes that reporting a non emergency incident involving a member of a protected class be considered a hate crime, permitting civil action. There are reports that courts now have to make publicly available and new bill makes more available if misdemeanors and violations involve police. Attorney General wants office of special investigations for matters of police killings, not yet passed.

Mulgrew--We hear these bills will all pass this week. This is the beginning of real change. We will go from there. Some members upset, others feel it doesn't go far enough. City of Minneapolis has gone to whole new place and we are watching carefully. In NYC, there is call to put less into police budget and more into social services. Mayor has not been specific on this. Social services now needed more than ever.

Idea of giving school safety back to DOE is problematic. If there's another entity, maybe. Police officers still need permission if they want to come in and arrest a student. We know, though, what DOE control means, and the idea of them running safety in addition to everything else is quite frightening. We are open to constructive ideas, but back to DOE will lead to bad results.

Tomorrow there will be our candlelight vigil, our day. Our web team and communication team are ready to go. We can show our support for things going on. Some members don't want to participate, and that's their right. We don't always have to agree, but we have to protect everyone's right to speak.

We did a lot of work on how to open schools last week. Frustrated with City Hall. Working with principals, looking at possibilities for social distancing. We know how many square feet in every building. By tomorrow or Wed., we want to talk about communication with principal. Procedures will vary by building. We still need nurses in every building.

Principals working with us are those we respect. Took a lot of useless info from DOE and corrected it. We are pushing for clarity from Albany. We now have allowance for face to face in special ed. WSJ said remote instruction has failed. Not true. Just not meeting same effect as live instruction. We always knew it would not be a replacement.

WSJ always favored online learning, huge number of students per teacher, but has now changed its tune. Of course people are apprehensive, and parents want kids in school every day. Others say they don't want kids in school. We have to continue to try to find a way to assure people schools are safe. If not, we'll be standing outside saying it isn't.

We know there's been issues vis a vis special ed., and that many students are suffering. Order says we may do it, not we have to do it. We want to survey parents of students who get yearlong education. We have to make sure people are safe. We're at a good place in NYC, but if it starts up again, there's a problem. It's not over.

Timeline is tight. We're looking at July 6. We have only one month to have everything in place. Construction authority making sure everything is running. They know we need handwashing equipment in buildings. You will be hearing from principals about social distancing.

Other executive order saying there is no teacher evaluation this year, and anyone up for tenure who had three good years can get it. No school district can be penalized under APPR law. Unions can negotiate evaluation system, but we're not inclined to do it. We want to simply freeze everything and do no harm. It would be impossible to figure out and implement within three weeks.

We will push DOE and do a town hall about September, We have rough ideas. We can't figure out how exactly to alternate kids, or whether special ed. kids will be coming in regularly. Discussion are more and more focused. If we open, it will be under social distancing. We've trained teachers and made them available to speak of hybrid learning and what it may look like, or what continued shutdown will look like.

None of this works without the federal package. It will be really difficult to open safely unless we have a new stream of revenue. There's no way schools can take the burden of comples scheduling without it.

Thanks retiree chapter for taking this on and working with other states. Thanks AFT for help. DC will try anything to not help so we have to keep pressure on. Lack of aid will hurt most needy communities as well so this ties into civil rights.

Questions/ answers

OTTP summer school 683 could be whole new position, whole new negotiation.

With great possibility of hybrid, can we survey members? We want to have criteria for medical accommodation while Corona is in pandemic mode. Members may then file. Individual schools will have to do that survey, and also ask students. Schools should ask who wants to work remotely and who wants to come in. Better by school than by entire membership. Everyone at grade and subject level needs to work on same curriculum.

Cuomo said schools can have drive by graduations. No one can be mandated to attend. If school community wants to, if they're safe, they can do it. There is guidance from governor's office for remote distancing graduation, can be found online.

School nurses--What steps are being taken to include them in discussions--hoping they will provide us with general guidance about PPE and emergency rooms.

What happened with CSA-DOE meeting on openings? We are in agreement with CSA, but we need criteria from central, entering, exiting, when inside--programming, social distancing, and we have to design hybrid for every school.

Will DOE impose conditions? We don't think so now. More frustration with City Hall right now.

Are there jobs offered on Open Market?

Mike Sill--Problem is schools don't have budgets yet and can't determine vacancies. When they have budgets, it will populate.

LeRoy Barr--Still waiting on calendar. We will keep reaching out.

Mulgrew--Schools concerned with exec order--how do we know special ed. students will keep masks on, and how will we be protected---This will have to be determined. Some students may have inability to adhere to guidelines so we may have to use additional protections. We are thinking about this a lot. How can we teach children to play together when they can't use each other's toys? We are trying to figure this out.

Order is only through July 5 for D75. We deserve better. I think final exec. order says throughout summer. We are discussing this, but nothing has been decided. We do not want safety issues this summber.

How does money get allocated for students based on attendance in hybrid mode? We have that question at both state and city level. We think if student is engaged, attendance should be counted, whether live or remote.

Will there be amendments to contract or MOA for this period? We are learning week to week, so we'd rather do temporary MOA. Big focus groups are teachers talking about new tools and tech. They are useful, but we want to be thoughtful about placing them permanently inside our contract. Sometimes quick agreements can be problematic. At this point, we can discuss it, but not yet make it permanent. DOE wants only live instructional minutes, recreating classroom on computer screen. They don't know anything else.

What if members are arrested during protests? Report it.

If you are in your fourth year of tenure, and had three good years before this year, you can still be granted tenure. Many place have granted it. If you were going to get it, you still can.

Perhaps ultraviolet tools can be used to sanitize toys quickly. We're also considering boxes that take temperature. Much easier than individual taking of temp.

Last week with crowd clearing and holding up of bible may have been turning point. We have challenge keeping everyone safe. It will be us. We have little faith in others. Thank you and I hope you participate in peace and justice for George Floyd. 6:53

Second roll call--We are adjourned  6:55

Hybrid Learning

I'm wary of hybrids. About a year ago, I bought the car you see here, a Rav4 hybrid. It's supposed to get over 500 miles to a tank of gas, but for some reason, it registers full at 10 rather than 14.5 gallons. Toyota tells me they're working on the problem, but they've been saying that since September. I'm growing to doubt their good intentions.

Speaking of September, it's rapidly approaching. What the hell are we going to do with 1.1 million kids who need an education? In our school, we're now discussing having a third of the students come in, while the other two-thirds watch us remotely. That way, we'd have no more than 12 students in a classroom at a time, and perhaps we could meet CVC guidelines. In a moderately imperfect world, that would work, I suppose.

So remote learning will go on, one way or another. My feeling is remote learning is better than nothing. The TV commercials pushing cyber-charters make it out as a panacea, but that's only because they're watching their bottom line and ignoring reality. Human interaction is a huge factor in education, and I'd never have been in it this long otherwise. But better than nothing, so far, is the best thing I can say about it. 

Here's the thing, though. If we, say, group our students into A, B, and C, let's say alphabetically, that would indeed mean only a third of the population was in the building at any given time. However, that does not indicate that there would only be 12 students in my classroom, or yours. Maybe, because of the way the alphabet falls, there would only be eight. Or maybe there would be eight in your class and fifteen in mine.

Actually, as an ESL teacher, I have a lot of Chinese students, and a lot of their names favor the end of the alphabet. I'd probably have more students on the third day than the first or second. Of course we could redistribute the names, but your class may not have the same alphabetical idiosyncrasies. In fact, no matter how we fix this, I can't envision a way in which class sizes will be uniform.

So what do we do when the class sizes get too high for safety? Send the kids to the auditorium to watch the classes remotely? That might work, if we trusted the students to do so. Maybe they could wear earphones, so they don't have to listen to 99 other classes. Certainly a lot of students have them, and wired earphone, at least, are fairly inexpensive.

Are we going to continue to allow students to show avatars rather than faces? While the students are in their homes, and while their homes are none of our business, I'm certain we'd have better results if we could actually see our students. I have students who don't answer, sometimes, and they say they're in the bathroom. Maybe they could turn their avatars on to let us know that, and then we would call on them when they aren't in the bathroom. I have a strong feeling those making the decisions, since they have no experience whatsoever in remote learning, will simply ignore this altogether and hope for the best.

And let's say we work this out. In our school, we have several rooms that are converted closets. They have inadequate ventilation. They were a minor health hazard before Covid, but they're a major health hazard now. What about the trailers? Who knows how the air is inside those monstrosities? Half of the windows don't open, and even when they did the air was perpetually stale.

Guidance counselors have tiny offices, designed for very small meetings. I'd argue the largest future meetings ought to be in those offices should be one at a time. That would mean that counselors should meet only remotely. I think you lose something like this, but whatever you lose, it's better than risking lives.

I'm sure there are a whole lot of other issues. I'm just as sure that neither Trump, Cuomo, nor de Blasio will consider any of them before making their decisions. Doubtless they all have advisory boards that have no working teachers on them giving advice, and doubtless their various boards have no more common sense than they themselves. Common sense is a precious commodity, being the least common of all the senses.

They all seem to think there's plenty of time to figure out September. Well, there isn't. Any hybrid is bound to be imperfect. All that remains to be seen is how imperfect, and whether or not it veers into the catastrophic.

Non-Teacher Says Go Ahead and Open School Buildings

Over at the Washington Post, they've got an epidemiologist to write about schools. It's ironic, because when UFT got 108,000 signatures to close Covid-infested schools, the chancellor said we should get 108,000 epidemiologists instead.

The Post, though, settled for only one, Daniel T. Halperin, and he makes an interesting case. He says we should reopen schools. That, for me, was his first error. Schools are already open. I know because I already taught one class today, and I have another coming up soon. It's the buildings that are closed.

But hey, he's an epidemiologist, so why should he have to know that teachers are still working all over the country? That's not his area of expertise. Over the years, I've become used to hearing about education from people who know nothing about it. Evidently, anyone who has money is an expert. Bill Gates. Eli Broad. The Walmart family. Oprah. Those actresses in those anti-union films. You know. Experts.

Why should we reopen schools, according to the epidemiologist?

Of about 360,000 covid-19 deaths worldwide, only about two dozen children are known to have died. For all the recent reports of serious complications among young people, these are statistically rare and, if detected early, most afflicted youths recover within weeks.

You see? It's simple. I mean sure, a few die, but not that many. So if one of them happens to be your son or daughter, well too bad. You pays your money and you takes your chances. But there's more:

There is evidence, however, that as with the earlier SARS outbreak, children who have covid-19 are less contagious than adults. Many children with covid-19 are asymptomatic; in the absence of coughing and sneezing, they emit fewer infectious droplets. Remarkably, contact tracing studies in China, Iceland, Britain and the Netherlands failed to locate a single case of child-to-adult infection out of thousands of transmission events analyzed. A review of studies from several Asian countries identified few cases of children bringing the virus home, and a recent analysis of covid-19 interventions found no evidence that school closures had helped contain the epidemic.

You see?  We did all this for nothing. It's perfectly fine to send all those kids to school. They won't infect each other, and if, by some chance they do, they probably won't get sick. And it's rare that children cough or sneeze, right? And those that do always use tissues and cough into their elbows, and never contaminate anything with their hands. After all, this guy says so, and he probably went to school thirty years ago, so he remembers better than those of us who've been doing it every day of our working lives.

But hey, there's this. A very recent piece in NY Times kind of contradicts this guy

If the United States had begun imposing social distancing measures one week earlier than it did in March, about 36,000 fewer people would have died in the coronavirus outbreak, according to new estimates from Columbia University disease modelers.

And if the country had begun locking down cities and limiting social contact on March 1, two weeks earlier than most people started staying home, the vast majority of the nation’s deaths — about 83 percent — would have been avoided, the researchers estimated.

So I guess it's about who you believe. Do you believe Colombia University researchers, or Halperin? Should I discount the teachers I know who've carried the virus? Should I make believe that some of them did not actually end up hospitalized? Should I ignore the fact that working UFT members can and have gotten sick and died from this awful disease? Or should I believe Halperin and hope for the best?

It basically comes down to whether you believe case A or B, and whether you've decided to err on the side of caution or accepting Halperin. What do you think? Should we all go back and hope for the best? Should we accept his findings and ignore the fact that students actually do sneeze and cough all the time, or that they touch everything? Should we let Covid-infected children go home to older parents and elderly grandparents?

Also, should we let them get on buses and subway trains that may or may not be clean? Should we let them eat in cafeterias that resemble nothing more than the prison mess? 

Will Halperin's message be sufficiently accepted that parents will let their babies go to school? Or should Trump, Cuomo and de Blasio wave it like a flag and say, "Look, you see? It's not our fault that your mother/ father/ grandmother/ grrandfather/ brother/ sister/ uncle/ aunt/ child died?" Will you believe them?

It's all in the eye of the beholder. My eye says this is written by a non-teacher with very little understanding of what goes on in schools. I have extensive experience with such people and their ideas, and none of it is good.

For now, my best instinct is to throw Halperin and his article on the same slag heap we've placed Bill Gates, Common Core, school closings, the ATR and other failed notions.

What do you think?

Update; The school openings in Israel are not working out very well. 

On Union in Apocolypse Times

The other day I read a post on Facebook that asked what our union was doing about the outlandish work/ PD day we have tomorrow. It continued to say something like, "I don't want to hear any of that we are the union crap." This member, like a whole lot of us, sees the union as a separate entity. When you're in trouble, the union should come riding on a white horse and untie you from the railroad tracks.

Of course someone should get you off of those tracks. But first, you have to be on them. You have to be somewhere. The truth is you aren't some helpless innocent at the mercy of whatever bad guy twirls his mustache. You can set your own course.

Tomorrow is more of a nuisance than anything else. It's wasteful, it's stupid, and it's poorly conceived. Truth be told, though, the DOE was supposed to put up work yesterday that required no correction or input from teachers. (Maybe they did. I haven't checked.) It's not like they're oppressing us. They're simply wasting our time, and that of 1.1 million schoolchildren.

So tomorrow, a lot of teachers will go to some crappy useless PD brought to you by people who have no idea what we actually do. I'm going to teach. We don't have that much time left, and as much as I want to hear from the people who brought us two extra weeks in overcrowded, Covid-infested buildings, I'm pretty sure that the kids I serve need English more than I need another PD session. I've been taking PD from the DOE for 35 years, and so far the most it's ever been useful has been never.

Leadership has not taken exactly my position on this, but they know what it is regardless. I haven't been shy with it. They know the DOE failed to plan, and they know tomorrow is nonsense. Beyond that, it's insulting to working teachers. We do not just give busy work.

There were things I really liked about the chancellor. I've seen him speak well of teachers, and I've seen him stand for students I serve. That said, I've found him disappointing of late. I was shocked that he rejected our petition to close the schools, demanding 108,000 signatures from epidemiologists rather than working teachers. We, working teachers, were standing up for health and safety, and that of our students. We were absolutely right, and days later the chancellor's boss acceded to our demands.

That's what happens when we, the union, stand together. The union is you and me. It's not just Michael Mulgrew sitting on a throne on top of Mount Olympus or something. It's all of us, bringing our voices to bear. If your strategy is to sit around and wait for Mulgrew to do something, you've got it backwards. Any power Mulgrew has comes from us. Without us, he's just one guy standing there.

When the chancellor makes a boneheaded decision, saying that tomorrow will be both a school day and a PD day, you can tell him what you think if you're so inclined. I know I was.

And yet you think we can both do PD and give meaningful work, degrading us. If it's worthwhile, we don't have time for PD. If it's busy work, it's not worthwhile. I'm teaching. Put a letter in my file. https://t.co/acEouEQkra

— Arthur Goldstein (@TeacherArthurG) May 31, 2020

Of course the chancellor was talking about the unrest in the city, and I can't argue with that sentiment. Our kids should have every right to thrive. It's hard for me to see, though, how giving them busy work squares with anything but wasting their time, demeaning them and us. It's even harder for me to see how driving an SUV through a crowd of protesters supports anyone's right to thrive. But Carranza's boss, Bill de Blasio, defended that, pretty much counter to everything I ever thought he stood for.

I once thought Carranza stood for education, for teachers, for students. Yet now, after the epidemiologist nonsense, he's taken a cheap opportunity to pretend to parents that education is going on tomorrow even as he wastes our time with PD. Here's a fact--no one at Tweed, up to and including the chancellor, has done what we are doing, and no one at Tweed is qualified to help us do it. Tomorrow is a wasted day for most.

This pales in contrast with the issues of systemic racism and state-sanctioned murder. Like most people, I can get through one day of nonsense. On the other hand, it's unconscionable that this mayor condones police violence at this time. Our union took a stand on that Monday night.  I support it absolutely and voted for it.

As for tomorrow, I've made my voice heard. I've let people in leadership know how I feel. One wasted day is not precisely the hill on which I want to make my last stand. But I absolutely offer and advocate for my viewpoint.

If your idea of activism is getting on a Facebook page and asking what the union is going to do about this or that, you are part of the problem. The fact is you are part of the union, and the fact is you can make your voice heard. If your chapter leader sucks, there's an election next year. Run and win the job. If you disagree with a union position, let leadership know. Let the world know.

A chapter leader I know once told me, "There are two problems with the union--the leadership and the membership." We, the membership, need to let leadership know what we are thinking. We need to be active. If we're just sitting around waiting for Michael Mulgrew to read our minds, we aren't doing our part.

We can do better, and we can make ourselves heard. I know what works for me. Something works for you, and I'm afraid it's on you to figure out just what it is. September is coming up and we need your voice. We can't just sit around and expect de Blasio or Carranza to do the right thing.  

UFT Executive Board June 1, 2020--We Pass Resolution on Killing of George Floyd & Propose Day of Mourning

Roll Call 5:50

UFT Secretary LeRoy Barr welcomes us. 5:59--Minutes passed, resolution on killing of George Floyd passed, will be an amendment, resolution in support of school librarians passed,

Mike Schirtzer--add Resolved, the UFT supports a day of mourning in NYC for George Floyd, and will advocate with the DoE, the mayor, and other unions and community organizations to set such a day this month.

Barr--proposes we vote on amendment, send out new resolution.

Multiple seconds for day of mourning.

No questions or comments 
Amendment carries.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--Thanks us for passing resolution. Had to be done quickly both here and at AFT. Maybe this will wake everyone up so they say enough is enough. Elections really matter. We're in the middle of a pandemic, economy in shambles, people dying. Very tough time.

Mulgrew reads names of six UFT members, five retirees and one in service, and adds George Floyd to be recognized.

Moment of silence.

Mulgrew--We have one piece of good news in all this craziness--We were able to get something for families who've lost loved ones. Worked for a full week for this. We got an extension of health coverage for families, and now, we have a death benefit so that their statutory beneficiaries will receive the pension at 50%. 33 of those who passed were pension eligible. Affects 71 people going through a tough time.

Frustration with DOE is growing. Can't even get Brooklyn Queens Day right. They said there would be no engagement, then said it was an instructional day. We still can't get them to move on how to open a school in September. There was an agreement that it was a PD day. People need to do their jobs competently.

Still no planning for end of school year, and not expecting much on PD for Thursday. I know they have prepared a few things, but I think it will be a frustrating day. Hopefully I'm wrong but my faith is dwindling.

We finally have a meeting for tomorrow with CSA and DOE. Principals programming like normal school year with no projected enrollment or budgets. Will see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully we will have more answers by DA June 17. Hard to be good partner when there's no one to work with.

Testified in governor's and mayor's task force. Message is we're behind and we need to move now. What is criteria for medical accommodation? We can't get answers from DOE.  Many questions need to get answered, things we've been discussing for months.

We continue to do our work. We know that today is dentist day, even for non-emergencies. Welfare Fund launched new system to deal with this today. You can call now, will go to center, and you can get answers you need. Processing for forms now faster.

Focus on federal package, safety of students is on how we open, if we open.

Anthony Harmon--We discussed engaging membership in campaign to tell feds education is a lifeline. It's time for teachers and first providers to receive one. 8,000 members have volunteered to help lobby Congress for this. They will take action on togetherness Tuesdays to help get this package passed. NY Senators are championing this on national level.

Members can go to UFT website, sign parent petition schools need to be safe for all, and call people in states where senators need a push to act. We're focusing on nine states. A lot of New Yorkers are from somewhere and may have contacts in targeted states. If you know people in red states give them a call. Points are on website, along with a hotline number provided by AFT directing calls to appropriate senators. Tomorrow we thank NY Senators for doing the right thing.

Mulgrew--We're working across country doing everything in our power. Hoping before end of June. DOE doesn't want to give enrollment numbers before budget, but we need them.

Question--Can we encourage parents to go to UFT website and use this?

A--No because they have to sign in.

Harmon--Nick Cruz will send email blast to parents on our contact list.

Mulgrew--Safety and livelihood are our focuses, so this is important. Discussed hybrid instruction with chancellor. We now have a small group advising both DOE and AFT on this, what it really looks like. Thankful we have those people.

Speaker said he expects Assembly back in Albany to do bills on law enforcement and civil rights. Very important and we will monitor it. Maybe we can finally move on this.

Been a rough week. Medical professionals freaking out. Demonstrations could spread disease.

UFT Central is ready to reopen as we can. Not same as seeing people in person. Will be strict protocols in place. Building is super clean. Can't have more than three people on any elevator. Important for us to do that, informs us on how to help schools do the same.

Summer school, at least, finally posted. Will be crazy, with civil unrest and pandemic. Some states reopening as Covid numbers rise. We have to figure out if we can open buildings, and if not, how to open buildings, how to do observations. We will need a temporary contract, because not all complaints can be operational.

September will be a new thing. We will negotiate through summer. Still no agreement on APPR, but not too worried, since if they insist on it, we don't have measures than law requires anyway. As far as we're concerned no one should be harmed. Anyone who developed a remote learning class should be highly effective.

Questions--(some just answers--Not all questions were read fully, and some were too fast for me.)

We will have to work out observation plan. We have it on our radar and will see how we observe hybrid situation.

Can we prioritize students and members who have prior medical conditions in September? We will have something in place for medical accommodations. Some teachers may just do remote learning. We may have grade teams in elementary. Some in person, some remote. We'll see how it goes. The more time that passes, the less creative we can be.

Can we lay to rest rumor we'll end early? Cannot do so yet.

Will get back to you on summer observations.

What does teacher have to do on final grade of NX?  I don't believe there will be a standardized form. We are meeting them and discussing this. If they came up wth a form it would be something. NX is up to summer school teacher, or if there is valid credit recovery, would be up to teacher running it.

Parents still upset mayor and governor dropped ball on Covid---Elected officals act like they've never done anything wrong. Greatest challenge is whether people are trusting and willing to send kids back. If they don't see we're working on it, it's tough. When mayor says we have plenty of time, it's frustrating. Waiting so long to plan will have adverse effect on people's feelings about safetly. I remind them, and they don't want to hear it.

Layoffs--No discussion about layoffs. If fed package doesn't come through, we can get through this year. Package will get us through another.

If we stay in remote learning, we'll need more centers,

DOE is supposed to supply school with meaningful work. They say it will be out by tomorrow PM. You don't have to supply lesson and do PD.

Early retirement? There are conversations with Municipal Labor Council. Don't think it's happening, but we are discussing it. Please don't count on it. I don't think they'll be able to get it done.

Can staff update DOE machines remotely--We will bring it up.

Couldn't get into last DA--Is glitch fixed? We apologize. Had to use different system. We have a team working on it. We think we know problem.

Barr--Lines were insufficient. We will have people call in early. We will put several things in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Mulgrew--We will try new procedure at Exec. Board before DA

Pre-existing conditions--Is there a focus group of members with mitigating factors on returning to work?

Mulgrew--Will set up this focus group and figure that out. That will be tough. Not everyone will get answer they want. Will have 10-15 people.

I will be proud to go to Mayor and ask for a day of recognition for George Floyd. We will honor him and say enough is enough. Thank you for coming, and hopefully we will get answers from DOE. 6:47

Roll call for latecomers. We are adjourned 6:50.

Resolution on the Police Killing of George Floyd

WHEREAS, George Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes, while he was handcuffed and lying face down on the road; and 

WHEREAS, Officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng also helped restrain Floyd, who is Black, while officer Tou Thao stood nearby and looked on; and

WHEREAS, the killing was recorded by bystanders and those recordings show Floyd pleading that he couldn’t breathe; and

WHEREAS, Floyd’s death comes on the heels of the deaths earlier in the year of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman in Louisville, Kentucky, who was shot multiple times during a no-knock police raid on the wrong house, and Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man in Georgia who was chased, shot and killed while jogging by a retired police officer claiming to perform a citizen's arrest; and

WHEREAS, a National Academy of Sciences report found in 2019 that African-American men and boys are two and a half times more likely to die in an encounter with the police than their white peers; and

WHEREAS, the senseless killing of George Floyd has sparked widespread outrage and calls for justice nationwide; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, the United Federation of Teachers stands in support of George Floyd’s family and the thousands who have engaged in peaceful protests across the country; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the UFT supports the American Federation of Teachers, which condemned the killing on May 27, and asks whether this would have happened had Floyd not been Black; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the UFT demands the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation of Floyd’s killing be thorough, complete and independent, and the union further avows that the nature of these acts require serious charges; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT supports a day of mourning in NYC for George Floyd, and will advocate with the DoE, the mayor, and other unions and community organizations to set such a day this month.