Disappointed In Seattle

In case you have been wondering what I have been up to, I have been disappointed in Seattle, Washington attending the American Federation of Teachers' convention as a DC delegate for the past week. Disappointed in the state of our national union- that is. What a rude awakening for me to see first hand how our national union is really run behind the scenes. As a second time delegate to the AFT convention, I took the opportunity to really delve into the day to day convention agenda which went well into most evenings as well as network with many union members from New York to California. Due to this blog as well as my involvement in a national meeting of union activists last summer at the United Teachers of Los Angeles Union headquarters (UTLA) , I have met quite a few union member activists from Detroit, Chicago, New York and California and was glad to reconnect at the convention.

At this convention, I decided to run on the BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) Slate for one of the AFT vice president slots on the Executive Council. Many delegates believe these elections are rigged by the AFT national courtesy of you guessed AFT president, Randi Weingarten and company (that's a story for another day). While I did not expect to win, my opposition to the Progressive Caucus slate was a challenge to the AFT status quo that regularly sells out our teachers and related school personnel. I am proud to say I earned the top votes (41,996) on BAMN's slate, not bad for a first-timer. Not bad given that 800 United Federation of Teacher (UFT) Delegates from New York signed an oath to support AFT's Progressive Caucus slate despite what their conscious may tell them. According to NYC Educator turned blogger reports: "In Seattle today, Unity members are reaping what they've sown. A free trip to Seattle, and a few days in a hotel. Ostensibly, they're representing the United Federation of Teachers. That would be you and me. But really, they're representing the Unity Caucus. That's a special fraternity, open by invitation only. That's not you and me. That's whoever they say it is. In fact, every one of them has signed an oath to express dis-agreement with the Caucus only within the Caucus. Every one of them has pledged to support Caucus decisions, however they may feel about them, outside of the Caucus. Albert Shanker threw people out of Unity Caucus for opposing the Vietnam War. More recently, I heard of a chapter leader expelled from the caucus for inviting a speaker to a meeting--a speaker of which the Caucus did not approve. So much for freedom of opinion. "

Stephen Sawchuk, educational reporter writes about why union members like myself from across the U.S. felt the need to challenge AFT's Progressive Caucus slate which hasn't seen a challenge in over thirty years, if you can imagine. Here's the July 10 story on the AFT elections as reported by Stephen Sawchuck of Education Week:

AFT Election: The Caucuses Make Their Cases by Stephen Sawchuk

" This morning, two political bodies within the American Federation of Teachers presented their platforms for today's election of AFT executive officers and council. That's right, I said two. Apparently, this is the first time since the 1970s that there has been a full slate of candidates opposing the incumbents. Keep reading.

Current AFT Executive Vice President Lorretta Johnson spoke on the behalf of the incumbents, which include herself, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and Secretary-Treasurer Antonia Cortese. She underscored Weingarten's "vision" for moving the union forward, as well as her ability to fight back, and even call out allies:

"I saw Randi Weingarten bust the vice president of the U.S.," Johnson said, referring to Weingarten's confrontation of Joe Biden over the Central Falls, R.I., teacher-dismissal situation. "He got the message. All those teachers came back."

Then, a bunch of folks from a new political caucus formed just this year, called the BAMN Caucus, presented their point of view.

A bit more about BAMN Caucus: It's essentially a loosely coordinated group of teachers, some of whom belong to the separate, left-leaning BAMN group, and some of whom have challenged or will challenge incumbents in AFT locals. Several have had some success in winning spots on those local unions' governing bodies. Others are hoping to in the future: Among the BAMN slate is Candi Peterson, a trustee of the Washington Teachers Union, in D.C., and a staunch supporter of Nathan Saunders, who is running against incumbent WTU President George Parker.

This group thinks that Weingarten and many of the local affiliate leaders haven't pushed back hard enough on things like charter schools, the Education Department's policy priorities, and school turnarounds and closures. And they oppose her efforts to re-examine things like due process and teacher evaluation.

Speaking this morning, Heather Miller of Detroit, one of the candidates on the BAMN slate, had this to say about the activism in Detroit: "Our members opposed the the policy of cynicism and cooperation with those who would destroy us."

Of course, it's hard to say at this early stage what BAMN's bid means in the grand scheme of the AFT. The political activities took place this morning before formal AFT business started, and the room was probably only about half full. We'll learn more when the election results are out.

It's also worth noting that BAMN candidates seem to be coming out of cities like Detroit, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C., that have had some remarkable challenges, like enrollment declines, school closures, and rancorous union-management relationships.

The wildcard to watch in all of this is Karen Lewis, the newly elected president of the Chicago Teachers' Union. As I reported yesterday, she recently joined the Progressive Caucus—Weingarten's coalition—but appears to differ with some of its objectives."

Story Courtesy of Education Week