The Stronger Together Caucus has authored a letter to the NYSUT officers, Board of Directors, and members. The letter addresses NYSUT’s seeming reluctance to push back against Governor Cuomo and Merryl Tisch regarding their APPR agenda.
Click here to view the letter.
Click here to contact the Stronger Together Caucus.
Yesterday we asked you to join us this Saturday in Manhattan as we rally, along with 40+ other organizations, for public education. Today we want to make you aware of another important date in the coming week. On Wednesday, May 21st we will join thousands of other Long Island teachers as we demonstrate and picket outside of the Huntington Hilton in Melville at 4:00 pm. The Hilton is the site of the 2014 New York State Democratic Party Convention. You will remember that this is the rally the governor asked Beth Dimino and other local leaders to cancel. We assured you the rally would still go on and it will! Let’s let the governor and the other elected officials in attendance know how we feel about Common Core, high stakes testing, junk science evaluations, the tax cap, and the rest of their ed deform agenda!
As momentum built toward’s the April 28th rally at Villa Lombardi’s to protest Governor Cuomo, one of the governor’s top aides, Joseph Percoco, reached out, through an intermediary, to the President of the Connetquot Teachers Association Tony Felicio. Percoco offered Felicio, one of the rally’s organizers, a meeting with the governor to air his grievances in exchange for canceling the rally. Felicio rejected the governor’s offer, telling him that the rally would go on and that if the governor wanted to meet they could do so after the rally.
You will recall the rally did in fact go on. Despite the fact that it was not supported by NYSUT, an estimated crowd of 2,500 gathered outside Villa Lombardi’s to protest Cuomo’s education reform agenda. The rally clearly sent a very powerful message to the governor that the parents and teachers of New York State will “remember in November” the havoc that his policies have wreaked on the children of our communities. Unless he displays a startling and dramatic change of course regarding his education policies in the very near future he can count on no support in November’s election from the people in New York State who value public education, whether NYSUT endorses him or not.
Following the rally, Percoco once again reached out to Felicio to request a meeting with the governor. Cuomo’s re-election campaign clearly is rattled by the tidal wave of support for public education that stands in clear opposition to the reform agenda he has helped to force upon our community schools throughout his term in office. Felicio agreed to the meeting and arranged to bring a few trusted friends in the fight for public education. Yesterday five Stronger Together local presidents, including Felicio, Tim Southerton (President of the Sayville Teachers Association), Laura Spencer (President of the Smithtown Teachers Association), Kevin Coyne (Brentwood Teachers Association), and our very own Beth Dimino were joined by Brad Lindell (Vice-President of the Connetquot Teachers Association) at a meeting with the governor.
At the meeting the team raised concerns about high stakes testing, APPR’s, the tax cap, charter schools, Pearson, and RttT, among other things. Dimino told the governor that given his actions up to this point she could only assume that he didn’t know the truth about the harmful agenda he had been pushing. After the group gave him the perspective of real classroom teachers they suggested potential solutions to the disastrous situation his policies have created. Dimino then warned him that he now knew the truth and that there is no excuse for the continuation of such policies. She stated that there would be a price to pay if swift action is not taken to undo much of what has been done up to this point. Dimino explained to the Governor that there were two things he could do immediately to mitigate the devastating impact his agenda has had on NYS students, first decouple the testing from teacher evaluations and then decouple all of the unfunded mandates from the tax cap, either by funding those mandates or by making them exclusionary under the cap.
Cuomo, who was polite, respectful, and attentive during the meeting that lasted nearly two hours, responded with a lot of “I didn’t know” or “It’s not my fault” types of answers. He also told them, “I thought everybody loved charter schools?!” Additionally he warned that we may want to cancel the rally scheduled for the New York Democratic Convention on May 22nd in Melville so that we don’t upset other Democratic politicians. Let me be very clear here: The rally will go on! As Felicio warned on April 28th, the Lombardi’s rally was just a warm up for a bigger, louder, more intense one on May 21st.
Finally Cuomo pledged to create a task force of classroom teachers to more deeply investigate the issues discussed. He said he would be in touch with NYSUT President Karen Magee to create that task force. Unfortunately Magee is no fan of the PJSTA, so don’t expect Dimino or many other NYSUT members critical of the Mulgrew/Pallotta/Revive NYSUT coup to make the cut for the task force. Of course we have been down the task force road with Cuomo before. Typically what happens is that any voices of truth who speak for teachers and students are ignored so that Cuomo can stock his war chest with big money from Wall Street, Pearson, and Eva Moskowitz. In the end the losers are usually public schools and the communities they serve. Color me skeptical when it comes to any meaningful changes being made. Still, for a change, it was nice to know that our message was sent to the governor yesterday, loud and clear.
NYSUT RA Delegates:
As many of you know, we are facing a contested election of the current NYSUT officers and many of the ED and At-Large positions within NYSUT’s leadership structure. Not only is the election of the Stronger Together slate of Dick, Maria, Lee, and Kathleen critical, it is equally important to insure that the voice of Stronger Together, OUR VOICE, is heard at all future Board of Directors’ meetings moving forward.
By electing Beth Dimino to the position of At-Large Director, we have the ability to maintain the VOICE of Stronger Together Movement and Caucus. The local presidents of Suffolk County overwhelmingly support Beth in her efforts to be elected to the position of At-Large Director of ED 21, 22, 23.
Anyone who knows Beth for even a minute recognizes her commitment to the union movement and the children we educate everyday. Beth has been an outspoken critic of elected officials and NYSUT officers, when necessary, regarding issues such as Common Core, APPR, High-Stakes Testing and consequences, Tax Cap, GEA, Tier V, VI, and charter schools. She is the “Voice of Mommies” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VhNor95OnI) all across New York State and is willing to take on our elected officials when it comes to the issues impacting our members and devastating our communities and schools.
Voting for Beth Dimino and the Stronger Together slate ensures that our statewide voices will be represented at every NYSUT Board of Directors’ meeting.
In solidarity,
Mike Romano, Central Islip TA
Gary Fernando, Islip TA
Tony Felicio, Connetquot TA
Claudia Reinhart, Three Village TA
John Troise, Sachem TA
Chris Philp, Kings Park CTA
Tony Gibson, Hauppauge TA
Laura Spencer, Smithtown TA
Nancy Sanders, Miller Place TA
John Mansfield, Lindenhurst TA, ED 20 Director
Bob Claps, Amityville TA
Mike Friscia, Rocky Point TA
Daniel McGuire, East Moriches TA
Lucille McKee, Shoreham Wading River TA
Rob Richardelli, Babylon TA
Ronald Gross, William Floyd UT
Richard Hasse, Half Hallow Hills TA
Darlene Darch, Bay Shore CTA
Kevin Coyne, Brentwood TA
Rob Pearl, 1st Vice President PJSTA
Jeff Shade, Harborfields TA
Antoinette Blanck, UT of Northport, ED 23 Director
Ernie Lewis, Western Suffolk BOCES FA
Kevin Peterman, FASCC
James Graber, Huntington TA
Thomas Barry, East Islip TA
Brian Snow, Port Jefferson TA
Dennis Callahan, South Huntington TA
Joseph Dixon, West Islip TA
Tris Stewart, Commack TA
James Kinnier, Sag Harbor TA
Mitchell Wolman, Mount Sinai TA
This is not the faux grassroots, top down, Mulgrew led unionism. 120 local presidents are now publicly showing their support for Dick Iannuzzi, Maria Neira, Kathleen Donahue, and Lee Cutler.
Via the Stronger Together website…
Ben Alexander, Co-President, Jordan Elbridge Teachers Association
Jim Baldwin, President, Homer Teachers Association
Thomas Barry, President, East Islip Teachers Association
Nancy Baker, President, Dunkirk Teachers Association
Juliet Benaquisto, President, Schenectady Federation of Teachers
Jeanne Bennett, Co-Presidents, RC12
Irene Bielski, President, East Ramapo Teachers Association
Ted Birch, President, Deposit Teachers Association
Antoinette Blanck, President, UT Northport, ED 23 Director
Sandy Bliss, Co-President, RC12
Carol Blumrick, President, Royalton Hartland Teachers Association
Joseph Borgisi, President, EPEA
Robin Brennan, President, North Rockland Teachers Association
Tim Brown, President, Valley Central Teachers Association
Joe Cantafio, President, West Seneca Teachers Association
John Canty, President, Ramapo Teachers Association
Jason Carter, Wayne Teachers Association
Edward Carutis, President, Chautauqua Lake Teachers Association
Beth Chetney, President, Baldwinsville Teachers Association
Kim Christensen, President, Chenango Valley SRP
Bob Claps, President, Amityville Teachers Association
Tracie Clark, President, OCM BOCES
Seth Cohen, President, Troy Teachers Association
Kevin Coyne, President, Brentwood Teachers Association
Ralph Cross, President, Saranac Teachers Association
Darlene Darch, President, Bayshore CTA
Paul Davis, President, Bainbridge-Guilford Teachers Association
Joan Deem, President, Hicksville Teachers Association
Pasquale Delli Carpini, President, Wappingers Congress of Teachers
Dave Derouchie, President, Fulton Teachers Association
Rosemarie DiBernardi, Co-President, Greenwood Lake
Beth Dimino, President, PJSTA
Mark Dwyer, President, Chatham Teachers Association
Roberta Elins, President, UCE of FIT
Mike Emmi, President, Solvay Teachers Association
Paul Farfaglia, Co-President, Jordan Elbridge Teachers Association, ED 8-9 At-Large Director
Jo Ann Fastiggi, President, Nanuet Teachers Association
Tony Felicio, President, Connetquot Teachers Association
Eileen Fitzgerald-Spurhs, President, Cortland Teachers Association
Regis Foster, President, Port Jervis Teachers Association
Michael Friscia, President, Rocky Point Teachers Association
Frank Gannon, President, Florida Teachers’ Association
Anthony Gibson, President, Hauppauge Teachers Association
Larry Grisanti, President, East Aurora Teachers Association
Ron Gross, President, William Floyd Teachers Association
Richard Haas, President, Half Hollow Hills Teachers Association
Chris Harding Grosfelt, President, Trumansburg Teachers Association
Nathaniel Hathaway, President, Malone Federation of Teachers
Trevor Herzog, Co-President, Endicott Teachers Association
Jennifer Higgins, President, Amherst Teachers Association
Matt Hill, President, Haverling TA, ED 46 Director
Bill Hughes, President, South Orangetown Teachers Association
Eric Iberger, President, Bayport Bluepoint Teachers Association
Carmine Inserra Jr., President, Indian River Teachers Association
Lisa Jackson, President, Carmel Teachers Association
Kevin Jaruszewski, President, Lewiston Porter Teachers Association
Maureen Joseph, Co-President, Greenwood Lake
Andy Kavulich, President, RC11
Sean Kennedy, President, Yorktown Congress of Teachers
Jeff Kuemmel, President, Cheektowaga Teachers Association
John Kurlya, President, North Syracuse Education Association
Joseph Kwiatkowski, President, Fredonia Salaried Support Staff Association
Deb Kydon, President, Rockland Boces Staff Association
Michelle Licht, President, Williamsville Teachers Association
Mike Lillis, President, Lakeland Federation of Teachers
Karen MacIntyre, President, Brocton Teachers Association
Michael Mallon, President, Highlands Teachers Association
John Mansfield, President, TA of Lindenhurst, NYSUT Board of Directors
Liz McCheyne, President, South Seneca Teachers Association
Carla McLaud, President, Pine Bush Teachers Association
Mary Lou Megarr, President, Plattsburgh Teachers Association
Bob Meir, President, Arlington Teachers Association
Linda Meredith, President, Central Teachers Association
Elias Mestizo, President, Hempstead Teachers Association
Cheryl Miskell, President, Auburn Teachers Association
Pamela Modzel, President, Wayne-Fingerlakes BOCES EA
Nate Morgan, President, Hastings Teachers Association
Stu Napear, President, President, Freeport Teachers Association
John Nichols, President, East Syracuse Minoa United Teachers
Kevin O’Connell, President, Pearl River Teachers Association
Marietta O’Malley, President, Holland Teachers Association
Linda Oryhon, President, Binghamton Teachers Association
Chris Philp, President, Kings Park CTA
Adam Piasecki, President, Ithaca Teachers Association
Lois Piscitelli, President, Gowanda Teachers Association
Art Plichta, President, Newburgh Teachers Association
Tim Potts, President, Monticello Teachers Association
Kim Pritchard, President, Syosset Teachers Association
Arlene Reese, President, Lockport Teachers Association
Michael Romano, President, Central Islip Teachers Association
Donna Ramundo, President, Nyack Teachers Association
Dan Rupert, President, Hannibal Faculty Association
Eleanor Russell, President, Rosylyn Teachers Association
Bruce Sander, President, Deer Park Teachers Association
Nancy Sanders, President, Miller Place Teachers Association
Kathy Sarafin, President, Frankfort Schuler Teachers Association
Ellen Schuler Mauk, Faculty Association of SCCC
Ron Sesnie, President, Tonawanda Education Association
Mark Shanahan, President, Sweet Home Education Association
Ken Smith, President, Broom-Tioga BOCES, ED 11 Director
Brian Snow, President, Port Jefferson Teachers Association
Tim Southerton, President, Sayville Teachers Association
Laura Spencer, President, Smithtown Teachers Association
Jen Stevenson, Co-President, Endicott Teachers Association
Tris Stewart, President, Commack Teachers Association
The Official Website of the PJSTA 