My son had a baseball tournament upstate this weekend and while enjoying the free pre-made, formerly frozen free breakfast at the Quality Inn of Fishkill yesterday morning I decided against Poughkeepsie Journal in favor of my Sunday true and tried Daily News.reading the
After reading the sports section I turned to the op-ed page to read El Presidenté Mulgrew's fascinating story on how teacher's, but in his reality the UFT, are the real reformers. As I was reading, my wife said that she had never seen someone's jaw actually hit the table before.
I am not going to rehash or add my two cents. It's been done. Others have done it. I shan't. But just two thoughts.
One, we wouldn't be in this predicament if in 2002 we had some cojones and didn't cave into the pressure of mayoral control. Yes, the money seemed great at the time, but that was the beginning.
Secondly, the final nail was put in the coffin in 2005. So, please, spare us the "I found religion" spiel now. It is too late. WE, THE TEACHERS, THE RANK AND FILE, THE FRONT LINE, have been bullied, beaten, abused, and bruised up too long. So forgive us if we are not buying the hard sell. Forgive us if we say we heard this all before. It's too late. You can't be the tough guy on the playground now when the bully is nowhere to be found. The time to be the tough guy to fight for us and unions came and went. WHY SHOULD WE TRUST THE UFT?
We need Gene Hackman.
In the 1972 movie "The Poseidon Adventure," Gene Hackman played Rev. Frank Scott. When the ship capsized, Hackman, along with others were trapped in the ballroom. Hackman, with the help of Ernest Borgnine, rigged a Christmas tree too lead others the the galley which was now on the ceiling. Soon others followed. From atop Hackman implored others to follow them, that this was the only way to safety.
But it was not to be. A lackey, a sycophant, a yeoman of the ship told Hackman that he is in charge and the others will stay in the ballroom to await rescue. He ordered Hackman to come back, but Hackman knew better. He knew he had to go to the bow of the ship, where the steel is the thinnest, to be rescued.
The yeoman said no and that those with him shall remain. Hackman gave up trying and just as he walked away the sea burst into the ballroom. Suddenly hundreds of people were attempting to climb up the Christmas tree at once only for the tree to come crashing down under the weight of too many people. They all drowned.
Raise you hand if you get the point. OK.
You have a choice. Vote for and accept this contract and when the time comes for your raises, your retro, and if you become an ATR that Christmas tree won't be there to hold all your weight.
Or follow Gene Hackman and have your career back. Have a voice in the union back.
The yeoman is all the UFT lackeys on Twitter, Facebook, in your schools, and in emails attempting to frighten you, to not question the direction of the union, and wants all to be sheep.
Gene Hackman is a man looking out for others and not for him. Willing to listen to others. Willing to sacrifice himself.
Gene Hackman is what we deserve.
Great analogy, Mr. Bronx...On the count of ten, let's all row in the same direction!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of reformers all your readers may want to take a look at and help edit Shael Suransky’s Wikipedia page. Both the content and the history of the edits suggest that Shael himself is writing the page and then blocking any contributor who tries to add more factual data. See the history of the page edits https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shael_Polakow-Suransky&offset=&limit=500&action=history that shows the initial bulk of the entry was written from an IP address shared by computers at the Tweed Courthouse where Shael had his office. The bulk of the entry was also written right after election day and Mayor de Blasio’s election when it became clear that Shael would have to go. A more accurate analysis of Shael’s career can be found here: http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com/2014/01/corporate-reform-versus-child-centered.html and that information should be included in the Wikepedia entry. But Shael tries to block the facts. Help out and add the info to Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteSad that "The Poseidon Adventure" is such a fitting comparison to state of UFT in NYC in 2014. Feels like we need Charlton Heston yelling "Soylent Green is People."
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