Blaming the Teachers Again While Children Are Slaughtered While Incompetent Cops Do Nothing

 The massacre in Uvalde, Texas, was horrific. I can't imagine what the parents of the children are going through. I am sick of the gun culture in this country and sick of this phallic desperate need for guns. I have no problem with anyone owning a firearm. But there have to be background checks and more regulation
for owners and sellers. Why does anyone need an AR-15 other than making up for some Freudian physical shortcoming?

I was in my fourth year of teaching when Columbine occurred. It was shocking at the time. Twenty four years later and too many mass school shootings later as well I am now completely numb. I've gone from, "How can this happen?" to "I'm not surprised it has happened again." But as long as the ammosexuals are appeased and the fear of the NRA continues to pervade, it's going to happen again. And again. And again. 

But guess who is getting blamed. Teachers! Anyone surprised? From yesterday's Washington Post Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw blabbered...

...video surveillance shows a teacher propping open an exterior door at 11:27 a.m. May 24. That was right around the time Ramos had crashed a truck into a nearby ditch, and then emerged shooting at bystanders. The teacher then went to their classroom to retrieve a cellphone and at 11:30, though it’s not clear from where, they called 911. Within two minutes, Ramos was firing at the school building, and a school police officer had arrived on the scene. McCraw did not say what happened to the teacher...

Let's go to the video tape. Fellow blogger, honorary Crack Team member and SBSB fanboi NYCDoenuts shared his opinion in a tweet. An opinion I 100% agree with. He and I both want proof! Where's the proof? Show the video. Name the teacher. If the teacher did this, it shouldn't there be a crime? We demand proof!

Yep, let's blame the teachers. But in the meantime... LET'S ARM THE TEACHERS (smh)! Yes, the same teachers who have are being blamed for the non existent teaching of Critical Race Theory. The same teachers who are not allowed to say gay in Florida. The same teachers who are supposedly grooming four year olds. The same teachers that will soon need pre-approval from parents for lesson plans. The way to solve this problem is for teachers to carry? Where's the money going to come from? Will teachers be trained? Who will supply the guns? 

But...but... we can do like Ted Cruz said. Only one door per building. Good idea. That'll work well for fire drills, dismissal, and all other times. 

 But Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw as he blabbered whilst scapegoating teachers; two teachers died were slaughtered in that school. I will bet everything I have that those two teachers did everything tin their power to come between the students and the the bullets. 

Who were the heroes? The teachers. The cops were the ones that were chicken shit. 

I'm sick of this shit. It's senseless. These shooters hate life so much just go in the bathroom and put the barrel of the AR-15 in their mouths and pull the trigger. It worked for Pyle. 

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1530219824156139523?s=20&t=_x56KIbx75lNgOY9KCSqTAhttps://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1530219824156139523?s=20&t=_x56KIbx75lNgOY9KCSqTA

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1530219824156139523?s=20&t=_x56KIbx75lNgOY9KCSqTA

Lying Liars and the Lies They Lie About

 I want to make sure that whoever is reading this that this blog post is not about any current or former teacher. Nor a female. So it is not misogynistic. Just making sure. My name came up at the exec board tonight and I just want to get something off my chest. 

Liars suck. Pathological liars suck more. Liars who lie to build themselves up suck even more.Talking smack behind my back whilst creating a fantastical story line sucks even even more. An SBSB groupie once said, "Say anything you want to about me as long as it is true." Good words to live by.

I am done with the pathological liar. Why do they think they can get away with it? Lying about what they own, where they've been, how they feel, injuries or surgeries they didn't have. Even colleges or fraternities someone might have been a part of. All these lies are pretty verifiable and one tends to feel sorry for a person having to create this fabulist world. Texas

But not for someone just making up lies about you behind your back and being nothing more than a yentashel. Oops, is that a anti-Semitic remark or am I a self loathing Jew? I feel the PC police will soon be knocking on my door.

I got to tell this story of a pathological liar. It's funny as hell. 

About ten years ago I got together with a friend of mine who lived on the same street as me and moved to Arizona in 7th grade. We hadn't seen each other for almost 35 years. Anyway, one of the first things he says to me after 35 years is that he played shortstop for Texas A&M in the mid 80's. The same team that Chuck Knoblauch was on. So sad. So untrue. So pathetic. So verifiable.

Want to talk smack about me, say it to my face. Don't make up shit I said or did. Shit, I always find out. And don't talk smack about my friends either.

What the Coalition Can Do Going Forward

The amazing UFT election season is over. Unity got 66 percent of the vote. Will there be a coup at the top of Unity? It remains to be seen. What should happen next?

A former groupie (Oh well. There are many more groupies out there) told me just before the election that if Unity were to win  the Coalition must not only stay together but must--and I am paraphrasing here--act as a shadow union and respond to each and every move by Unity as well be a de facto "shadow government."

So what can, as well as should, the Coalition do as the loyal opposition? 

The First DA in September

Resolution to make all Delegate Assembly meetings open to the rank and file through online and/or through the phone. It is time for the all dues paying members to see how Unity controls the DA and clamps down on issues that do not toe the party line. 

Second, a resolution to make all voting at the DA to make voting secret. The technology is there. It's been used to for those voting by phone. Time for the same for in person voting. Get a few kids from Stuyvesant to create an app or add to the UFT app and let all vote their conscience. Update 5/22 It has come to my attention that the DA now has secret voting. My apologies for being incorrect.

Executive Board

Same goes with the executive board. It's time that all members can see and hear what is going on there. Plus, for those that wish to speak before board and unable to schlep to 52 Broadway phone and/or video must be codiciled within the UFT constitution.

A Long Campaign

The campaign for 2025 begins today. The Coalition did a great job with only very little time as a coalition. Yes, 2025 is three years away but it will be here before we know it. 

Stay on the Offensive

Fuck pissing of Unity and the UFT. Do it to them before they do it to you. Make everything public that the coalition is doing and thinking. Put them back on their heels.

Raise Money

This will be hard but there needs to be money in the coffers. A source of funds. Find a celebrity sugar daddy. Why...?

Because We Are About to Get Screwed

On the next contract. Yep, we are. We need to get the word out there how crappy it will be. The work that the Coalition put into the election will be needed to share with the rank and file how crappy the new contract will be. Flyers and Happy Hours will be needed.

Medicare (Dis)Advantage

Shackles are now off of Mulgrew. See above.

Don't Give Up

Be persistent. Be a thorn in the buttocks of Unity/UFT. Think steps ahead. Make Unity/UFT be reactive to the Coalition. 

 Yard Signs!!! 

I know I sound like a broken record... But while I am on the point let's visit some things I have said in the past:

Speak to one teacher ask them to speak to ten teachers. Give them enough leaflets, information, websites, emails, to share with their colleagues. United for Change must think of itself as Amway or Mary Kay.

I've said it before, and I will say it again. I have a friend who is in direct mail. Let's see what he can do for UFC. 

But don't go inside. The UFT represents nurses at (I forget how many) city hospitals. Don't go in the operating room but rather linger outside and follow some of the above ideas. And go to other non education places that the UFT represents. 

Unless we try we will never know if any of the above will work. 

Thoughts on Retiring

 Retirement is creeping up on me. I'm 58, and I don't want to be like Willie Mays sticking around too long and falling down in the World Series. I'm getting to be an old fart. There are teachers in my school who weren't born yet when I started in 1995. 

My answer to  the question "when will you retire?" has been "not until my son at least graduates college." He graduates in a year. In four years, on time. Part of me wishes he would be on the 13 year plan like myself. 

I keep getting this thought in my mind of a high school math teacher of mine. Hans Frigo invested heavily in stocks to prepare for his retirement. He would never shut up about this. Six months after he retired he was walking his poodle and dropped dead. Good thing he retired. 

It's starting to hit me that soon all I have known for twenty six years will be gone. Not that I am going to miss it and not that I will not not work. Hell, I made it to having the age and the years. I remember when I came back from my suspension in 2015 and I just wanted to get to 2021. And I did, with room to spare. With my mouth I was concerned. So were others. But I did it. I got there.

I need at least a year to decompress from the DOE. My way of decompressing after my 3020a hearings was to hit iHop on Central Ave and just eat pancakes. My fantasy is to live in the Adirondacks and live off the land for a year. Sadly, that is impractical so choice #2 will have to suffice. Live in Corning NY for a year. Sell cars or work at Wal Mart as a greeter. 

But other than that I don't see me having any connection to anything or anyone with the DOE. That is except blogging and staying involved with Solidarity, United for Change or whatever incarnation of the two there is. I am ready for the 2025 election!

There are people I will never see nor speak to again and there are those I will continue the relationships with. Less stress is what I am looking for. It's amazing how my glucose level rises during the week. 

Which brings me to a Billy Joel song that almost everyone in 1982 had quoted in their high school year books. Which reminds me, I want to see Billy Joel again.

Say a word out of line and you find
That the friends you had are gone
Forever, forever
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last, some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again

SBSB Groupie Trixie the Teacher Has Been Thrown Under the Bus, Stabbed in the Back, or Just Had Smack Talked About Her Behind Her Back

 Trixie, the SBSB groupie has just shared some disturbing news that has befell her. We thank Trixie for feeling that she has a safe place here. She asked me to post this episode that happened to her recently and is hoping to hear from readers for advice.

For those that don't recall, Trixie is a teacher at the Speed Racer Elementary School and was expecting to teach widgets but in October for some reason or another it was decided for her to teach Nuclear Fission. Then a few weeks later she got schpritzed in the eye with hand sanitizer by a student. And then faced COVID death due to an entire grade being isolated without any news being shared with the rest of the school. However, what Trixie just shared was her greatest indignity of all. 

What could that be? Trixie and The Crack Team are still crunching the numbers but it somehow in someway runs the gamut of being thrown under the bus to being stabbed in the back to having smack talked about her. Worse, it was from someone that was at one point her closest friend in the DOE. Someone that didn't teach at her school and though they were no longer friends this just was not right. 

It's too bad because Trixie did not deserve it. In fact Trixie was shocked when she found out and at the same time hurt. But Trixie is a trooper. She's not even going to waste her time talking this this person. She just wanted me to share this and get it off her chest.

It's Time I Get Something of My Chest About Myself (You Won't Be Surprised. I Think)

I've had this on my mind for some time. I have written this out in my mind time after time again. But I am going to say this straightforward. Like pulling a band aid off. But I am going to share this as a kind of stream of consciousnesses.

I am a 58 year old male and gosh darn I have Adult ADHD. I am sure there are some of you who know me well, and unwell, that this doesn't surprise you. I am not asking for sympathy. Nor am I asking for pity. I am asking for to understand. You don't have to agree or disagree. I am not making any excuses, but rather an explanation. 

It's very difficult for me to get organized and stay on task. Then again, if I am extremely "into" what I am doing it is very easy to stay or task and I'm a little bit more organized. I don't think I have ever fulfilled all I can as a teacher due to the ADHD. 

Along with the ADHD comes anxiety. It's like the chicken or the egg. Which came first? Does the ADHD bring on the anxiety or vice versa? It's very easy for me to get overwhelmed. 

I was on the thirteen year plan to graduate college. In fact I barely graduated high school. The last two and a half years of high school I really didn't give a crap. 

I can be quote impatient. I sometimes speak my mind at the wrong time. I tend to piss people off. My son says I remind him of Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

And let's not forget the impulsivity!!!!! Oy vey! It always seems like a good idea at first.

Money and me don't get along. 

Driving and me weren't the best of friends. There was a time in my twenties in which getting pulled over was a natural occurrence. Though I have overcome that. 

I can have four hundred things going on in my head at once. It isn't pleasant. When I get anxious I tend to continuously swirl over something.

I get distracted easily. But as I said earlier, I can easily get hyper focused. 

Sitting in one place for too long is problematic

My mind is very creative. If I had to do it over I would do something creative. When I retire I want to do something creative. Or sell cars. I think I would have made a great salesman. Selling cars or something.

I see thing others don't see. I have zero linear thought.

I love golf and can focus. I love baseball but can't watch a game anymore. I get too bored. 

ADHD is not compatible with stupid authority.

ADHD is compatible with passion. Which sometimes can not be good. 

Why haven't I gone on meds for this? Nope. Don't want to.

I think my biggest issue with my ADHD can be following through. I need to wait for the last minute to get the focus to to do something. Sometimes I don't follow through because it is not high up on my list. It doesn't mean I think any less of the person I promised something to, but just the way my mind works. It is important. But Wrath of Khan had distracted me.

I am able to focus better when I am under a gun. However, if I am getting outside crap from someone that does not motivate me. I think that is the issue I have had with the DOE all these years. 

This is how it is for me. I am what I am. Every day I have to work hard to get through it. I know there are many who are reading this that will get it. And some who won't. Too bad. I don't care.