Apologies to Dan Alicea

I want to truly apologize to Daniel Alicea. On November 30, Dan wrote a blog post about how, despite millions of dollars being available, Mulgrew refused to address the pay issues for paraprofessionals.Naively, in retrospect, I asked Daniel a question in the comments section. I quote:

"Dan, what is your plan. What would you do?"

I wasn’t trying to be snarky or troll him—I was just asking a simple question.

Dan, to his credit was quite polite and responded with...

"Hi Pete, as I indicated prior in my post I will share some ideas (about 5 or 6) in an upcoming post shortly and would love to crowdsource others like yourself...We must to find those opportunities in the next round… which happen in most negotiations …and next time go in intentionally and decidedly knowing those extra monies will be added to increases for hard to staff positions like paras."

Thank you Dan, for the response. 

But now for my apology. The other day on Facebook, I again inquired of Dan, "Where is your plan?" (Hey, that rhymes!) I reminded him that he had promised a plan. I was wrong. Dan never promised a plan. For that, I apologize. He is correct, and I was incorrect.

Dan also reminded me of how busy he is—teaching four different subjects a day, running an ICT class with several paras, editing his award-winning radio show on left-wing WBAI, and even cooking dinner.

Again Dan, I apologize. I did not know that you led such a busy life. It's a good thing that all those activities don't take away the memes, the posts, etc... on Facebook. 

At least Dan didn’t pull a Trump and claim to have a “semblance” of a plan. But I’m still confused.

There must be ideas floating around inside Dan’s head. Is this the plan?

...and next time go in intentionally and decidedly knowing those extra monies will be added to increases for hard to staff positions like paras.

If that’s it, Captain Obvious might say, "Hey, who’d have thunk of that!"

Now, please don’t misunderstand me—I am not disparaging paras. They deserve better pay and much more respect. I’ve worked with some incredible paras. They work tirelessly, and those in District 75 especially should be paid even more. I say, give them a living wage. But how will that be done? What will be done differently than what Unity has been doing?

The UFT has been making strides. but there’s one issue Dan has been silent on: the problem of sub-paras who remain in those positions for far too long. If you look at the excessed teacher website, there are countless paraprofessional vacancies—it’s mind-boggling. At schools I’ve been to, I’ve seen paras who have been sub-paras for years. Why? Because administrators get away with it.

Being a sub-para means you don’t get paid for sick days or personal days. You don’t get paid when school is not in session. You don’t get paid during the summer. You don’t receive Welfare Fund benefits or health insurance. So, yes, let’s fix para pay. But what about the hundreds, if not thousands, of paras still deemed sub-paras?

Why isn’t Dan pounding the drums for this? Wouldn’t addressing this also raise the average pay for paras?

But to advocate solely for increased pay? There has to be a reason. It feels like a divide-and-conquer strategy—us vs. them.

As one SBSB fan wrote in an email to The Crack Team:

Dan is saying that money should not have gone to teachers and should have gone to paras. This is yet another attempt by the very toxic and extreme left within our union to get members (in this case to get paras and teachers) to trust each other just a little less than they did the day before. It is the same lame divide and conquer approach to organizing that has failed them and us for over 40 years now.

The fanboi goes on about Dan's math...

Do you remember the “signing bonus” and the “retention bonus” from the last contract? What this says is that the money that was used to fund those bonuses was new money that was brought forth by New York City. This is actually important because sure literally all money for city contracts is set aside from each budget year and it is all accounted for. But for this bonus money, the city just pulled it out on the table. What this says is that that bonus money  -the money teachers get for bonuses- could have or should have been used to increase para pay.

But that is jut one fanboi's position, not mine. Just felt I needed to share it and present all sides. 

So, what about that plan? I apologize for assuming you had a plan. I apologize if you think I ask “gotcha” questions. But it’s only a gotcha if you don’t have a plan or lack confidence in your plan or yourself.

I’m sorry for responding to you on Facebook. I thought you could take it. God knows the abuse I’ve taken over the years in the comments on this blog. I was wrong. I apologize.