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#AllKidsNeed
Calling out Cuomo
UFT members and parents rise up against the governor’s attack on schools
Edward R. Murrow HS, Brooklyn
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At Edward R. Murrow HS in Midwood, Brooklyn, educators use the acronym CARE to declare their mission: Challenge students; Achieve academic excellence; Respect differences; and Engage all students in the learning process. So it was fitting that the school’s 320 staffers gathered together in the auditorium on Feb. 24 to send this message to Gov. Cuomo. “We’ve been making phone calls and sending emails as part of the campaign, but this was the first time everyone stood shoulder to shoulder together and said something as a group,” says Chapter Leader James Duncan. “It was very invigorating.”
With Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushing proposals that threaten the public schools across our city and state, UFT members, parents and their allies are making their voices heard loud and clear in Albany.
From social media such as Twitter and Facebook to more traditional forms of protest, members and allies are getting out the word that the governor’s proposals would harm children, damage schools and threaten the future of public education.
As UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the Delegate Assembly at a special session on Jan. 29 and at its regular meeting on Feb. 11, the governor’s proposals pose the biggest threat to New York City schools since Mayor Bloomberg,
Mulgrew also held two meetings with parents to get their ideas for combating Cuomo’s proposals. From these meetings and others, he concluded that the task of the union and our allies is to educate the public about what schools really need for children to succeed.
“We need to create a debate about the teaching and learning conditions for the children of this state as well as for the people who work in those schools,” Mulgrew said. “There is an opportunity for us to start a real, constructive debate.”
Social media heats up
Members of the UFT and other NYSUT locals along with other public school supporters have dominated social media conversations about Cuomo’s proposals.
On Twitter, more than 65,000 tweets have been sent so far with the hashtag #AllKidsNeed and more than 23,000 with the #InviteCuomo hashtag.
The volume is important because journalists, elected officials and other political observers use Twitter to gauge public opinion.
Facebook also is important. When people share the UFT’s Facebook posts about the governor and the activities of UFT chapters in response, it multiplies the number who sees the posts. One recent post linking to a calculator application to figure how much money the state owes each city school was shared at least 750 times and reached more than 134,000 people. A group photo of teachers at PS 185 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, with the sign “Teaching: Not in it for the income, in it for the outcome” was shared 919 times and reached more than 120,000 people.
“On social media, we are absolutely pushing back and showing the governor that he has made a mistake,” Mulgrew told the Delegate Assembly in February.
Getting message out in ads and reports
The UFT has also used advertisements to effectively counter Cuomo’s destructive proposals for education.
A full-page Daily News ad inviting the governor to visit a New York City public school classroom ran in late January, and both the UFT and NYSUT ran TV ads in February that were widely noticed statewide.
Also in late January, the UFT released a detailed report showing that charter schools in New York City serve far fewer high-needs students than public schools. At a press conference held to release the report, teachers gave stark firsthand reports of the impact of charter school co-locations in their school buildings.
Gathering strength at forums and schools
Mulgrew addressed members directly through a webcast in early February, answering questions submitted by members through email and from members in the audience.
Thousands of members and parents also turned out to 11 education forums held across the city in February. At each forum, local elected officials were present to hear the concerns of educators and community members about the governor’s education agenda.
And starting in early February, schools were launching their own actions. Schools in Queens wore black, while those in the Bronx wore red. To cite a few examples, the staff of IS 228, the David A. Boody JHS in Bensonhurst, produced its own “We Care!” video, while educators at PS 1 in Sunset Park created homemade, anti-Cuomo buttons as a chapter activity.
Chapter members “wore red every Friday in February to show solidarity against Gov. Cuomo and his flagrant attempt to privatize public education,” said David Doorga, the chapter leader at P 168, a District 75 school in the Bronx.
“At meetings, I tell my members: ‘Look at the person to the left of you and look at the person to the right of you and ask them what they’ve done,’” Doorga said. “‘Collectively we are the union. Come out, rally and get the word out.’”
IS 125, Queens
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To symbolize the idea that Gov. Cuomo’s proposals would mean the death of public education, schools across Queens, including more than 60 educators at IS 125 in Woodside, wore black to school on Feb. 11. “Our members are very concerned,” says Chapter Leader Judith Glazer. “We love our kids and we enjoy teaching them, and we don’t want someone telling us it all comes down to how students do on one day on one test.” Glazer says that students at IS 125 get a well-rounded education that includes art, music and dance. “But if Cuomo’s proposals go through, that’s all going to fall by the wayside and disappear,” she says.
PS 47, The Bronx
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Kristy Leibowitz
Angie Lau, whose son attends PS 47 in the Bronx, has two words for Gov. Cuomo: “Back off!” Inspired by Chapter Leader Laurie Novomestky, Lau and other parents are signing petitions, taking trips to Albany, and marching in frigid weather to show Cuomo that they despise his uneducated proposals. “I tell parents what he is planning and that we need their involvement now more than ever,” says Novomestky, who has spread the word throughout the Parkchester section of the Bronx. Lau is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who spoke no English and couldn’t help her with schoolwork. She and other immigrant parents are particularly upset that Gov. Cuomo refused to change the state requirement that English language learners be graded the same as native English speakers on the state ELA test after just one year. “This is a slap in the face to all those parents who struggled to get here so that their children could be educated,” said Lau. “Maybe Cuomo hasn’t noticed that New York City is made up of immigrants — immigrants and their children.” above: Teachers (from left) Jessica Abernathy and Lydia Elswick, PTA Secretary Izalinas Colon, and teachers Ester Scutaro and Christina Brown. The teachers are wearing T-shirts showing their solidarity.
P 168, The Bronx
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Throughout the month of February, more than 200 members spread across seven sites at P 168, a District 75 school in the Bronx, wore red on Fridays to show their solidarity in the fight against Gov. Cuomo. Chapter Leader David Doorga praised his staff’s “huge response” to the initiative, noting that everyone from administrators to custodians was on board. “This is the last stand,” says Doorga. “We have to share with our families and talk to our neighbors. All it takes is for one person to tell another person. We have to make people aware of what’s going on.”
PS 1, Brooklyn
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UFT members at PS 1 in Sunset Park got crafty and created their own political buttons challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s education agenda. The anti-Cuomo buttons carry messages such as “Money for supplies!” and “Cuomo, let me teach! Stop the nonsense.” Kathy Massar, the PS 1 chapter leader, said she and school delegate Sandy Perez brainstormed about the kind of activity they wanted to do after the special Delegate Assembly on Jan. 29. On Feb. 6, across three lunch periods, educators got to work. “It’s been a good morale booster,” Massar said. UFT members are coming up with more ideas to stand together in opposition to Cuomo, she said. “Now we’re going to draw hands with messages, such as ‘Cuomo lend us a hand,’ and ‘#AllKidsNeed.’”
