Union Girds to Oppose Constitutional Convention
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 40 RECTOR STREET TRAVEL DESK Forget Talk Of A Dark Age, Randi Herman, CSA First In Santa Clara,Cuba, Let’s Push On With Health Vice President, Is Retiring. Retirees Salsa and Education Initiatives 2 Henry Rubio Accepts Role 5 and Merengue.14 Feb. 2017 Volume 50, Number 6 American Federation NEWS of School Administrators, COUNCIL OF SCHOOL SUPERVISORS AND ADMINISTRATORS AFL-CIO Local 1 Union Girds CREATIVE LEADERSHIP to Oppose ‘A Shared Responsibility’: 6 Schools, 4,000 Students Constitutional Partership of School Leaders Keeps Campus Humming Convention BY CHUCK WILBANKS one. In a statewide Sienna College poll conducted in June, respon- How bad could a Consti- dents supported holding a con- tutional Convention be for New vention by a 68-19 percent margin. Yorkers? But would the reality of a con- Let us count the ways. vention fulfill the promise? Against the current political People fed up with corruption backdrop of public anger at gov- and dysfunction in Albany could ernment, few solutions might be surprised to learn that conven- appear more appealing than a tion delegates would likely be the no-holds barred Constitutional same lawmakers and lobbyists the Convention, where everything is public is angry about. If you don’t on the table and all change is pos- trust the prominent and behind- sible. the-scene faces in Albany now, just While the issue is not exactly wait until they go behind closed burning among New York resi- doors and start monkeying with dents right now, it is likely to heat the Constitution. up before November, when voters The state Constitution man- will decide if Albany will spend an dates that voters decide every estimated $300 million to hold Continued on Page 5 CLEM RICHARDSON n A dream team, Principals from l to r: John Powers of Lehman HS, Melissa Ramos of Schuylerville Preparatory HS, Jason Wagner of Pelham Lab HS, Maria Herrera of Renaissance HS of Theater and A Bruised DeVos Wins Senate Vote Technology, and Greg Fucheck of Bronx River HS, and Yira Salcedo of Westchester Square Academy. BY CLEM RICHARDSON Theater and Technology), a commitment that as a etsy DeVos was confirmed Feb. loaded Senate phone lines and John Powers (Lehman campus and as a community B 7 as the eleventh U.S. Secretary ‘No’ votes of two GOP defectors, magine you run one of High School), Yira Salcedo we’re not just making sure of Education by a single vote. the vote was tied, and for the first six schools, with a com- (Westchester Square that our individual schools Mrs. DeVos is a billionaire time in history, the vice president bined student body of Academy), Melissa Ramos are doing well and striving, heiress who has no experience as had to cast the deciding vote for close to four thousand, (Schuylerville Preparatory we want to make sure that an educator but is a fierce backer a cabinet nominee. The scrutiny that share a building. High School), and Jason all schools on campus will of charter, private and religious and bruising national opposition INow imagine you’re also Wagner (Pelham Lab High be successful,” said Herrera. schools. During an embarrassing tarnished her legitimacy and left charged with instituting School). “That’s kind of a shared confirmation hearing in front of public education advocates impas- some of the most challeng- Get these school leaders responsibility. So not only the Senate Committee on Health, sioned. ing and high profile educa- in the same room and the are you the principal of one Education, Labor and Pensions, she “The fact that someone with tional initiatives in the city camaraderie is clear. They showed no grasp of fundamental no experience in public education – Restorative Justice, Advance laugh a lot and occasionally Members At Work, Making News debates in education policy and other than working to subvert it is Placement Courses for All, finish each other’s sentences. 3 PAGES, 8-10 refused to oppose the presence now going to be responsible for and the Learning Partners They say they also meet of guns in schools, asserting that overseeing the education of our Program. often, text even more, and, individual school, but you’re grizzlies in Wyoming may make nation’s children is truly distress- The way to make it all through the help of walkie also responsible for the entire guns necessary in schools there. ing,” CSA President Ernest Logan work? If you’re one of the talkies, pride themselves on campus.” She was later accused of lying said after the vote. six principals on the Herman being in constant communi- “Having open lines of about financial matters and com- “That being said, we look H. Lehman campus in the cation during the school day. communication supports mitting plagiarism in answers to forward to Mrs. DeVos fulfilling Bronx, you do it together, Though they run six alignment and coherence written questions from committee the promise to ‘address the needs which is hardly as simple schools, they each take own- of building wide policies, members. of all parents and students’ as as it seems, according to ership of the building they especially around safety and Despite an all-night she assumes this post. We will be principals Greg Fucheck share. security protocols,” wrote speech-making marathon, over- watching.” (Bronx River High School), “One of the things that Salcedo, who was called away Maria Herrera (Renaissance makes our partnership really during the interview. “For – CW High School of Musical work is that we have made Continued on Page 10 2 CSA NEWS Feb. 2017 Feb. 2017 CSA NEWS PRESIDENT’S PAGE Prospect Of Free Riders And Forget Talk of a Dark Age: A New Supreme Court Justice BY CHUCK WILBANKS Unions across the country Council of School Let’s Lead by Example Supervisors & Administrators may soon have to confront a national free rider law. American Federation of School Administrators, AFL-CIO, Local 1 It’s a Good Time For the City to Play Offense By Ernest A. Logan On Feb. 1, two GOP repre- sentatives introduced H.R.785, a 40 Rector St., NY, NY 10006 Phone: (212) 823-2020 hen I saw thousands of social leaps that could stand them in good national version of so-called right- Fax: (212) 962-6130 Americans marching stead for years. If they have learning disabil- to-work legislation that already www.csa-nyc.org shoulder-to-shoulder in ities, those can be identified and corrected exists in more than half the states. President the Women’s Marches of early. Three-year-olds have been successfully In the Orwellian language Ernest A. Logan Jan. 21, I was struck by educated for generations, through a variety of favored by anti-labor forces, the Executive Vice President Wthe number of parents carrying babies and highly regarded approaches. authors, Steve King of Iowa and Mark Cannizzaro toddlers or pushing them in carriages through This is an opportunity that has to be South Carolina’s Joe Wilson, First Vice President Henry Rubio the tidal wave of humanity. There are so extended to our homeless children, who claim the bill will “preserve and many of these tiny new people. As a New often don’t even have access to the 4-year- protect the free choice of indi- Treasurer Christopher Ogno Yorker and educator, I had one of those light- olds’ program because of family transience. vidual employees to form, join, Secretary ning bolt moments: children are still being But we have to change that for them and for or assist labor organizations, or to Sandy DiTrapani born as if all is well in the world, and we have our future economy. Research establishes a refrain from such activities.” Vice Presidents to do right by them. strong connection between a young child’s Simply put, such legislation Debra Handler At least in New York, serving the needs early experiences and his brain development. allows union members to opt- Lois Lee of very young children has become a top Homelessness in early childhood is associ- out of paying dues. Their unions Ronald Williams Nancy Russo, Retiree Chapter priority. Of all the initiatives envisioned by ated with poor early development, academic will still represent the members, Mayor de Blasio, Universal Pre-Kindergarten is achievement and engagement, as well as sig- and the members will still enjoy Executive Director Operations one that has surely succeeded. In three years, nificant social emotional delays, and under- the benefits of collective bargain- Erminia Claudio the number of 4-year-olds in UPK rose from par social skills. Homeless children must have ing. But since some members General Counsel 20,000 to 70,000. A recent report card shows access to experiences that improve their long- David Grandwetter won’t pay dues, the unions may a job pretty well done, with some need for improvement, and term educational outlook.* find themselves economically that’s nothing short of miraculous. When these children reach A strong UPK program for homeless 3- and 4-year-olds is harmed, eventually spending Executive Director Field Services Sana Q. Nasser our elementary, middle and high schools, they will have a better needed now. The program can reach them if it becomes easier to more than they take in and strug- chance of succeeding. access and is brought 100% under the supervision of the DOE. gling to stay afloat. Field Directors Juanita Bass, Mildred Boyce, We’re in a moment when millions of people wonder if we’re Despite best intentions, the ACS isn’t equipped to provide gen- It is not yet clear how a federal James Harrigan, Christine Martin, about to plunge into a new dark age.