Saturday, May 13, 2017

Taking the Arg Out of Garg

As you may have read on the ICE-UFT blog, or EdNotes Online, CPE 1 chapter leader Marilyn Martinez has actually won in 3020a. That's very unusual. I am personally acquainted with only one other such case. Generally the arbitrator tries to find some piddling little thing wrong and give a token fine, at the very least.

Of course, it appears the charges, the ones we've never even heard, were so frivolous that the arbitrator could not even fine her a few thousand bucks. And make no mistake, a principal who reassigns teachers simply because she finds them inconvenient is not acting in the best interests of students, let alone UFT members. This, sadly, does not put an end to the situation. The CPE 1 delegate is sitting around somewhere facing charges as well.

I'm curious as to why this doesn't constitute union-busting. I mean, if you want to be treated like that, why not get a gig at Walmart or Target as opposed to one of the most progressive schools in the city? It's kind of understandable that CSA defends Garg, since it is in fact their job to support their members. It's less clear why Fariña won't weigh in against this outrage, until you consider that she actually hand-picked Garg to run the school.

Me, I'm not sure exactly why Fariña is deemed such a remarkable educator. I'm not sure how turning around a school is much of a miracle when you reject six out of seven applicants. This is the same sort of miracle charters push, when they not only enroll strictly children with parents proactive enough to apply, but also dump the ones who end up inconveniently getting unfavorable test scores. My school takes everyone and I'm proud of that.

Of course Fariña is a remnant of the Bloomberg administration, and as such I have to question Bill de Blasio's vision for public schools. Sadly, he did not clean house of Bloomberg folk at Tweed, and I simply do not see Fariña's vision as sufficiently improved from that of Klein, Walcott, or even What's-Her-Name.  Appointing the short-sighted and vindictive Monica Garg as principal is a case in point.

I have a lot of respect for Marilyn Martinez. She's going back into the veritable belly of the beast, and facing a principal who has no issue reassigning people for no reason. She shows the sort of courage we all need, so sorely lacking these days. Can you imagine how powerful the union would be if we all showed that?

How can we empower members so we all stand proud, just like chapter leader Marilyn Martinez?
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