December 19, 2021 – Statement regarding the current COVID Surge Emergency, Calls for Action, Demands and Our Candidates For A Better Union\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
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This is a crisis week in the COVID pandemic. NYC is exploding with cases. This week alone <\/span>cases have tripled<\/span><\/a> in our city. Theater, sports, music venues, and colleges are shutting down, or taking a pause, just as they did in March 2020. And just as the city and mayor <\/span>lagged behind in 2020<\/span><\/a>, the DOE and UFT leadership is lagging behind in its response now while putting students, teachers and whole communities at significant risk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Listen to what the data is telling us! Expert epidemiologist, <\/span>Michael Osterholm<\/span><\/a>, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research at the University of Minnesota, in reference to our city\u2019s data stated, \u201cI think we\u2019re really just about to experience a viral blizzard.\u201d\u00a0 The CDC is expecting critical spikes in hospitalizations and projects that over 15,000 Americans will lose their lives to COVID in the week of January 8, 2022. Here in New York, over <\/span>21k cases were reported<\/span><\/a> on Friday alone – a record number of cases during the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the DOE situation room is falling apart. Testing and tracing at schools is overwhelmed and dysfunctional. <\/span>Data reporting<\/span><\/a> is inadequate, opaque, and skewed. Now is the time for the UFT to step up to the plate to protect its members and school communities with strong demands for action during this chaotic mayoral transition. It\u2019s not enough to make tepid and vague suggestions for the incoming administration in January. <\/span>We are in a crisis now and we need action now. Mulgrew\u2019s email of December 17th offers nothing but the same acquiescence to mayoral\/DOE policy that exposed so many of us last time. If the DOE is incapable of keeping schools safe we, as educators, must act on behalf of our school communities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Actions by Teachers and School Communities For This Week and Beyond\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We can act <\/span>now<\/b> by utilizing the resources, rights and opportunities we already have available to us:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Demands for Safety from DOE\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Safety must be the overriding concern during this pandemic. City teachers unions like <\/span>United Teachers Los Angeles<\/span><\/a> have successfully demanded much more in terms of safeguards than the <\/span>Unity-led<\/span><\/a> UFT. United for Change demands the following from the DOE:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Better Union, A Responsive Plan<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The pandemic is here for the foreseeable future, but our current disconnected UFT leadership doesn\u2019t have to be. United For Change candidates running in the spring 2022 UFT elections offer a better alternative and real, responsive solutions. Here is what they say about the current crisis:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Camille Eterno<\/b> (<\/span>ICE<\/span><\/a>), our candidate for UFT President, running against Michael Mulgrew, says, \u201cThe current UFT President cannot wait for the new mayor to take office to act. The time to demand a safe teaching and learning environment and inform members of their rights is NOW! Mulgrew is fiddling, just like he did in March of 2020, while COVID is again spreading like wildfire in NYC. <\/span>We must do better.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Annie Tan<\/b> (<\/span>MORE<\/span><\/a>), for UFT Secretary, states, \u201cLack of leadership, from Mayor de Blasio and our own union, has led to thousands of cases among students and staff that never needed to happen. Our schools are left with major staff shortages and COVID spread at school, preventable with baseline COVID testing, universal weekly testing and other common-sense safety measures. Educators, students and families deserve leadership that acts decisively on what is happening at schools, including remote learning options; ‘normal’ was never good enough.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Luli Rodriguez <\/b>(<\/span>ICE<\/span><\/a>\/<\/span>Solidarity<\/span><\/a>)<\/span>,<\/b> candidate for UFT Treasurer: \u201cAt The Heritage High School, there are only 11 classrooms for 350 students. Certain classrooms are over-capacity. Current UFT leadership dropped the ball by not successfully pressuring the mayor to lower class sizes. We cannot wait any longer for real enforceable safety measures to be implemented.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lydia Howrilka<\/b> (<\/span>Solidarity<\/span><\/a>), a candidate for UFT Executive Board, representing high school teachers, adds:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI urge caution and a return to remote instruction for the week of December 19 and 1 week after the New Year. We can’t control what people do. But we can take preventative measures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alex Jallot (<\/b>MORE<\/span><\/a>)<\/b>, a candidate for UFT Executive Board, representing high school teachers: \u201cWe are once again finding ourselves in a position where our students, colleagues, and families are at high risk. Cases have been increasing rapidly over the past week and the data suggests those numbers will only go up. We demand that schools be able to go remote for this upcoming week to keep everyone safe. Furthermore, we demand that everyone produce a negative test upon our return after the holiday break. We were told to prepare our classrooms for a remote possibility, and now is the time to utilize that. It is imperative that we act immediately in order to save lives.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Edward Calamia <\/b>(<\/span>New Action<\/span><\/a>) a candidate for UFT Executive Board, representing high school teachers: \u201cThe policies coming from Washington, Albany, and DOE Central must be judged based on the experience of the workers and students who enter school buildings every day. We who are on the front lines need something better, we who are on the front lines have accepted the challenge to create something better.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nick Bacon <\/b>(<\/span>New Action<\/span><\/a>), a candidate for UFT Executive Board, representing high school teachers:<\/span> \u201c<\/b>We know all too well the consequences of our union leadership\u2019s failure to act in March 2020. Michael Mulgrew’s current pandemic strategy isn\u2019t working. Enough with the empty gestures. The time is now to proactively ensure the safety of teachers, students, and families.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Daniel Alicea <\/b>(<\/span>EONYC)<\/span><\/a>, a candidate for UFT Executive Board, representing middle school teachers: \u201cAs a dad and educator, we must do right by our families and our kids – keep them safe.\u00a0 Our students from ages 5-11 are not fully vaxxed.\u00a0 Neither are children in 3K and pre-K.\u00a0 We aren\u2019t testing kids in 3K or pre-K and that\u2019s unacceptable.\u00a0 We may need a pause for in-person instruction to avert a catastrophic outbreak.\u00a0 A pause will provide relief to our healthcare workers who are overwhelmed, our school staff shortages and it may, ultimately, save lives.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our Slate For Adcom Officers, High School Executive Board and Middle School Executive Board<\/b><\/p>\n (Our other candidates for Elementary School Executive Board, Functional, At-Large and AFT\/NYSUT are forthcoming in the coming weeks.<\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0We will post bios and pictures of our candidates in the coming days and weeks on our website – <\/b>WWW.UNITEDFORCHANGE.VOTE<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A<\/b>dCom (Officers)<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n High School Executive Board\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nick Bacon (New Action)\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Edward Calamia (New Action)<\/b><\/p>\n Lydia Howrilka (UFT Solidarity)<\/b><\/p>\n Alex Jallot (MORE)<\/b><\/p>\n Ibeth Mejia (UFT Solidarity\/ICE)<\/b><\/p>\n Ilona Nanay<\/b> (MORE)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n Middle School Executive Board<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kevin Prosen<\/b> (MORE)<\/b><\/p>\n Yvonne Reasen\u00a0 (EONYC)<\/b><\/p>\n Olivia Swisher (MORE)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" December 19, 2021 – Statement regarding the current COVID Surge Emergency, Calls for Action, Demands and Our Candidates For A Better Union\u00a0 This is a crisis week in the COVID pandemic. NYC is exploding with cases. This week alone cases have tripled in our city. Theater, sports, music venues, and colleges are shutting down, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208131860,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1441,1360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statements","category-uftsolidarityposts"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"solidarityuftblog6761","author_link":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/?author=208131860"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdaRGT-2t1","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/208131860"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9487"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9495,"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9487\/revisions\/9495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solidarityuft.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\n Position:<\/b><\/td>\n Candidate \/ Caucus Affiliation\/<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n President<\/span><\/td>\n Camille Eterno (ICE)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Secretary<\/span><\/td>\n Annie Tan (MORE)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Assistant Secretary<\/span><\/td>\n Sally Beane White (Independent)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Treasurer<\/span><\/td>\n Luli Rodriguez (UFT Solidarity\/ICE)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Assistant Treasurer<\/span><\/td>\n Rosie Frascella (MORE)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n VP for Elementary Schools<\/span><\/td>\n Tameka Solomon (MORE)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n VP for Middle School<\/span><\/td>\n Poonita Beemsigne (UFT Solidarity)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n VP for High School<\/span><\/td>\n Thomas McDonough (New Action)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n VP for CTE<\/span><\/td>\n Eric Severson (UFT Solidarity)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n VP for Special Education<\/span><\/td>\n Hannah Fleury (OT\/PT)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n VP for Education At Large<\/span><\/td>\n Gloria Brandman (Retiree Advocate)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n VP for Non-DOE<\/span><\/td>\n Christina Vickers (UFT Solidarity)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n\n
\n Position:<\/span><\/td>\n Candidate \/ Caucus Affiliation<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n High School Executive Board<\/span><\/td>\n Ronnie Almonte<\/b> (MORE)<\/b><\/p>\n \n\n
\n Position:<\/span><\/td>\n Candidate \/ Caucus Affiliation<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Middle School Executive Board<\/span><\/td>\n Daniel Alicea (EONYC)<\/b><\/p>\n