Could New York Be the Next Chicago?
Should be of much interest to the "Democratic wing" of the party.
We'll see.
>>>Last September’s Chicago teachers strike, organized—and won—by an unapologetically democratic, community-centered union, gave hope to laborites across the country that there could be a functional American labor movement.
Now, a caucus of unionists seeks to remake New York’s United Federation of Teachers, the city’s local of the American Federation of Teachers, in the CTU’s mold. The Movement of Rank-and-File Educators (MORE) was founded last spring as an alliance of teacher caucuses and activist groups. The caucus stands unconditionally opposed to school closings, retributive punishment of students, and the “junk science” of evaluating teachers based on student tests. “Teachers need to play the role in laying a platform for parents and students,” says Marissa Torres, MORE’s candidate for assistant treasurer in next month’s elections. Torres calls for the UFT, like the Chicago Teachers Union, to foreground explicit anti-racism and collective struggle.
MORE’s sharpest point of departure from current leadership is over union governance. It demands elections for district representatives, which became appointed positions in 2003 under then-president Randi Weingarten (now the head of the AFT). As a caucus that counts parents among its members, it also advocates parent representation on the union’s executive board.>>>>>
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14768/more_teachers_movement_follows_ctus_lead/