There’s a whole lot of political action going on. So much, that we’ll post this Fight Back Friday today. NYSUT political action coordinators and local leaders have been scheduling home office visits for today and tomorrow. Yes, hundreds converge on Albany for those Committee of 100 lobby days (March 20 and May 22) or for [...]

Dr. John Sipple of the state Center for Rural Schools and a Cornell University professor was the keynote speaker at today’s Small City and Rural Schools Advocacy Day in Albany. He laid out, with charts and figures, the dire straits of the high-need districts across the state. You can find a lot of those charts and [...]

The pro-public education ad created by the Schoharie Teachers Association, and funded by locals across the state, has hit the airwaves. Here’s a link to an Albany Times Union article about the ad. One thing wrong in the article is it makes it sound like it’s the first time local unions have produced commercials on [...]

Full disclosure, only one of these is a true “rally.” Nearly 900 people will be at the Hart Theatre at the Egg in downtown Albany for the small cities and rural areas lobbying effort Wednesday. NYSUT officers Andy Pallotta and Kathleen Donahue are among the dozens who will speak. I will be tweeting it live [...]

Long-time activist Judith E. Rudman passed away at her home on Long Island over the weekend. She was 89. She was born in Syracuse and raised in the Bronx. A Hunter College graduate, she earned her Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati. Call me “Judy” she would say, although she did prefer “Judith” in [...]

Hope we all got a good rest because it’s a busy week ahead. Yes, the deadline looms this week for an agreement on teacher evaluation. Here’s an interesting take on New York City’s negotiations from the elected public advocate. This week, NYSUT will release a video about the impact of a pension on one teaching [...]

Times are tough, but there are 264,000 people who have it tougher than you. There were more than 264,000 people in our state at or below the minimum wage in 2010. Keep in mind that the minimum wage in this state hasn’t been raised since 2009 when it went up 10 cents. It sits at [...]

Across the state there are school districts working together. Syracuse is one of them and Friday morning is a great example. Starting at 8:30 a.m. the union joins with district administrators, Say YES to education and Syracuse 20/20. Together the groups will tell their elected lawmakers, both city and state, why the Syracuse schools need [...]

Because Monday is going to be busy. Labor and management representatives from many of the 10 districts who had School Improvement Grant funding until the State Education Department yanked it away will give details about what it all means. It starts at 12:30 p.m. on the steps of SED’s building, 89 Washington Ave. A lot of [...]

View all photos The sound of thousands of plastic clappers on the south lawn of the Capitol earlier today was like rainfall. It heralded the coming storm from state workers who are angry at the governor’s threats of another 9,800 layoffs. The rally was led by Public Employees Federation. PEF president Ken Brynien said 15,000 [...]