UFT Elections: New Action/Unity joint high school slate

The UFT Executive Board is up for election. TJC is dissolved into GEM into MORE and ICE is supporting MORE also (that’s a lot of names for one caucus, er coalition, er whatever.)  Unity and New Action are running independent slates, but have cross-endorsed several candidates. Among the at-large seats, Unity has cross-endorsed 7 New Action candidates. They will appear on the ballot as New Action/Unity. And in the high school division New Action has 3 candidates cross-endorsed by Unity, and Unity has 4 candidates cross-endorsed by New Action. In addition, New Action cross-endorsed Michael Mulgrew for President.

I am on the high school slate, again. Ettman, Goldman, and Lundahl are returning as well. Fessel and Klug are new. James Vasquez was elected HS Exec Board two elections ago, but is currently serving as Exec Board At-Large.

1. Alan Ettman – Unity/New Action, DeWitt Clinton HS (Bronx), Chapter Leader
2. Keith Fessel – New Action/Unity, Fort Hamilton HS (Brooklyn), Chapter Leader
3. William Goldman – New Action/Unity, Tottenville HS (Staten Island), Chapter Leader
4. Jonathan Halabi – New Action/Unity, HS of American Studies at Lehman College (Bronx), Chapter Leader
5. Anthony Klug – Unity/New Action, Wadleigh Secondary School (Manhattan), Chapter Leader
6. Gregg Lundahl-Unity/New Action, *Washington Irving High School (Manhattan) Chapter Leader
7. James Vasquez- Unity/New Action, Newcomers HS (Queens), Queens HS DR

Anthony helped lead the fight that got Wadleigh off the closure list two years ago. He currently works PM Staff for the HS VP. Bill has been the longterm Chapter Leader at Tottenville, at the farthest reaches of NYC. He motivated the unsuccessful attempt last fall to get the leadership to work to unseat Republican Congressman Michael Grimm.

Gregg fought like hell to keep Washington Irving open. In 2010 he ran a primary campaign against Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, who had voted to end seniority for teachers. Bing won, but Gregg’s message was heard throughout Albany. Keith Fessell is a 31-year teacher from Fort Hamilton, previously on the consultative committee and a delegate, who is serving his first term as Chapter Leader. He has run for UFT VP Special Education in several previous elections.

Alan Ettman was the Chapter Leader at Walton HS as the New Visions/20th Century Fund/Gates Foundation plan to replace five Bronx high schools at once and replace them with mini-schools was rolled out. Alan spoke out earlier than most Chapter Leaders against this bad policy, which the UFT was supporting (this policy has since been corrected).  This year, as Chapter Leader at DeWitt Clinton, Alan mobilized early against a closure plan, and the DoE thought twice and went for the less immediate (but still harmful) “downsize, not close” option. His first UFT work was helping people dying of AIDS (back when it was a death sentence) negotiate the Board of Education bureaucracy, and preserve benefits.

James Vasquez and I went to Chapter Leader training together as new CLs back in 2002. He has been Queens HS DR for about 8 years. And me? I blog sometimes. Support other schools where I can. Speak out at the Exec Board, especially when the rights of our most vulnerable members – most senior, least senior, or facing charges, are abridged. This Spring I’m co-chairing the committee on Specialized HS Admissions, but that has more to do with the decent, caring people in my school than about a caucus or an election.