Call me Irresponsible 🎩

   

   
    As I’m sitting here writing this, I’m incessantly coughing and flushed. Could I have the virus? Possibly, but probably not. You see I get the same symptoms every March and April. I was thinking about the past few days, when my buddy who works at 52 Broadway got in touch. He said foot traffic outside Superman’s Ice Palace at 52 Broadway is down 90%. If this keeps up, I’d steer clear of Wall Street, as those folks won’t wait for the virus - they’ll be taking the roof. The economic fallout will wipe out all the gains from the past few years and then some. Trumpy shouldn’t have down played the danger of this virus and should have prepared. His arrogance and dyslexia will have profound effects and unfortunately cost lives. It should, however, see the end of him and his equally repulsive and arrogant counterpart, Bill deBlasio.
 
   Yesterday, DeBlasio finally agreed to close the schools. Well, it really wasn’t deBlasio - it was Cuomo. DeBlasio was on the tube telling us to stay away from groups of people, large and small, and all venues where they may congregate - bars, restaurants, movie theaters, and gyms. One of my other buddies, who works out at Big Bill’s gym, texted me this morning - ‘Big Bird has landed and is doing the chicken dance’! Unbelievable! No not really. You see, the people we have entrusted to lead us are remarkably unprepared to do so - whether it be Trump, deBlasio or Mulgrew.
 
Mulgrew pleaded all weekend with deBlasio to close the schools. He even went so far as to call him
‘irresponsible’. When I read that I pictured Big Bill in a tux, singing and dancing to that oldie but goodie, ‘Call Me Irresponsible’. (I thought to myself - ‘oh yeah, that’ll work.’) Perhaps you’ll be reading just that in the next edition of ‘The NY Teacher’. Just the opposite was readily apparent to me. Mulgrew was the very picture of incompetence this weekend. Teachers were screaming at deBlasio. They should have been screaming at Mulgrew. Here’s the comment I wrote on the ICEUFT blog - ‘This really isn’t deBlasio’s problem, anymore. He does what he wants, when he wants, especially with the schools and with teachers. This is issue is now on Mulgrew. Mulgrew approaches every challenge from a predisposition of weakness. However, his letter is strongly worded for him - calling the mayor ‘irresponsible’, but it’s still a form of groveling and pleading ; hoping to get the parents to back him up, like a scared kid taking on a bully. Hasn’t he learned anything from his time with Bloomberg? Stop asking and start doing. No one, especially deBlasio, has any respect for Mulgrew (everything deBlasio has asked for he got on a silver plate - no interest teacher loans for our back pay, an expedited ATR termination process, an inferior contract with givebacks, no discipline policy, grade fraud, the list goes and on ), and most rank and file members no longer believe anything that comes out of Mulgrew’s mouth. If the Mayor refuses to close schools for an extended time period (and in all likelihood he will refuse) Mulgrew has to refuse to send teachers to them. That’s it. If he doesn’t do that, he may as well shut down the UFT, because as teachers and their families start getting sick or worse, he and the UFT will not be forgiven. . Nothing has changed. Incompetency is still being exhibited in all its glorious indifference by deBlasio and Mulgrew. No teacher should be training for anything inside a NYC public school, until they are thoroughly disinfected. The virus can live up to three days or more on uncleaned surfaces - so there’s no way Big Bill should be asking and no way Big Mike should be agreeing. I could go on and on for pages just about this, but you get it. The bottom line is you’re taking a big risk with your life and your family’s if you do go in, for what most definitely will be a ridiculous farce of an on the fly training.
 
    Now, that’s not to say distance learning isn’t a valuable asset. As the economy starts to sink deeper and deeper, the training, you may begin and endure tomorrow, may replace you in the near future. Wouldn’t that be ironic? Risking your life for a training, that could one day replace you, and Mulgrew readily agreeing to send you there. Just some thoughts for breakfast tomorrow morning. Stay well.