The charter school teachers pictured above were "applauded" by fellow teachers at a United Federation of Teachers delegate meeting on February 24, as reported in New York Teacher (here).

And what were these charter school teachers being applauded for by their colleagues? Why, for "backing the UFT's effort to reform" state law to supposedly bring more transparency to charter schools and make them more accessible to students at risk.

A respectful suggestion to these charter school teachers: if you haven't actually read this legislation, I suggest you do so before believing the UFT's spin. A fair reading of this bill will reveal that it not only stops virtually any new charter schools from being approved, but would saddle existing schools, including probably your own, from remaining fiscally viable to stay open and employ you and your colleagues.

In other words, this bill (A.9558), which had the backing of the teacher unions and the School Boards Association (which opposes charters) had a variety of "poison pills" that by design would be detrimental to charter schools - all the while cloaked in this phony veneer of "transparency and accountability."

If transparency and serving more special education students is the real objective of the UFT, those measures would have been approved since the charter school community had no objections to a variety of proposals, most of which codified existing administrative requirements on charter schools. For example, the Governor's revised Race to the Top bill (S.6470) and other pro-charter legislation contained these very provisions. These bills also included a real charter cap lift and other pro-charter measures designed to help the New York win $700 million in Race to the Top funding from the Obama administration, which supports charter schools.

Charter Teachers Should Know: UFT Cut Your School's Funding
Do these charter school teachers standing at this meeting agree with the UFT's successful effort-to freeze charter school funding this year? That UFT proposal adopted by the legislature denied charter schools -- and teachers' paychecks -- the formula funding increase that was due from the portion of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity funding that already was spent by New York City district schools, but not charters.

With the proposed state budget on the UFT's agenda, has the union come out against the Governor's proposal to continue this funding freeze on charter schools--at last year's levels--for next year? I've seen no evidence the UFT opposes this funding freeze, which would be consistent with its position to impose it in the first place.

This whole discussion led by UFT head Michael Mulgrew on chartering is so deceptive and fraudulent, it is difficult to actually resolve issues and arrive at consensus. But, we're all adults here, and you can research the facts of this charter school legislation backed by the UFT - or believe his lyin' eyes.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard
Twitter.com/PeterMurphy26
Facebook: "Chalkboard Nycsa"