NYSUT RA 2012: PSC is in the House

The PSC sent 25 delegates with support from two staff to the 2012 New York State United Teachers Representative Assembly (NYSUT) at the Buffalo/Niagara Convention Center, April 26-28. NYSUT is the PSC’s state affiliate. Approximately 2,000 representatives from locals across the state attended.

Policy for the organization is set in large part at the annual Representative Assembly (RA). The PSC brought seven resolutions to the RA. All passed, in some cases amended, and in one instance, amalgamated with a similar resolution from another local. Click here for the seven resolutions.

Marcia Newfield at the mike (below) and on the big screen (top).

MARCIA NEWFIELD HONORED

For the PSC delegation, the big highlight was when one of our delegates, Marcia Newfield, was honored with a Higher Education Member of the Year award. Click here for a NYSUT profile of Marcia on its website and here for a video of all the honorees including Marcia. Marcia was honored as an unrelenting advocate for part-timers, a creative and dedicated teacher and an accomplished author.

Five members of the PSC Safety Net Defense team distributed hundreds of copies of the booklet it produced (Defending the Social Safety Net: A Call to Action) and fliers under a bold sign that read “Steal This Book” (with apologies to Abby Hoffman). The flier implored other locals to share ideas and strategies in defending the safety net and then urged:

If your local finds our booklet, or any part of it, useful in educating your own members, use it. Publish and craft it to your own particular audience, adding, subtracting and re-wording as you see fit. You are welcome to do this with or without acknowledging us.

Cecelia McCall and John Hyland distributing booklets and fliers.

The most dramatic moments of the RA came when State Education Commissioner John King spoke, taking questions, as reported on the NYSUT website, “on everything from ridiculous test questions to whether he should resign.”

There was immense anger in the hall directed at King over issues of testing, accountability, evaluations and privatization. Members of the Buffalo Teachers Federation walked out when King rose to speak. Others stayed, choosing to press King for answers and accountability. Most of the engagement with King was over K-12 issues, but our own Iris DeLutro and Phil Smith, President of United University Professions (UUP/SUNY) complained of a lack of commitment from King’s office for input from teaching education faculty. Click here for coverage of King’s interaction with the RA on the NYSUT website.