There is a tentative deal in NYC on the teachers’ contract. Lots of early analysis, praise, grumbling floating around. Insta-reax from smart money in the city is that it’s a pretty square deal, Bloomberg got what he wanted — the teachers’ union out of the mayoral race, UFT head Weingarten got enough money to probably get this past her members, and NYC Chancellor Klein got some of the reforms he wanted and the groundwork for more next time (the excess teacher issue — what to do with excessed teachers who do not land anywhere — is a ticking time bomb, watch for it to explode in a few years). But, Bloomie looked like a sure bet to win reelection anyway so some folks wondering why he didn’t hold out for more. Still, D mayoral candidate Ferrer considered to be the big loser in this deal because neutral UFT means no door knockers, phone banks, etc…
Lots of analysis and commentary. NYT here and here, NY Post here, NY Daily News here, Klein on the Politiker blog here and here, dissenting UFT critics here, UFT’s blog Edwize here.
Harsh reality check here.
Update: NY Post’s Sager goes a little overboard with the sarcasm but the underlying point is about right, the UFT leadership is now selling a contract with provisions addressing a bunch of issues they not too long ago went completely batty over when Eva Moskowitz raised them. Meanwhile, these guys are on the attack and these guys are spinning like tops about how this is actually a big win?!?! Are they that concerned this could go down?* But, in general big urban unions are better at exploiting language in these contracts than management so watch that ball going forward.
*Nonetheless, Eduwonk is setting the morning line at 6-1 in favor of ratification. That’s good action for ICEers who truly believe…