I mean no disrespect to George Altomare. That said, meetings are for members, and members received absolutely no consideration at all. There was obviously an attempt to filibuster and abbreviate this meeting. And the only reason for that is these people, paid with our dues money, find it wholly inconvenient to do their jobs.
Back when the NYC Org. Of Public Service Retirees began to be vocal, there were banners, and hoots and hollers at the meetings, trying to drown out and disprove Murphy and Mulgrew. Murphy even devoted a column in the UFT paper to the retirees lack of decorum. He finally learned how to control his classroom.
I suppose I could control my classroom by making everyone sit down and shut up. Of course, if I did that I would be a terrible teacher. If my students had a legitimate gripe about me, that I was taking something precious away from them without any of their input, that would be my fault. Murphy is a coward, and decorum is what cowards talk about when they can't face an issue.
NP. I reread my comment and can see how anyone could read it the way you did if they didn’t know how I felt. I thought I was being clever in describing Murphy as “finally controlling his classroom.” Everything you said about the way he conducted the meeting probably accurately depicts the type of classroom he ran as a teacher. I stopped going to his meetings a couple of months ago because they’ve become just as you described. No questions allowed and no counter arguments on healthcare. Take a look at the UFT FB retire page (official). They also shut down questions on healthcare and kick folks off for suggesting traditional Medicare is better, and have their shills on the page to make sure the party line is towed.
1) The demonstration as shown in the picture certainly looks dangerous.
2) It sounds as though we need George Altomare to guide our resistance. Ah, once you're safely dead, then they canonize you.
I mean no disrespect to George Altomare. That said, meetings are for members, and members received absolutely no consideration at all. There was obviously an attempt to filibuster and abbreviate this meeting. And the only reason for that is these people, paid with our dues money, find it wholly inconvenient to do their jobs.
Back when the NYC Org. Of Public Service Retirees began to be vocal, there were banners, and hoots and hollers at the meetings, trying to drown out and disprove Murphy and Mulgrew. Murphy even devoted a column in the UFT paper to the retirees lack of decorum. He finally learned how to control his classroom.
I suppose I could control my classroom by making everyone sit down and shut up. Of course, if I did that I would be a terrible teacher. If my students had a legitimate gripe about me, that I was taking something precious away from them without any of their input, that would be my fault. Murphy is a coward, and decorum is what cowards talk about when they can't face an issue.
I totally agree. I was being sarcastic. I’m actually a member of the retirees org from the beginning and btw, a long time follower of your column.
I apologize for misunderstanding.
NP. I reread my comment and can see how anyone could read it the way you did if they didn’t know how I felt. I thought I was being clever in describing Murphy as “finally controlling his classroom.” Everything you said about the way he conducted the meeting probably accurately depicts the type of classroom he ran as a teacher. I stopped going to his meetings a couple of months ago because they’ve become just as you described. No questions allowed and no counter arguments on healthcare. Take a look at the UFT FB retire page (official). They also shut down questions on healthcare and kick folks off for suggesting traditional Medicare is better, and have their shills on the page to make sure the party line is towed.