Here is a follow-up to my recent comments on the TRS election. Saturday. May 30, 2026 The more I delve into the inner workings of Unity Caucus, the more Trump-like actions emerge. Absolute loyalty is required. John Cornyn is only 99% supportive. Gone. David Kozansky and Ashley Rzonca were considered loyal enough to run and win on the Unity Exec Bd slate. Gone. While we all see the Trump admin as a disaster, many see Mulgrew's 17 year tenure of the UFT as at the very least, a semi-disaster. Yet watch as henchpeople of both Trump and Mulgrew rush to praise them endlessly and claim it is the best of times while vilifying their critics. Trump is ruining the Republican Party by making it about loyalty to him, not the party and Mulgrew is ruining the Unity Caucus by making it about loyalty to him. Again, witness the firings of D. 30 rep Ashley Rzonca for not denouncing her friend and mentor Amy Arundell plus para rep Hector Ruiz Jr. and David Kazansky. To show you how crazy and weird the Unity operation, Ashley and Hector were elected to the UFT Ex Bd on the Unity slate and David as an NYSUT and AFT delegate. Do you think that Ashley's long-time work as a DR in that district hasn't inspired loyalty from CLs and rank and file teachers, which we say in their demonstrations? Similarities don't end as Trump's actions build an enormous opposition
to him and Mulgrew helps broaden the base of the usual opposition to
Unity by adding Unity refugees (witness Unity's lowest total ever 54% in the last election) and independents who used to shun the
legacy op caucuses but are open to new groups that contain Unity
refugees like ABC. From internal sources there are still a lot of resentful and pissed
off Unity people, but they are frightened. Frightened over losing their job
for hanging out with the wrong people is like water getting into rocks
and freezing in winter and widening the cracks. Eventually the rocks break. I wrote about how Mulgrew met his goal of total control of the pension dept, one of the most respected areas of the UFT and an essential area to be well-run and free of politics for every UFT member who one day hopes to retire. If members are concerned that pension reps are chosen on the grounds of loyalty to Mulgrew instead of their level of competency, they may end up paying hundreds of dollars for private pension consultations. Already people have told me they are choosing that option. Look at the process I described about the formerly semi-autonomous pension dept. in my previous post: One long-time Unity high level operative said: Mulgrew did the same thing with Teacher Center. In the old days, the teacher
center budget was kept separate and very apart from the UFT. Some
tension there. Once Evelyn DeJesus (who was promoted to AFT and is now second
to Randi) and current VP Mary Vocarro got the reins, things changed. I
believe Dave Hickey and Mulgrew now have their hands on those dollars.
Same with the Welfare Fund that was long-time head Artie Pepper’s
domain. Then Geoff Sorkin was made director (in name only). Look
through the dredges of why Mulgrew opposes the NYHealth Act --he's lose
control of the Welfare Fund which would no longer be necessary. Have
you noticed there was a big surplus there? How is it being used? They do
worry about exposure. A few years ago when oppo people exposed this
surplus and the poor dental plan, some minor improvements were made.
And don't forget dumping the old response system to calls for salesforce. Mulgrew and Bari Weiss, separated at birth? Insecure people at the top have a need for total control. And those not viewed as loyal enough, are fired. Leaders feel they have to put their mark even on successful operations. Bari Weiss is a Trump installment. A recent article in the NYT:
“60
Minutes” has a long tradition of autonomy within CBS News, a source of
tension for generations of network executives. The show, which debuted
in 1968, is still
the country’s highest-rated television newsweekly, and its viewership
this season was up 9 percent from the year before, according to
Nielsen. Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on a brutal Salvadoran prison was
pulled
abruptly in December, said that CBS News and its top editor, Bari Weiss,
had let her contract expire. Ms. Weiss, an opinion journalist whose
tenure has drawn enormous
scrutiny, is readying a significant shake-up at “60 Minutes,” her
network’s flagship news series. The fate of Tanya Simon, the program’s
executive producer, is also
unclear. Ms. Weiss is considering hiring an outside journalist to
oversee or work alongside Ms. Simon. Her
other signature initiative, the remaking of “CBS Evening News,” has
suffered from low viewership and some embarrassing errors.
People in charge resent leaders of semi-independent
groups, often run by strong figures that transcend changes at the top. In my research on the TRS elections even an old dog like me can learn something. Patterns of Mulgrew attempts to gain total control - politicizing what were semi-autonomous operations - meaning his loyalists in charge - emerged as long-time Unity contacts filled me in. Now as an outsider tracking Unity for the past 56 years, I assumed Unity was pretty monolithic but according to old-timers, Shanker and Feldman, once they found someone who could to the job, pretty much trusted them to pick, yes people loyal to the caucus, but also competent. And on the whole, members felt at least the union was competently run even by those who disagreed with the political direction. I can only remember one guy who was fired - for engaging in a sexual encounter at a NYSUT convention at the NY Hilton.
This brought to mind that soon after his first election in 2010 (after a year serving as Randi's replacement) Mulgrew took control of the NY Teacher operation: Dots are getting connected in this old brain as I see how cracks in Unity have begun to emerge, cracks I've been waiting for over decades. BTW -- when Randi took control in the late 90s there was loads of resentment from the old-time warriors from the 60s's who had gone on 4 strikes and looked at Randi as an interloper. Randi came out of nowhere in the mid-late 80s with no history of building the union and they put the recently deceased strongman Tom Pappas as her top lieutenant to coral the troops. Randi was so insecure she even reached out to me for some support and I, naively, thought there was a chance to reach a more progressive wing of Unity. No dice. It took me 3 years to realize it.
Randi began to make personal loyalty a factor in running the UFT. When there were multiple competent people to replace her (it was a no-brainer she was going to the AFT once Feldman came down with cancer) as UFT president, she plucked Mulgrew out of obscurity. How would the UFT had looked with universally respected Michelle Bodden as the leader?
Mulgrew rose as Bodden faded as Randi's successor and she seemed too independent and smart to serve under him. It's worth sharing what I wrote then considering the unhappiness with him: As reported in an ednotes online exclusive,
Michelle Bodden, who many people were betting would be Randi
Weingarten's successor as UFT President, will take over the UFT's
troubled elementary charter school.
We raised the question as to
whether a UFT VP for elementary schools could be in that position. Now
we have been informed that she has sent a letter telling people she will
be resigning her VP position. (Will she also be resigning from Unity
Caucus?)
The signs have been there for a long time (I saw signs in 2003) that Bodden
was not in the running and I had to convince even people inside 52
Broadway that she would never head the UFT. Perhaps she was getting too
popular. "She's really an educator," said one insider. "Not a politician
like Randi. You can actually have a conversation with her about real
things. Some people can't wait for Randi to be gone so we can start
solving the real problems we face."
I won't go into the details,
but long-time observers can tell a lot about the UFT by who stands
where, what kinds of events people get to represent the UFT at, and
other signs. The surprise appointment of Leroy Barr as UFT Staff
Director in January made it clear that another African-American had
superseded Michelle in the UFT hierarchy.
Well, they ended up with the Mulgrew administration creating more problems than he solved. And the more political he made what was already a political operation, the more problems were created - Medicare Advantage, anyone? Retiree and para vote in 2024? 54% Unity vote in 2025? Under Mulgrew, even more insecure than Randi (and half as smart politically and intellectually) and over his tenure, resentments grew until things broke in 2023 with the removal of Amy as Queens Borough Rep which led to Amy Arundell running against him last year and getting some key Unity people to join her, some behind the scenes. Mulgrew's vengeance was to fire or try to intimidate any staffer who had been friendly with Amy with a bunch of firings coming in June 2025. Now the reaction of loyal Mulgrew Unity hacks has been to attack their critics and even threaten them with some court action due to what they claim is bogus use of the UFT logo. Prime in their sights is the ABC group, made up in part of Unity defectors, who come under the heaviest attacks for leaving the cult. In the "great minds think alike" category, Arthur has a similar piece this morning:
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 The TRS election in the schools was held two weeks ago and the vote count started at 65 Court St. on Tuesday and adjourned. Final results are not expected until June 2. With a massive campaign and enormous pressure Unity-endorsed Tom Brown is expected to win. How big a win is the question. From what I'm hearing, Tom Brown wanted to retire but Mulgrew pushed him to run once David Kazansky announced. Mulgrew never seemed to have much love for David and felt running an unknown against him was risky and felt Brown was their best chance despite his being 75 and wanting out. Are they just kicking the can down the road because within another year Brown may well retire and they will have to do this all over again, meaning there could be two TRS elections next year? When all votes are counted, each candidate receives a tally for each school with a breakdown of how many votes each candidate got. This information, if used correctly, can provide maps of each candidate's strengths and weaknesses. This has scared the Unity faithful, especially at the district rep level into hustling votes for Brown and they rode herd over their chapter leaders, especially during the petition period when Brown came in with 30k. (Only 1k was needed.) So yes they have run a very effective campaign. While some people lament the fact that there were two non-Unity candidates running I take the long view and see this in a positive light. The prime directive is ending the Unity monopoly of the UFT and bringing a voice independent from Mulgrew to the TRS. Both David and Frank had been Unity loyalists and were fired for no "obvious reasons" but we know David was fired due to having once been a friend of Amy Arundel and Frank because he was going to run for TRS. They both still have people loyal to them in the Unity ranks who secretly support them. Any school with a Unity CL that doesn't back Brown will pay a price. New information has been flowing in response to my last blog TRS Election Pre-Outcome Analysis, info that exposes the toxicity at the top of the Unity and UFT hierarchy. I've
tried to piece together the story from various insider accounts and
will publish more inf as the blanks get filled in. Therein lies a tale of Mulgrew and crew taking more control over the pension and TRS, an area formerly dominated by old timers Mel Aaronson and Sandy March, a process of Mulgrew's maniacal need to control everything over the past 10 years as loyalty to the leadership took precedence over competence. This is part 1. Recent History of TRS Elections- 2014 Tom Brown replaces Mona Romain who retires.
- 2015 David Kazansky replaces Mel Aaronson who retires and recruited David. Mel had been the guru of pensions (though still with a staff job)
- 2016 Debby Penny replaces Sandy March who retires. Penny is Mulgrew's agent in the pension department and was brought in to gain control. With strong figures like Mel and Sandy March gone Mulgrew gets his shot at a complete takeover of the pension and TRS.
- 2021 - David re-elected but not before Mulgrew attempted to remove him but Randi and Mel intervene.
- c. 2022 Victoria Lee replaced Debby Penny - no election.
- 2023 - Tom Brown runs unopposed.
- 2024 - David Kazansky removed and replaced by Christina McGrath who defeated Ben Morgenrath in first TRS election in 40 years. At the time McGrath and Victoria Lee are close. David is given an AFT pension job at 52 with salary paid by Randi.
- 2025
- Victoria Lee wins re-election based on challenging Ben Morgenroth's
petitions and winning on a technicality. Her next election will be in
2028.
- 2026 - Tom Brown who wanted to retire but is pressured to run after David Kazansky announces a run. A leading pension consultant Frank Panebianco also runs. Both he and Kazansky had been full-time UFT employees until fired in 2025.
- 2027 - Christina McGrath is scheduled but she and Victoria
Lee do not get along and if Lee maintains her dominance, she will look to dump McGrath unless Mulgrew backs her.
For decades there was no a TRS election because of only one candidate and whoever was chosen by UFT leadership to "run" was anointed with no one opposing. This bothered me - and others. Why let Unity get away with an easy win? Make them work for this patronage job. Two years ago, Mulgrew pulled David Kazansky from TRS after 9 years and installed an unknown, Christina McGrath, who even within Unity, caused people to scratch their heads. Apparently she was a friend of Victoria Lee. Rumors were that David was not the yes-man Mulgrew wanted at TRS. (My follow-up post to this one will get into the ugly details.) NOTE: The legacy caucuses don't see it that way and fundementally ignore TRS elections, a big mistake and indicative of their "not running to win" attitude. An informal independent group of us organized an election campaign with Ben Morgenroth as a way to force an election. And we learned a hell of a lot about the process - a trial run for future elections. Last year everyone was busy with the UFT election and didn't pay much attention to the TRS election, though Ben Morgenroth ran but had his petitions challenged on a technicality and Vicky Lee celebrated at a UFT pension dept meeting bragging about her successful challenge after finding Ben had made a mark at the bottom of his petitions and shouting, "I won. It doesn't make a difference how you win as long as you win." This year's election is the most complex ever, with 3 candidates. David Kazansky, former 9-year TRS member beginning in 2015, removed by Mulgrew in 2024 and fired from his UFT job in June 2025 due to having been friends with Amy Arundel, and now teaching at an elementary school in the Bronx. Frank Panebianco, former 13 year full-time pension rep, fired in 2025, now teaching in the Bronx. Tom Brown, incumbent since 2014,endorsed by UFT leadership and Unity
Caucus. Brown told numerous people he intended to retire and not run
again and urged Panebianco to run before he was pulled back into running by Mulgrew once David Kazansky announced he was running. Teacher Retiree System reps are elected by in-service active members of the TRS, which includes PBS and the CSA and a few other unions, but the UFT makes up the largest contingent, thus getting all 3 reps in staggered 3 year terms. TRS reps are a UFT patronage job and elections are a threat to their control. They seem fine with letting decisions be made by financial people with no questioning them. Apparently David schooled himself and asked questions which may have annoyed some people at the top. What does TRS teacher rep job entail and how are they paid? That is not exactly clear. There is a meeting every third Thursday of the month at TRS HQ. Attending these meetings are their only requirement. We get no info about those meetings or what is discussed or what decisions are made. Are they employees of the city, not the UFT? Yet why do they work out of 52 Broadway and are on the UFT payroll and they work UFT 10-6 hours instead of the city 9-5? Some go to the schools to do pension clinics. Some choose to stay around HQ. What are their obligations? The only one seems to be to attend Thursday meetings. From the TRS Site Usually
meets at 3:30 p.m. on approximately every third Thursday in each month.
Composed of seven members as follows: Chairperson, Panel for
Educational Policy (PEP) and the Comptroller, Ex Officio; two members
appointed by the Mayor, one a member of the Panel for Educational
Policy; three members of the Teachers’ Retirement Association elected
from the contributors for terms of three years. No salary. Chair
selected by Board Members. Note it says no salary. What decisions can they allowed to make? Who knows? Many of the trustees on the retirement boards do not receive an additional salary. They receive their regular salary from their city employer. However, the 3 trustees receive additional money from the UFT. These are all issues to ponder. Part 2 will get into more detail on how Mulgrew gained total control over pension and TRS matters,
This special election, like many before it, has felt manipulated by the controlling caucus. Let me be clear, I have nothing personal against John Kamps. This is not about one person. This is about fairness and democracy. We have seen that in this election alone, emails were reportedly sent out within the paraprofessional chapter structure asking for para reps and district coordinators to identify schools and paras that had, received ballots, who voted and who voted for John Kamps. How can we call this a democratic union election when things like this are happening?.. Alyson Monzon
Tuesday, May 19, 2026 There's a para election for an open seat going on. Remember that two years ago, Fix Para Pay won 8 seats with 75% but this election seems to have come in under the radar. Alyson Monzon sheds some light. The Mulgrew machine countered with a push for a non-pensionable 10k for every para and it worked in the 2025 UFT election as many paras bought into it - yet so far no 10k. Unity attacked those who pointed out the limits of this offer as opposing increases in para pay when in fact the FPP group, aligned with ABC, has been leading the way to urge the UFT to Fix Para Pay. Does anyone believe even the 10k deal from Unity would have happened if FPP hadn't won those 8 seats in 2024, just like the win by the oppo in the Retired Teacher chapter forced Mulgrew to back off his push to remove us from Medicare? If the Unity candidate wins overwhelmingly in this para special election, it will take the pressure off to push for the 10k. If Unity wins back the retired chapter next year just watch a new version of medicare for all emerge.
My
name is Alyson Monzon, and I have been a paraprofessional in Queens for
11 years. For six of those years, I also served as a para
representative. Like so many of us, this work is personal to me. I
decided to become a paraprofessional because I grew up seeing the hard
work, dedication, and love my mother poured into education as a teacher.
I also saw how important paraprofessionals were to her classroom and to
her students. They were never extra help. They were essential. My name is Alyson Monzon, and I have been a paraprofessional in
Queens for 11 years. For six of those years, I also served as a para
representative. Like so many of us, this work is personal to me. I
decided to become a paraprofessional because I grew up seeing the hard
work, dedication, and love my mother poured into education as a teacher.
I also saw how important paraprofessionals were to her classroom and to
her students. They were never extra help. They were essential. Education
runs deep in my family. My mother is a retired teacher, all of my
siblings are paraprofessionals, and my cousin is a social worker.
Working for NYC Public Schools is not just a job to us, it’s part of who
we are. Over the years, I’ve worked with students from pre-K through
fifth grade, and I’ve heard countless stories from middle school and
high school paraprofessionals as well. No matter where we work, the
message is always the same: Paraprofessionals do not get enough
credit for everything we do, and we definitely don’t get paid enough. I
know it’s not about credit, but too many of us feel the same way. This
isn’t made up, it’s our lived experience. Many of us work two or
three jobs just to survive. Many of us are caregivers at home after
spending all day caring for students in school. We help students
academically, emotionally, behaviorally, and socially. We step in
wherever we are needed. Yet somehow, we are still treated like an
afterthought. Despite all of that, I continued pushing myself
forward. With the help of the Career Training Program, I was able to
finish my bachelor’s degree in psychology and continue my education
further. I earned my master’s degree in social work. Having both
classroom experience as a paraprofessional and a background in social
work has allowed me to see the many gaps that exist within our union and
within the systems that are supposed to support us. That is part of why
I started becoming more vocal.
Many
of us work two or three jobs just to survive. Many of us are caregivers
at home after spending all day caring for students in school. We help
students academically, emotionally, behaviorally, and socially. We step
in wherever we are needed. Yet somehow, we are still treated like an
afterthought. Despite all of that, I continued pushing myself
forward. With the help of the Career Training Program, I was able to
finish my bachelor’s degree in psychology and continue my education
further. I earned my master’s degree in social work. Having both
classroom experience as a paraprofessional and a background in social
work has allowed me to see the many gaps that exist within our union and
within the systems that are supposed to support us. That is part of why
I started becoming more vocal. I was planning a run for 2nd Vice
Chair because I believe paraprofessionals deserve stronger
representation and leadership that listens to members. However, I was
declared ineligible because I returned from a leave less than two years
ago. Two of my union brothers decided to pull out of the race as well,
but stay tuned, we will be back, because this is bigger than one
election. Speaking of elections, I think many paraprofessionals
are tired of pretending everything is okay. This special election, like
many before it, has felt manipulated by the controlling caucus. Let me
be clear, I have nothing personal against John Kamps. This is not about
one person. This is about fairness and democracy. We have seen that in
this election alone, emails were reportedly sent out within the
paraprofessional chapter structure asking for para reps and district
coordinators to identify schools and paras that had, received ballots,
who voted and who voted for John Kamps. How can we call this a
democratic union election when things like this are happening? On
top of that, members know almost nothing about the other candidate
except for a 75-word statement that came with the ballot. Many
paraprofessionals have reached out to the union asking questions and
expressing concerns, only to feel rejected, dismissed, or told that the
election is being run fairly and properly. We have also been told that
the so called election committee has someone on it, WHO DIDN’T EVEN KNOW
THEY WERE ON IT! How could that be? So they just moved forward with
what they had, instead of ensuring they had a properly constructed
committee. Shame on them! At some point, we have to ask ourselves: When is enough, ENOUGH? Paraprofessionals
deserve a union that welcomes questions, not one that shuts them down.
We deserve transparency, respect, and real representation, and we also
need to start organizing now around our upcoming contract negotiations
because paraprofessionals deserve real respect. Not a disrespectful plan
to throw us a $10,000 check and pretend that fixes the actual issue. No
one is saying paraprofessionals should turn down money. We deserve more
money, period, but real respect means fighting for permanent
improvements to our salaries, pensions, benefits, working conditions,
and professional recognition, not political gestures that disappear
while the real problems stay the same. Many paraprofessionals are
already struggling to survive in New York City. We need solutions that
build long-term stability for our families and futures, not temporary
headlines. Most importantly, we deserve to realize the power we
have together. I want to continue the conversations. I want to continue
meeting paraprofessionals across the city who believe change is
possible, because I truly believe we can build the paraprofessional
chapter, and the union, that we want and deserve. It will only
happen if we organize, speak up, and stand together. We have the power
to bring real change for paraprofessionals. So, I’m asking, who’s with
me? Who’s with us?
Good news. No matter the outcome of the TRS election, David Kazansky will continue to do his workshops. See his video here.  | | A Bronx school |
Friday, May 15, 2026
I'm about to head into Manhattan to prep for my Murray Hill tour tomorrow at noon. May 16 is Park Ave Festival where they close the southbound streets from 42 to 34 St. There will be all sorts of goodies and booths, including IMx Pilates on 39th and Madison, my new favorite place to exercise. But first I wanted to get these comments out before I drown in trying to analyze the TRS election.
The DOE run TRS election is over after the May 13 balloting in the schools in an election run by the DOE - how competent do you think that was? Well, depending on the school and principal. Any candidate and voter, or those denied the opportunity to vote (the rule was to vote after school only - and many could not stay) can probably find loads of reasons to protest the way it was run in some schools. I do know from the ABC chats that the active Kazansky people made sure the elections were run as correctly as possible in their schools by feeding the principal the correct info and keeping a close eye on the process. Reports from Unity-dominated schools are sketchy but the intense pressure from the leadership to get a big turnout for Tom Brown worked in some places and failed in others. The ABC crew seems to have done an amazing job for Kazansky from results I've seen, with 80-90% for him in some schools while in Unity schools the results for Tom Brown are more in the 50s and 60s. Frank Panebianco is also getting some votes but I heard of only one school where he won outright.
A May 13 post by A Better Contract titled DAY & NIGHT chronicled a comparison of the May 11 TRS Zoom held by ABC with about 170 people with the Mulgrew Town Hall.
The author, HS CL Thomas Hasler, who I met in MORE many years ago and now seems to be aligned with ABC, made a number of excellent points and I urge you to read his comments which I will post in a follow-up. He captured the essence of how the ABC crew operates: The difference between Monday night’s ABC Town Hall hosted by Amy
Arundell, a true leader, and David Kazanksy, the candidate for TRS
Trustee, was in stark contrast to yesterday’s “Town Hall” hosted by
President Mulgrew and the official UFT. The difference could not have
been more like DAY and NIGHT. At ABC’s Town Hall on Monday, members were
allowed to ask questions on their own in an open forum. At Mulgrew’s
meeting yesterday, it was the OPPOSITE. I will point to one more of his comments: Chapter Leaders were told to send a picture of the election tally sheet
from their school to their UFT District Rep. This seems like an attempt
to pressure UFT chapters to vote a certain way. Or it could be interpreted this way. This seemed to confuse a retiree who has been an oppositionist for decades who asked: Just curious. How does the request from the UFT that C/Ls send a
picture of the school’s tally sheet to their district rep represent
pressure to vote a certain way? Should the DOE be the only ones who see
the schools tally sheet? My response: It is a method for unity to hold CL accountable if Brown doesn’t do well. The firings seemed to work as district reps have pressured people to push Brown. They
were never threatened with losing until recently so elections weren’t
viewed as life or death matters. David and Frank candidates represent a
real threat as former Unity with a following. But in the end
all candidates get a tally sheet of all schools that will indicate unity
strengths and weaknesses as it will for oppo movements. I had been asking for such tally sheets in general uft elections but have been turned down. What happens to Unity CLs in schools where Brown only wins in a close race or loses? I'm betting on district reps and those CL being called out. And I've heard the outcomes of some of these schools.
[Excuse the redundancies in this piece since I've been writing it for 3 days and am sick of editing it.]
Officially, the legacy caucuses (RA, NAC, MORE) sat this one out. though some individuals from New Action were involved, including Ben Morgenroth who ran as David's alternate. ABC immediately backed David, who was not part of ABC, but hoping he will be in the future. People were pretty impressed with his talents. His and Leah Linn videos made a splash. Between them they have a large following I believe over 10k. The ABC view is to challenge the ruling Unity caucus on all fronts, all the time, while the legacy groups are always calculating how to be "strategic," the sense of being too aggressive will turn off the "normies" (not me). My disagreement with them over the past few years is that the revolt of the retirees and the paras in the 2024 elections was a call for more militancy rather than pacivity.
Some important history related to David given some backbiting over his past. Mulgrew removed him from TRS 2 years ago for being too independent and replaced him with a total incompetent loyalist. The so-called oppositionist backbiters neglect to see there is a bigger struggle to remove Unity from power that includes poaching dissatisfied Unityites. I have thought for 30 years that a break in Unity was crucial and that break is occurring. I think this election will bring over some Unity people who resented the pressure.
MORE officially took a no endorsement position because their ideology calls for a focus in divesting in Israeli bonds - they are behind the Educators for Palestine group. But individuals in MORE did see the impact of defeating Mulgrew's hand-picked candidate. In fact, since the 2025 election, a faction of MORE has been reaching out and working with ABC and some results coming in from schools with MORE CLs and contingents have favored David. There is a split in MORE between those wanting to be involved in UFT elections and those who don't and given the 14% ARISE received in the election, the no-election faction may have gained some power. An alliance of the pro-election faction with ABC makes a lot of sense because RA and NAC do not offer a punch at the in-service level. In fact, such an alliance could actually win the 2028 UFT election.
Will the hate ABC ideologues that were connected to ARISE rise once again as a spoiler in two years to try to assure Unity control of the UFT? If MORE officially sits that one out and allows the pro-election faction to ally with ABC, there is less chance of that happening.
What the legacy caucuses don't get is that we must take every opportunity to force Unity to defend itself in the electoral arena and the yearly TRS election had been neglected for decades until 2 years ago and I'm proud to be part of the team (pre-ABC) to have helped organize these elections and I hope next year and the year after there will be candidates to try to take down the Unity TRS candidate under the control of the UFT leadership.
Despite the 3-way TRS race, people in ABC still give David a chance to win, though given the 30k petitions turned in by Unity for Brown (David vs Unity Goliath in TRS Election) it looked like the machine was in operation. Yet, from the reports I was getting, David was holding more than his own.
Let's see what the combined totals of David and Frank come out to. If over 40%, given the rigor Unity exerted, that is a danger sign for them and bodes well for defeating them.
Don't forget, retirees and non-TRS members (ie BERS pension) can't vote, but PSC and CSA does vote.
This election is a test of sorts of the strength of the leadership which went all out. If Brown gets 70-80% of the vote, it bodes well for the leadership --- signs Unity may have stopped the bleeding. If under 60%, danger signs will be blinking. It is also a test of ABC, the only organized force in the UFT officially involved in the election.
ABC Rocks as threat to Unity hegemony grows An important aspect of this election has been the re-emergence of the ABC network with new people like David and others, showing ABC is still alive and vibrant. Some schools with nominal Unity CLs came in heavily for David and ABC is hoping for more migrations. We've seen former Unity people who had been locked up behind a closed door emerging like birds released from their cages. The Mulgrew firings of competent people have not only hurt and degraded Unity, but have fueled an enthusiastic opposition based in ABC and affiliated independents and even some from the legacy caucuses. Yes, some Unity are still scared, but for how much longer? The flow from Unity to ABC will continue, which is why Unity leaders view ABC as the main threat, as do the legacy caucuses which also see ABC as a threat to their influence.
The ABC network seems resilient after a post-2025 election lull and as part of the "We Trust David" chat, it was thrilling to see the level of openness, cooperation and organization in operation. The chat also included non-ABC supporters from other caucuses. It has been so much more of a pleasant experience working with an open group like ABC compared to working with the legacy caucuses, MORE and Retiree Advocate, which was such a closed group after they won the RTC election and only recently opened up - to those willing to pay $50 dues to get a voice. ABC is free and open.
The ABC crew and affiliates has been fabulous for
brainstorming and moving agendas. Results coming in showed the ABC crew
did an amazing job in getting votes for David --- only if we had more
people in more schools. Also even in some Unity schools Brown is not
winning with 80 or more %. The third candidate definitely hurts but not too bad.
The ABC operation seems to have found a formula for
organizing -- it is open and flexible unlike the legacy caucuses. (Another wing of ABC also affiliated with independents has also been activated around the way the RTC is being run by RA and the upcoming RTC chapter election, a dynamic group that more and more people are joining -- yes, it's free.) From what I saw from reports coming in yesterday, in some Unity schools pushing the heavy Brown vote, there has been some counter reaction to Unity oppression. From one school: People were getting sick and tired of being pushed to back one candidate.
We heard of more pushbacks against Unity pressure. In another Unity school, the vote went overwhelmingly for David which means exactly what? Maybe more hidden cracks. The Mulgrew terror campaign can only go so far.
In schools with Unity CL where David won handily, I can just imagine a new wave of firings or demotions. Yes, the firings last June did work on some Unity people. One district rep who was called in and threatened has apparently learned his lesson by banning some CL who backed David from his communication group.
Frank Panebianco, who is very well-liked and respected by everyone, including the ABC crew, was fired because supposedly TRS rep Victoria Lee wanted him out of the way because he complained to LeRoy Barr over her bossiness. (She is supposedly not well liked). She complained to Mulgrew. Mulgrew fired Frank but then rethought it and tried to hire him back.
Frank thought he had put in the time and loyalty and wanted the TRS position when Mulgrew removed Kazansky two years ago but was jumped over by no-nothing Christina McGrath who shit the bed even worse than Tom Brown at an RTC meeting. They ran Lee the next year for the position, which Frank felt he deserved, a slap in the face.
Frank was willing to come back but wanted a raise, to be the next trustee and work out of the Bronx. Mulgrew wouldn’t agree to those demands so rather than accept his old job back, chose to go back to teaching. Give him credit for that.
A Unity HS CL with an after school job whined to the staff about so many not voting, blaming them. It was his job to get them to vote and he blames them.
And then there were complaints on why people couldn't vote.
NOTE: If you managed to wade through the mess above, you get the weekend off.
I was away on a tour of national parks and tried to keep up but internet was sketchy. The TRS election has all sorts of permutations and the "We Trust David" chat has been hot. I just don't have the bandwidth to get into all of it but if you attend the town hall tonight you (and I) will be filled in. I categorized Unity staff in the past as drones and have learned in working with former Unity like David that once freed of the cult they have a lot of skills. David has done a great job in organizing his campaign. Needless to say, the Unity machine leadership views this election as crucial and has pulled out all stops to promote its candidate as I reported in my April 22 report: David vs Unity Goliath in TRS Election as Fear and Loathing Works
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