Randi Weingarten | The New York Observer

Wood War: Who Wins Today's Grabby Tabloid Battle For Your Eyeballs?

Fri, 08 May 2009 08:32:39 -0400

Daily News: These days, a lot of time is spent trying to figure out how to "save" newspapers; can something that prints at a printer and then is delivered to a newsstand hours after the thing is "closed," to be purchased for money, really be relevant in the 24-hour instant-news cycle? Or something like that. Not much time is spent, however, looking at how the actual product that comes out on the newsstand reflects...

Wood War! Who Wins Today's Grabby Tabloid Battle For Your Eyeballs?

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:04:55 -0400

The New York Post: All the troops look pretty thrilled that Barack Obama paid them a surprise visit. Sure beats all that Bette Midler-USO crap! Look at all the digital cameras they pulled out! Barack Obama may be all wrong for the military (GITMO!) but when he pays a visit, it pays. The Post knows this, and will not pass up the opportunity to devote cautiously allotted column inches (and real estate on the...

McMahon Gets Teachers' Endorsement (and a Quinn Staffer)

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:24:00 -0400

One of Christine Quinn’s spokesman has taken a leave of absence and is now the interim director of communications for Democrat Mike McMahon’s Congressional campaign.

The spokesman, Anthony Hogrebe, was listed as the contact on a campaign press release announcing that McMahon has been endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers, which, according to the release, has 12,000 members in the district. McMahon is seeking to win the seat currently occupied by Vito...

Weingarten Remembers Majority Leader Bruno Fondly

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:52:53 -0400

In 1979, when Joe Bruno was still new to the State Senate, his office was next door to that of State Senator Norman Levy, head of the Labor Committee. Levy’s intern at the time was a young Hofstra student named Randi Weingarten.

“I watched him, as a leader, mature,” Weingarten, now the president of the United Federation of Teachers, told me. Bruno, she said, “will be sorely missed.”

There’s been speculation about...

Officials Roast Randi Weingarten

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:55:25 -0500

Here are some lines from last night's birthday roast of United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, who turns 50 on December 18:

“I’m sure many people have gotten you Depends and other things like that, so get used to it.” -- Bill Thompson

“I do remember, and will always remember, that you left me, for Joel [Klein].” -- Former Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew

Silver's Show of Labor Strength

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:45:30 -0500

Last night it was Eliot Spitzer. Now, it's Sheldon Silver's turn to show off his support heading into the upcoming legislative session.

A group of influential labor leaders are hosting a breakfast reception with the Assembly speaker on Thursday, December 6.

The list includes Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (R.W.D.S.U.); Gary la Barbera, president of the N.Y.C. Central Labor Council; Randi Weingarten, president of...

A Kennedy for Clinton, No Mills Against John Hall

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:32:23 -0500

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. endorses Hillary Clinton. [CNN]

More than 100 academics from schools around New York State came out against electronic voting machines. [Capitol Confidential]

The City Council easily passed a bill yesterday requiring a reduction in greenhouse gasses. [Daily News]

Despite rumors, former G.O.P. Assemblyman Howard Mills is not running against Congressman John Hall, reports Liz. [Daily Politics]

The Clinton campaign says the gay veteran, and Hillary ally, who asked a question at...

Teacher's Union President Criticizes D.O.E.'s New Plan

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:32:17 -0500

Here's a clip of United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten at last night's candlelight vigil outside the Tweed Courthouse. In the clip she criticizes the Department of Education's new improvement plan, which includes the "Teacher Performance Unit," a committee of lawyers to help school principles deal with sub-par teachers, particularly those with tenure.

In the clip, Weingarten references a letter Schools Chancellor Joel Klein sent to teachers yesterday. After the...

Education Blogs React to Merit Pay Program

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:42:32 -0400

Here's some of the current reaction within public education circles to that new merit pay pilot program that Michael Bloomberg and Randi Weingarten announced yesterday.

The UFT’s official blog says the deal has “ ‘shut the door‘ on individual merit pay programs,” because it’s actually a school-wide program.

Democrats for Education Reform says kudos.

Some more skeptical opinions include that of the Independent Community of Educators blog, which...

Randi Weingarten: Not a 'Coming Out' Occasion

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:11:51 -0400

Yesterday was National Coming Out Day, and it also marked the first time labor leader Randi Weingarten publicly discussed the fact that she is a lesbian.

Weingarten, the head of the United Federation of Teachers, made her remarks on the subject last night at the Empire State Pride Agenda’s fund-raiser, where she won the group’s award for community service after being introduced by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

The Full Randi

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:03:43 -0400

A reader emailed me this invitation to a fund-raising roast in December in honor of Randi Weingarten, the head of the teacher’s union.

The money is going towards the union’s charter school, the Council for Unity and the Educational Priorities Panel.

And in other Weingarten news, she’ll be honored later tonight at the Empire State Pride Agenda’s fall fund-raiser.

All in all, a decent...

Political Types on a List of Business Women

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:50:38 -0400

Crain's published its list yesterday of the 100 most influential women in New York City business.

Topping the list in the Power 25 category were the head of the teacher’s union, Randi Weingarten, and powerhouse lobbyist Jennifer Cunningham.

Also honored were lobbyist Suri Kasirer and fund-raiser andimmigrants' rights advocate Chung-Wha Hong.

UPDATE: I just noticed that in her little profile, Cunningham manages to...

Another Thompson (and Weingarten) Announcement on Schools

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:10:54 -0400

Bill Thompson is making another education-related announcement today, unveiling a program that will “invest millions of dollars to create affordable housing for educators in New York City.”

Joining him for the roll-out will be teachers union head Randi Weingarten.

About two weeks ago, Thompson issued an audit saying the city’s education department underreported violent incidents at schools.

Lots more to come from him on...

Weingarten Not With Bloomberg on Testing, Cell Phones

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:03:11 -0400

The head of the teachers’ union, Randi Weingarten, has had a pretty good working relationship with Michael Bloomberg, who has made education the cornerstone of his mayoral legacy.

But in a television interview airing Sunday, Weingarten, showed some daylight between her vision of school and Bloomberg’s.

First, she offered a pretty good analogy explaining her objection to City Hall’s strategy of evaluating teachers...

Middle School Suggestions

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:02:34 -0400

At a joint appearance on the Upper West Side to recommend improvements to city middle schools, Christine Quinn and Michael Bloomberg announced a push for expanded school days, raises of as much as $10,000 for some teachers, Regents courses in all middle schools by 2010 and clarified disciplinary powers for educators. UFT president Randi Weingarten said the recommendations could turn around every middle school in the city. "Let’s make this real,” she said. “Let’s turn around...

Thompson and Weingarten Pitch for Senate Dems

Wed, 23 May 2007 15:13:47 -0400

City Comptroller Bill Thompson is co-chairing a fund-raiser for state Senate Democrats tomorrow night with Randi Weingarten, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, which is one of the more vocal unions in the city and an organization whose help will be sought after by just about everyone in 2009.

(Thompson, as most of you probably know, is interested in running for mayor.)

The theme of the event: “Democrats in the State Senate are...

The Mayor's Special Interest

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:41:50 -0400

Among the people standing with the mayor at his news conference today about his "learning environment survey" was United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, whose organization Bloomberg blasted a few weeks ago as a special interest group on par with the National Rifle Association.

Weingarten said that getting feedback from teachers was important.

"That's why I'm standing here today," she...

Committee, Minus Vallone, Supports Weingarten's Measure

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:12:28 -0400

A whistleblower protection bill supported for so long by UFT president Randi Weingarten easily passed the City Council's Education Committee early today. The bill had exactly one opponent on the committee, Peter Vallone, Jr. His explanation: "Very strong whistleblower protection laws already exist." The bill comes up for a vote in front of the full Council tomorrow. -- Azi...

Advice for Political Women

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 06:30:00 -0400

At a panel discussion about women in politics in lower Manhattan last night organized by the state organization of Young Democrats, UFT President Randi Weingarten said that "if women act like men acted publicly, many times they're viewed as shrill, harsh, tough --" "The b-word word," a few people yelled out. "A bitch," continued Weingarten. Chuck Schumer's deputy state director, Teri Coaxum told the mostly female audience that the key for women in politics is to maintain...

Weingarten Goes for the Conservative Vote

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:30:00 -0400

There's a "hostile anti-union climate in our city--and especially at the D.O.E." according to campaign literature from Randi Weingarten, who is running for re-election as the president of the United Federation of Teachers. Her opponent in the race, according to Weingarten's literature is a group that is "running on a combined slate headed by militant Socialist Kit Wainer," who she labels "The Man With No Plan." -- Azi...

Award, But No Celebration

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:10:31 -0500

From today's school funding decision, which lowers the level of mandated state aid for city schools and kicks the issue to the legislature, here are two passages that's sure to infuriate people who pushed the issue into the courts:

"On the question of accountability, the Referees concluded that existing State systems, identifying schools that perform poorly and sanctioning failing schools, already provide adequate accountability, and that no new Office of Educational Accountability should be created....

Events for October 19, 2006

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 14:35:17 -0400

At 8:30 a.m., John Faso speaks to at a breakfast hosted by the Association for a Better New York and the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association on 85 West St. At 9 a.m., Eliot Spitzer tours the UFT charter school with UFT president Randi Weingarten. At 11:15 a.m., Vito Lopez and union officials protest on the City Hall steps over 421-a Exclusionary Zoning. At 11:30 a.m. in Queens, Eric Gioia discusses a national hotline where kids can report weapons...

Carl's Big Day

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 12:55:31 -0400

So tomorrow is the day for Carl Andrews' big press conference to display support from political heavyweights including his former boss Eliot Spitzer, Randi Weingarten, retail union leader Stuart Appelbaum, Public Employees Federation VP Pat Baker, and New York State Credit Union League president William Mellin. We wonder if this show of institutional strength is aimed at the public or at the other contestants -- amid continuing pressure from some black leaders to unite...

Editorials

Sun, 21 May 2006 20:00:00 -0400

The 9/11 Memorial: Dignity, Not Dollars

The two towers of the World Trade Center cost more than a billion dollars to build. It may cost the same amount of money to build a memorial to those who died at the site on Sept. 11, 2001. It goes without saying that a fitting memorial must be included in the redevelopment of Ground Zero. We owe that much to those who died, and...

Editorials

Sun, 21 May 2006 20:00:00 -0400

The 9/11 Memorial: Dignity, Not Dollars The two towers of the World Trade Center cost more than a billion dollars to build. It may cost the same amount of money to build a memorial to those who died at the site on Sept. 11, 2001. It goes without saying that a fitting memorial must be included in the redevelopment of Ground Zero. We owe that much to those who died, and those who have...

Events for May 18, 2006

Wed, 17 May 2006 13:45:00 -0400

In the morning, Randi Weingarten will lead UFT members in a rally demanding smaller class size at P.S. 1 on Henry Street. Then, the Directors of the Empire State Local development Corporation will meet at the headquarters of the Empire State Development Corporation. David Paterson and Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat push for legislation to protect poor communities from beings unfairly impacted by hospital closings on the steps of City Hall. The president and nurses from the New York...

Politically Knotted, Boss Dennis Rivera May Endorse Nobody

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Dennis Rivera, president of the city’s hospital workers’ union, controls the most powerful and sophisticated political operation in the city. This simple fact explains why the four Democratic Mayoral candidates have been wooing him for months in a frenzied--and, at times, unsightly--effort to win his blessing. All this intrigue has created a dilemma for the 50-year-old Mr. Rivera, a self-made power broker, the son of a women’s underwear manufacturer who now commands 360,000 union...

Politically Knotted, Boss Dennis Rivera May Endorse Nobody

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Randi's Third Way

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 11:53:51 -0500

In place of IMterviews from now on, The Politicker will be putting up Friday late-afternoon items of special interest to observant Jews. Just to make people's lives complicated. OK, not in general, but just today: Apparently Teachers Union chief Randi Weingarten has met with officials of Agudath Israel, the Orthodox group, as she shapes a response to a tax credit plan which, for some in her camp, looks a little too much like vouchers. There's...

Randi and God

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 08:00:21 -0500

Backers of education tax credits are ratcheting up the pressure on Teachers Union president Randi Weingarten with the introduction of an unhappy Bishop. His Eminence Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn and Queens, who is big on immigrant and labor issues, apparently tried to set up a meeting with Randi last September, and hasn't heard back. Says tax credit organizer Michael Tobman: "Tax Credits are a reasonable effort designed to help lower through middle income families. What's not...

Rock the Gloat

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 11:33:00 -0400

In yesterday's Daily News, Randi Weingarten laments the eager embrace of Joel Klein, who has been uncorking big, metaphorical bottles of champagne over a teachers' contract that is still pending approval by...drumroll...the teachers. Randi also complains that Klein further inflamed a sensitive issue when he "gloated" about the contract provisions on a blog. As our friends at The Wonkster point out, Randi's reaction is rooted in a Politicker post from last week, in which Klein asserted...

A Deal for the Teachers

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 08:47:00 -0400

Mayor Bloomberg and United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten will announce a contract settlement later today, and my early impression of this is that Randi winds up looking pretty smart for holding out until a month before Mike's reelection bid. The outline of the deal: Teachers get a 15% raise over a 52-month period, compared to (corrected) the arbitrators recommendation of 11% over 3 years. There's no sweeping overhaul of work rules, though schools chief...

Another UFT Sighting

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 05:19:22 -0400

As the teachers' contract fight intensifies, a correspondent reports another sighting the day after union president Randi Weingarten breakfasted with Freddy: 1199 chief Dennis Rivera, lugging his backpack into the UFT's headquarters for their gathering this morning....

Mike's Labor Troubles

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 06:19:00 -0400

The Post's scoop that health-care workers' Local 1199 was in backroom negotiations with Mike to sell him their endorsement only slightly tarnishes their reportedly forthcoming announcement that they'll be backing Freddy. (Out of pure principle, of course.) But Mike's facing some friction on another front as well: When the Working Families Party's laborite leadership met this weekend, they couldn't agree on an endorsement, and had planned not to endorse at all, The Politicker is told. But...

The Education of Mike Bloomberg

Thu, 12 May 2005 07:29:00 -0400

Mike has never been much of an ideas guy. Lots of practicality, effective belt-tightening, technological wizardry, but very little ideology from the top, though some of his deputies certainly have strong ideas. In the Wall Street Journal today, Diane Ravitch, the educational historian and official in the first Bush administration, writes that she wishes he had thought about the whole thing a little more. (Ravitch is usually cast as a conservative, though she's turned up...

Rudy's Weekend With Bernie

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 19:00:00 -0500

Rudolph Giuliani's onetime police commissioner and current business partner, Bernard Kerik, certainly had a lot of people fooled. When President George W. Bush nominated Mr. Kerik to be Secretary of Homeland Security, few people were louder in their praise than New York's Senators, Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton. They were joined by a chorus of politicians, commentators and editorial boards, which greeted Mr. Kerik's rise to national prominence with hosannas.

It turns out, of...

Randi's Deadline

Tue, 23 Nov 2004 08:35:21 -0500

Teachers' Union chief Randi Weingarten sets a December 1 deadline for contract negotiations, which are currently on "life support." If they fail, she could be a potent enemy for Mike Bloomberg. She blames Eva Moskowitz and Post columnist Ryan Sager, who gleefully takes...

Taking on Unions, And Paying a Price

Sun, 07 Dec 2003 19:00:00 -0500

When East Side City Council member Eva Moskowitz decided to confront the city's public-school unions over the touchy issue of work rules, she knew she was taking one of the biggest gambles of her brief political life.

"I knew months ago, when I decided to do this, that this was a difficult topic," she said of her decision to question powerful union officials representing teachers, principals and custodians. "Initially, it wasn't even clear my staff...

Bloomberg's 24 Percent

Sun, 22 Jun 2003 20:00:00 -0400

When Rudolph Giuliani left City Hall, almost no one thought that crime would continue to go down. Mr. Giuliani had transformed New York into the safest large city in America, and there was an underlying assumption that his background as a prosecutor and his bullying style had a lot to do with his effectiveness. Fighting crime was the defining achievement of the Giuliani administration, coming as it did after the painful years of David...

An Angry Pataki, His Race Askew, Rides Teachers

Sun, 29 Sep 2002 20:00:00 -0400

Not long after his humiliating defeat on the Independence Party line-the first-ever defeat of his political career-Governor George Pataki stood before a group of school teachers from lower Manhattan and made his strongest remarks to date attacking a June appeals-court ruling that said an eighth-grade education is enough for New York City schoolchildren. "I totally disagree," he said, speaking with unusual vehemence. "It will never be the policy of the state so long as...

Liberals Giving Mayor Advice: Soak the Rich

Sun, 03 Mar 2002 19:00:00 -0500

In the days since Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled his plan to cut services to help plug a $4.7 billion hole in the city budget, only the bravest of City Council members has dared to utter the phrase "higher taxes." Instead, the euphemism of choice around the East Wing of City Hall is "enhanced revenues," a loaded phrase that is whispered in secretive conversations behind the building's pillars or in its dusty basement corridors. Until...

Editorials

Sun, 09 Dec 2001 19:00:00 -0500

Teachers' Union: Greedy in Time of Grief

It ought to come as news to nobody that times are tough, and likely to get tougher. Thousands have been put out of work, while City Hall and Albany are bracing for budget deficits the likes of which haven't been seen in years. The city is battling a potential $5 billion deficit; the state, possibly $10 billion. It's hardly the time for a public employees' union to...

Merit Pay Distracts From Tenure Issues

Sun, 01 Jul 2001 20:00:00 -0400

The only New Yorkers who will remember the 2000-1 school year with any fondness will be the graduates who finally, blessedly, put the city school system behind them and go on to happier things. Even the City University of New York is looking better these days, as the public schools finish a year marked by abysmal reading scores, horrifying sex scandals and, topping it off, election of the vapid Ninfa Segarra as Board of...

Politically Knotted, Boss Dennis Rivera May Endorse Nobody

Sun, 25 Feb 2001 19:00:00 -0500

Dennis Rivera, president of the city's hospital workers' union, controls the most powerful and sophisticated political operation in the city. This simple fact explains why the four Democratic Mayoral candidates have been wooing him for months in a frenzied-and, at times, unsightly-effort to win his blessing.

All this intrigue has created a dilemma for the 50-year-old Mr. Rivera, a self-made power broker, the son of a women's underwear manufacturer who now commands 360,000 union members...

Rapid Rudy Redux: He Targets Unions for His Final Year

Sun, 26 Nov 2000 19:00:00 -0500

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, standing before a lectern at Gracie Mansion on Nov. 21, had just finished entertaining the press corps with warm tales about a bygone Subway Series when a reporter injected a sour note into the otherwise warm proceedings. The teachers' union, the reporter said, had just assailed him for not hiring enough security guards for schools, a decision that the union blamed for a sexual attack the day before on a helpless...