#MOREUFT

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Greg Butterfield

On Sept. 21, the first group of students — special education students and pre-kindergarten children — attended in-person classes in New York City public schools for the first time since school buildings closed in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After school that day, teachers, other school workers, students and parents rallied to demand safe schools and call for remote-only schooling. The Movement Of Rank & File Educators (MORE-UFT), a social justice caucus of the United Federation of Teachers, called the action.

About 50 people picketed in front of the Department of Education in downtown Brooklyn before marching to nearby Borough Hall, where they occupied the steps, chanting “Money for schools, not for cops!” Soon after, they were joined by 100 educators and students who marched across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan.

“This is a Black Lives Matter issue,” declared Dante, a student from Urban Assembly Maker Academy in lower Manhattan. “This is a funding issue.”

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Brooklyn: Rally and Speakout for Safe & Equitable Reopening of NYC Schools

Friday, September 25 - 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Start at P.S. 503 ( 330 59th St., Brooklyn) and walk along 5th Ave. to Sunset Park

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Monday, September 14

Stop the Mayor’s Reopening Plan!

We’re just a few days into the school reopening plan negotiated by the Mayor and UFT leadership, and it’s already clear our communities are in danger. Positive cases around the city have been reported among staff, requiring colleagues to quarantine at a moment’s notice. Staff returned to buildings with sinks, windows, toilets still broken, without PPE and without adequate staffing for the hybrid model. The DOE released their ventilation reports on Labor Day, the night before staff was required to report.

We need to act. NOW. Before students come back into the building and everything gets worse.

Join our Day of Action on Monday, September 14th.

Here’s how you can help:

Using Monday as a day in which you circulate the MORE petition for full remote.

Having members sign a joint letter detailing the safety problems in your school. This might be sent to elected officials or to the parents of students in your school, or can be shared (anonymously, if you need) with the MORE media team (media@morecaucusnyc.org) to post on our social media.

Organize your staff to wear #redfored.  Take photos and post them on your social media with the hashtags #backtoschool2020 #notuntilitssafe.

Make calls to the Mayor, Chancellor and governor demanding a remote start to the year. Here is a phone zap script you can adapt.

Picket outside the school before work hours. Members at the Taft campus are already doing this. You can also join meetings from outside the school.

Lunch-time walkout. If done during lunch this will not subject members to disciplinary action.

Refuse to go into work in solidarity with your colleagues. This requires a high degree of membership solidarity to pull off effectively.