By Jerry Waxman

As submitted to The Huffington Post

The Florida House of Representatives will vote today on passage of controversial bill HB 7189 which, along with its sister bill SB 6 will radically change the way education is funded and administered in the State of Florida. Anti forces such as Stop Senate Bill 6, No Tallahassee Takeover: Stop SB 6, Fund Education Now.org, and many others have come up in a short period of time in opposition to the legislation. Florida’s teachers unions are in opposition. Demonstrations by concerned civic groups, individuals and other public officials have been taking place all over the state.

On Tuesday the legislation was voted out of committee to be voted on by the full house. During the discussion period seventy five people spoke in opposition. Only four people spoke in favor, and those four were either Chamber of Commerce members or employed by one of Jeb Bush’s foundations. Representative Will Weatherford (R. 61) of Panama City acknowledged the turnout and inferred that everyone in opposition was “misinformed.”

Meanwhile, Governor Charlie Crist according to several sources has indicated that he may veto the legislation. Crist, who is running against Marco Rubio in the Republican primary for the US Senate is also thinking about running as an independent candidate. Advocacy groups from across the state and now, through social networking, across the country are flooding the legislators and the Governor with phone calls, e-mails, as well as holding rallies in support of the teachers.

Diane Ravitch has now joined the opposition forces. She sent a letter to the Florida legislators urging them to defeat the legislation. Here is the text of her letter:

To: The Honorable Members of the Florida LegislatureFrom: Diane RavitchDear Members,I wish that I could be in Tallahassee to address you personally but prior commitments make it impossible to do so.

I am a historian of American education at New York University. I served as Assistant Secretary of Research and Improvement in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. I was a founding member of the Koret Task Force of the Hoover Institution. I was
also a founding trustee of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. I have been studying and writing about American education for 40 years.

I write to oppose SB 6/HB 7189.
http://www.nbc-2.com/global/story.asp?s=12259427

I understand that this bill would prohibit districts from paying teachers in relation to their experience and education, but would base teachers’ salaries mainly on student gains on standardized tests. I further understand that it is the law’s intent to develop new tests for every subject area, paid for by reducing operating expenses by 5 percent in the schools.

I strongly believe that this bill will have very negative consequences for the children of the state of Florida. I believe that it will dumb down their education. I believe that it will cause many of your best teachers to leave the profession or the state because this legislation is so profoundly disrespectful towards the education profession.

I urge you not to pass this bill.

My new book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” demonstrates that pay-for-scores schemes don’t work. The main reason they don’t work is that the measures were not intended for that purpose.

Standardized tests are intended to evaluate whether students have learned what they were taught. They are not designed to assess teacher effectiveness or teacher quality. The more that teachers focus on these measures, the more they rob children of time for instruction and for the activities that engage children in their education and promote comprehension.

Teachers are not solely the cause of student progress. If students fail to make progress in their studies, there are many reasons for their failure. The causes of academic success or failure include the students’ own effort; the students’ regular attendance or lack thereof; the family’s support or lack thereof; the family’s poverty and its effects on the student’s health and well-being; the school’s resources; the district’s oversight or lack thereof; and the quality of the test itself, which may be subject to random variation. It makes no sense to hold the teacher alone accountable when student performance is affected by so many different influences.

Should the teacher get a bad evaluation if students have a poor attendance record? Should the teacher be harshly judged if her students don’t speak English or move frequently from school to school? Should the teacher get an F if the student has poor eyesight or suffers from other undiagnosed health problems? Should the teacher be considered a failure if the student’s family offers no support for his learning?

Since the 1920s, American schools have experimented with merit pay plans. None has ever demonstrated success. Teachers will bend their efforts to raise test scores, but achievement nonetheless lags. The reason for this is that teaching-to-the-test does not yield good education. The students may learn test-taking skills, but they don’t learn how to generalize what they have learned to new situations. Thus, even when state reading scores go up, in response to intensive coaching, national test scores remain flat. As the national tests become more demanding—in 8th grade—the scores don’t rise at all.

Our nation has now had eight consecutive years of rising reading scores at the state level, yet the national scores for 8th grade students have not budged from 1998-2009. The reason for the discrepancy is that students are learning test-taking skills, but they are unable to understand complex materials or to demonstrate their progress on a test that is not the state test.

Test scores do not identify the most effective teachers. A teacher who produces big score gains one year may produce none the next year, depending on which students happen to be in his or her class.

The legislation now under consideration will not improve education in Florida. It will harm kids and their teachers.

I urge you to stop and reflect. The research on teacher effectiveness does not support the policies of SB 6/HB 7189. Please defeat this legislation.

Yours truly,

Diane Ravitch

Her reasoned, yet passionate appeal to the legislators states factual evidence that their approach will be harmful to Florida education in general, yet they seem determined to run our educational system off a cliff. I would add my own P.S. to her letter for the Republicans:

“Dear Messers Atwater, Thrasher, Cannon, Weatherford, Cretul et al,

Diane Ravitch has exposed your proposed legislation for what it is-no good at any price. Her background, credentials, and experience by far put to shame any of your experts whom you seem to put your trust in. If anyone is misinformed, look to yourselves. Intellectually, she can run circles around you and your experts, even when she’s asleep. Take her advice and shove your legislation where it will not see light of day. Our kids and teachers deserve much better.”…………………….Oh, yes, Sincerely yours

By Jerry Waxman

As submitted to The Huffington Post

Public education in Florida is about to be tested to its very core. The Florida Legislature has come up with some Machiavellian legislation (SB 6  HB 7189) which will start chasing the most qualified teachers out of either the profession, the state or both. If that happens the void will be filled by people much less qualified who will teach to arbitrary tests rather than educating our kids properly. We will raise a generation of Pavlovian robots rather than thinking, reasoning adults. The full floor vote is April 7. At the moment there are a few Republicans ready to vote no, but probably not enough to defeat passage. Fortunately, this legislation does not take effect for a few years, which is good for legal challenges and the other strategies that can be applied

We can fight back effectively and we have a lot of tools at hand to do so. So far, the letter writing and e-mailing and local press coverage has had little effect on the Republican controlled legislature and our feckless imitation of a governor. We need to continue that pressure and I’ll continue to advocate on my blog and the Huffington Post, but even more is needed. Here’s my plan:

1. Take every opportunity to mock and embarrass the Republicans on a national scale. Contact the President, Registrar, Admissions Office, Board of Trustees, Director of PR  and Alumni Association of every College or University outside the state and alert them of the impending legislation. Get the Alumni lists. Urge them all to not accept any Florida public school graduates because they will have received (in your opinion) a substandard education and detail the legislation along with your refutations. If you are an alumnus of that school, be prepared to either donate or withhold depending upon which works best and urge other alumni to do the same. After all, no institution wants its reputation sullied by accepting (non-legacy) unprepared students.

 

It makes no sense to write to Florida State colleges as they are part of the system, however, enough educators on those campuses will get the message and perhaps join in. Private Colleges in Florida should be urged to join in, and for heaven’s sake why hasn’t anyone gotten Donna Shalala involved in this?  Also, contact every parent of every child in your classes and passionately give them truthful, rational reasons why this legislation must be defeated.

1. Go Global. It’s obvious that the American mainstream media will not cover this adequately unless forced or embarrassed into it. Through my writings I have been invited to be interviewed on an internet talk show from Paris, France. The show’s host is Max Keiser and you can access his page maxkeiser.com anytime. I‘ll be interviewed on April 12 at 9:30 AM. If any of us can get on shows like Amy Goodman, Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann it can’t hurt. I’ve already suggested to my editors at Huffington to add an Education page to their ever expanding list. Go on the blogs like Firedog Lake, Daily Kos, Alternet, etc. Contact Media Matters. Get our issues in the foreign press so relentlessly that the mainstream media can’t ignore us.

 

1. Get involved in your local political campaigns. Volunteer for your local state senate and house candidates (and school board candidates) that share your beliefs. Start canvassing, phone banking, fund raising and anything else you can do to change Tallahassee. When you canvass neighborhoods and talk to people they listen.

 

1. Game the system. Every chamber of commerce has a membership list that they will gladly give you. Local businesses depend on your support. With 175000 public school teachers in this state (and untold thousands of others involved in education at every level) that has a lot of economic impact. Letting every one of these businesses know how you feel and what you are prepared to do is a very powerful tool, but don’t merely threaten; be prepared to follow through. If any of these businesses are publicly held corporations, buy a couple of shares of their stock. They have a list of shareholders. Access that list and ask these people if they would assign you their proxies. This is an extremely effective tool that has worked successfully in the past.

 

These are but a few of the strategies we have at our disposal, and they work. The missing ingredient is your willingness to be more involved than just writing on Facebook. We all need to be willing to sacrifice watching 24 or Dancing with the Stars and take to the streets. We need to inspire legions of others (friends, neighbors, etc.) to get involved. This really is a war. This war needs to be won.

By Jerry Waxman

As submitted to the Huffington Post

There’s this great scene in the movie, All That Jazz featuring Anne Reinking and Erezebet Foldi doing a dance routine to the Peter Allen-Carole Bayer Sager song, Everything Old is New Again. In Florida the title needs to be convoluted somewhat as it applies to our education policies, or as I now prefer to call it Karen Anijar-Appleton’s “Fruitcake Theory”. Dr. Anijar-Appleton, writing in the American Journal of Bioethics in 2004 said:

“Twelve years ago cultural theorist L. Grossberg (1992) wrote a theory surrounding “the rock formation” (as in rock ‘n’ roll). What initially might seem to be an oppositional genre of expression is modified in order to gain wider acceptance, usurping libidinal and affective qualities for hegemonic purposes. I often speak about educational reforms as fruitcake. I believe that there are only a few Christmas fruitcakes in the world. Every year somebody somewhere (perhaps you) receives one of the fruitcakes as a gift. The next year you take the fruitcake out of storage, rewrap and send it on to someone else. But, no matter how you repackage it, it is still the same fruitcake.

Fruitcake (as in nutty as a) aptly describes the goings on in Tallahassee right now. HB 7189 is due to be voted on in committee on April 5. There will be widespread protests in Tallahassee, as well as Florida representatives’ local offices throughout the state by teachers and the teacher unions, parents, school board administrators and many other concerned citizens. Rather than rehash the details, everything we need to know is on Facebook at Stop Senate Bill 6. These bills have been inspired by research done at think tanks like The Heritage Foundation and The American Enterprise Institute just to name two. The whole idea is to scare all of us into thinking that our schools are lagging behind. They even fooled premiere educators like Diane Ravitch for a while to think that corporate style accountability for teachers and rigid standardized testing are the proper things to do. Also taken in by the US Chamber of Commerce was The Center for American Progress who unwittingly collaborated on publishing Leaders and Laggards a basis for the reforms, proving that we must always be vigilant of their motives and tactics. Ravitch has acknowledged that she was wrong and has since published her new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, which is a scathing criticism of the arguments currently being proffered by the reformers. She recently wrote an article in the Washington Post dealing with this called A New Agenda For School Reform. John Podesta, head of the CAP still has egg on his face for trying to be “bi-partisan”.

This all started more than 50 years ago during the Eisenhower Administration. Sputnik changed everything. There were articles published in every news magazine stating that Russian schools were superior to ours and that we had focused too much on well rounded education rather than dealing with hard specifics, you know…..readin’ ritin’ rithmetic and results, and we bought it, hook, line and sinker. Of course, none of it was true. The late Gerald Bracey, a highly respected education professor spent his career fighting that kind of thinking and approach to education. I didn’t know him other than he was a fellow Huffington Post contributor and an age contemporary. We were both in high school when Sputnik launched. He passed away late last year discounting Leaders and Laggards as having no impact. It’s probably one of the very few times in his career that he was wrong. His article was published in September 2009 shortly before his death. Here is his article titled Leaders and Laggards-Vanishes.

His article dealing with the Sputnik debacle, The Big Engine That Couldn’t, deals with the fact that we could have beaten the Russians easily and that our schools had nothing to do with our failure to launch first. This was a political decision by our government to let the Russians go first. Since somebody had to take the blame for this why not the schools? They were and continue to be a convenient scapegoat. It’s a fascinating read. Another post by Bracey titled The Center For American Progress: Progressively Regressive takes the Center and, indeed, all of us to task for ever trusting any of the right wing reformers ever. This next article by Bracey, The Evolution of the Schools Suck Bloc, details the history of the fact-free reasoning behind the thinking processes. These references are merely thumbnail sketches, but you can Google Gerald Bracey and become familiar with his work and research, and I suggest you do. To further examine the phenomenon of our failing schools and our failing kids Dr. Anijar-Appleton sent this link to an article by Mike Males, a Sociology Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Males specializes in youth issues and in this article, Coming of Age in America, he compares youth statistics from years ago to today and finds the adults coming up short.

I also wonder why there are provisions in the bill to allow non-traditionally trained people into the classroom. What would cause someone with a marketing degree working in the private sector suddenly want to become a classroom teacher for a lot less money? There’s one logical answer. The logical answer is simple; they don’t intend to be teachers forever. They can get valuable OJT for a couple of years and then apply to start their own charter schools on the public’s money, where they can make a profit. The other answer is it would attract people adept at gaming the system-those who would only be in it to teach to the testing, thereby making as much money as their scores will allow. If test scores are the indication of a good teacher there’s going to be a bunch of opportunists with top ratings who couldn’t actually teach their way out of a paper bag. Here’s a great article by Dade County teacher Jennie Smith called Senate Bill 6 will improve public education–True or False which really gets to the point.

The implications go far beyond the State of Florida. Florida will become the laboratory test for this kind of legislation in many other Republican controlled states. If it passes here it will spread to Alabama next then Georgia, Mississippi and…..well, you get the picture. Last year my article, Florida Voter Suppression, detailed how the legislature tried to limit voter registration by third parties, specifically ACORN, but the bill never made it to the floor. Since ACORN is no longer a force there is no need for the bill to be resurrected. The damage has been done and we’re going to feel its effects for a long time to come. ACORN could have been a positive force in working in the poorer neighborhoods with disadvantaged kids helping them improve their academic efforts. Had that legislation passed other states like Ohio and Missouri were ready to fall in line.

The invisible hand behind these machinations is Jeb Bush. Bush now has Florida Senate President John Thrasher as head of the Florida Republican Party and together they can accomplish what Bush was not able to during his last term as Governor. Thrasher controls the purse strings for all Republican candidates. If it is successful here watch it spread across neighboring states. Fruitcake anyone?

By Jerry Waxman

As submitted to the Huffington Post

The heavily Republican controlled Florida Legislature has been hard at work for the last few weeks drafting draconian legislation that would strip teachers of tenure, negate their advanced degrees and length of service for salary consideration and install a merit pay system that would reward results based on test scores rather that how well they teach. It would also accept new teachers with less than a college education as long as they follow the guidelines of the Florida Dept. of Education and obtain a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or a FDE approved non-accredited school, thereby lowering the standards for teacher certification. If this kind of thinking were to be applied to the medical profession the kid flipping burgers today could possibly be taking out your appendix in three years without a medical degree or board certification in surgery. At best it’s a ludicrous situation. If it’s not okay for other professionals, why is it okay for teachers? In addition, School Boards would have to comply with the legislation or risk losing five percent of their funding which would have to be augmented by a property tax assessment. Basically, SR 6 and its companion HR 7189 hold teachers hostage to teaching to the test and reduce School Boards to being merely ATM’s.

Florida educators and other concerned parties are not taking this lying down. All over the state teachers unions and independent public school teachers, as well as PTAs, politicians in opposition, civic activists and concerned citizens are speaking out and social networking their resistance. Several rallies are being held outside Republican State Representatives’ offices throughout the state urging them not to pass the bill. The Senate passed HB 6 last week, and if HB 7189 passes the House it is expected that Governor Crist will sign it into law.

Activists were alerted by several Facebook opposition pages that a rally would be held Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 PM outside Rep. Dean Cannon’s (R. District 35) office. Over a two hour period over 120 people came by waving signs at traffic and talking to the local press. Among the demonstrators was Amy Mercado, Cannon’s Democratic opponent in the 2010 election. Cannon is slated to be House Speaker in the next term; however, Mercado was cited by the Orlando Sentinel as Cannon’s first viable opponent in years. Here’s what Mercado had to say.

Chris Spiliotis from Seminole County spoke at length about the legislature’s lowering of teacher standards and why the public must support public education. Steve Barnes, a House candidate (District 34) from Seminole County spoke in support of the teachers. Orange County CTA president, Mike Cahill spoke about the bill being bad legislation. Further support came from Leona Rachman, a candidate for Orange County School Board Chair. Orange County voters chose to have a county wide elected chair with tie breaking powers in the last election. Rachman is a very vocal opponent of the pending legislation. The rally ended with the crowd chanting “Nix Bill Six” for several minutes while local TV crews broadcast them live.

This was the first of many Stop SB 6 rallies throughout the state. Opposition is already mounting in every corner of the state. Today’s article in the St. Petersburg Times details the groups that are involved, as well as some of the legislators who are being pressured. Republican legislators are in a hard place on this because even though they might want to vote against the legislation they need campaign money that is supplied by Senator John Thrasher, who is also head of the Republican Party in Florida. Thrasher is the sponsor of SB 6 and he also controls the purse strings.

Things could be possibly modified by the US Dept of Education. Florida will not receive any “Race to the Top” funding this round. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has so far been silent on Florida’s situation, however, it is thought in some circles that the denial of funding in this round was the Federal Government’s way of saying “we’re very displeased with you” which is sending them a message to change the legislation although no one has provided any evidence that this was the case. The next Orlando rally, “Seeing Red” will be on Thursday, April 1 at 4:00 PM. The location is the intersection of Mills and Colonial, one of the busiest in Orange County. Attendees are asked to wear red.

As submitted to the Huffington Post

by Jerry Waxman

March 19. 25 Central Florida organizations consisting mostly of labor unions and union affiliated groups wrote an open letter to Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D. FL Dist. 24) this morning urging her to vote yes on the health care bill currently being considered in the House of Representatives. Kosmas, whose district includes Volusia County and parts of Brevard and Orange as well, voted no the last time and incurred the wrath of many of these same unions. She is now going to get another chance. Below is the full text of the letter with the names of the signers:

 

 

An Open Letter to Representative Kosmas from 25 Central Florida Organizations

Representative Kosmas,

Now is the time to pass comprehensive health care reform.   We’re counting on You!

Too many Florida families have faced financial ruin because of skyrocketing health care costs, and even more are just one medical emergency away from disaster.  In 2008, the 24th Congressional District of Florida saw 1,400 health care-related bankruptcies—that’s 1,400 families who can’t even choose between paying for prescription drugs and buying food anymore, because they can’t afford either.  Also, in your district, 11,700 seniors every year are forced to pay the full cost of their prescription drugs, and many of them can’t afford it.  Florida’s families and seniors can’t wait for reform any longer.

Right now insurance companies routinely deny coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions.  Ten percent of Florida residents have diabetes and 28 percent have high blood pressure – two conditions insurance companies can cite to reject coverage.  Our family members and neighbors continue to suffer at the hands of insurance companies that deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions and cancel coverage if people file a claim.  A ‘Yes’ vote on reform puts an end to this discriminatory practice.  

Working families are facing another year of big health premium increases that will threaten more jobs and family health benefits.  Your constituents need relief that only comprehensive federal health reform can provide.  If nothing is done, more and more of those with insurance, won’t be able to afford to use their coverage.

We dare not lose this opportunity for comprehensive health care reform.  Floridians know that it’s time to fix the system, we’re counting on you to vote ‘Yes’ on Health Care reform.

In Unity,

Stacy Stepanovich, President
Volusia/Flagler AFL-CIO

Mike Williams, President
Florida AFL-CIO

Steve Williams, Business Manager
IBEW Local Union 756

Claudie Pouncey, President
Space Coast AFL-CIO

Andrew Spar, President
Volusia Teachers Organization

Matty Rose, President
Florida State Association of Letter Carriers

Laura Goodhue, Executive Director
Florida CHAIN

Ed Chambers, President
UFCW Local 1625

Mark Ferrulo, Executive Director
Progress Florida

Tom Wenz, President
AFSCME Local 850

Gary Cotton, President
CWA Local 3102

Elizabeth Albert
Volusia Teachers Organization

Bill Albert
IBEW 756

Kathleen Aterno
Clean Water Action

Tony Fransetta
Florida Alliance for Retired Americans

Brad Ashwell
Florida Public Interest Research Group

Denise Diaz
Central Florida Jobs With Justice

CJ Allen
Volusia Teachers Organization

Suzy Smith
Volusia Teachers Organization

William Moore
New Smyrna Beach Organize Now

Lu-Anne Blankenship
Volusia Education Support Association  

Brett Mirsky, Business Manager
UA Local 295

Marc Schwartz, Assistant Business Rep.
IATSE Local 631

Harry Brown, Business Manager
IBEW Local 606

Jennifer Kenny
Alliance for Retired Americans

The vote in the House is thought to be taking place on Sunday.

By Jerry Waxman

 As submitted to The Huffington Post

Dear Rep. Kosmas,

I am writing to you, as a constituent who worked for your election last year, to urge you to support the current Senate Health Care bill now being considered in the House of Representatives. While this bill is far from perfect it will ease the real problems of millions of Americans who cannot afford to see a doctor and whose lives and health are in real jeopardy because they are either not insured or underinsured.

I’ve been covering the Health Care debates for the Huffington Post for over a year now and I have been collecting individual stories from strangers as well as my own friends and family members, many of them your constituents that would break your heart. I would like to share some of them with you:

Bill Doherty is 41 years old. He is the Artistic Director of the Central Florida Lyric Opera and he does an amazing job given the lack of funding available to him. His productions, for their size and scope, are superb and he has been recognized by the White House for his contributions to the art form. He’s a great vocal coach and one of the most talented musicians I’ve ever met. Several of his students have gone on to fame on Broadway as well as in professional opera. At the moment he is reduced to playing piano in a restaurant at night to eke out a living. His house and studio were in jeopardy of being foreclosed on and that still could happen. Bill suffers from Diabetes and he is uninsurable under the current system. He has to pay for his medications out of pocket and if there is a medical emergency it could mitigate a disaster. Several months ago Bill had to go to Winter Park Hospital to have a boil on his neck treated. By the time he received his bill it was over $1400.00 and he was hard pressed to pay it. Just imagine if he had something really serious happen. He would be out on the street with nothing in addition to still needing insulin and other medications. Bill was a stranger to me in October 2009. Today I consider him a close friend. He owes me considerable money for work I did for him and I know he can’t pay right now. I’m not going to let that stand in the way of our friendship, and I want him to get back on top. He deserves it. The only thing I can do for him right now is to advocate for everyone in his position and ask you to help him get the proper health care he deserves.

Sara Grimes wears a support belt around her waist 24 hours a day. She can’t walk without it. She was the victim of three traffic accidents back in 2004 and her case has never been handled properly in all these years. At the time of her accidents Sara was an employee of the State, and her second accident was caused by a state vehicle. That set off a string of events that cost Sara her job and benefits. She has hired an attorney to untangle the web of events that have left her jobless and almost a cripple, however in the ensuing years her condition has worsened and she can’t get proper treatment. Several specialists have refused to see her because she is not insured, and they say they will not accept cash which she has offered them on numerous occasions. Under separate cover I am enclosing a letter which she wrote to me describing her plight. Meanwhile, she is a bright capable person who is prevented from being productive because of the system. She should be out dancing instead of facing life in a wheelchair. When she’s able to she does come to the rallies to urge you and our other lawmakers to make affordable health care possible to all. I cannot imagine her despair and I feel for her. You can help her.

My daughter, Julie, decided several years ago to go back to college and get her degree. To her credit she graduated with honors. Along that journey she met the right man in her life and today they have a beautiful daughter, Jillian, who is now almost three years old. My son-in-law is diabetic so there’s no insurance for them. He’s also a student so Julie is working two jobs to make ends meet. Jillian is covered by Medicaid, but if her parents have any serious medical problems or emergencies they are ill-prepared to deal with them. I want my children and grandchildren to lead healthy, productive lives as well so that they can make their contributions to society.

These are not isolated incidents. They occur every day and in every neighborhood and in every family to some degree. You have the power to change their lives for the better. Within the past year there have been factions arising that have a totally different view of the role of government. I’ve interviewed these people and I can tell you from personal experience they have no credible or cohesive argument. They did not vote for change in 2008, nor would they ever give any progressive initiatives any thought. They are loud, but they are a definite minority and you need to remember that. They would actually deny themselves things that would benefit their own families. Therefore, I respectfully urge you to vote yes for the pending Health Care bill as well as asking Speaker Pelosi to include the Public Option which Senator Bill Nelson has now agreed to support. We’ll all be better off, and you can feel the sense of satisfaction that the country is finally moving in a positive direction. Thank you for all the positive things you do for your constituents.

As submitted to the Huffington Post

By Jerry Waxman

February 27, Titusville, FL.  There was a popular joke making the rounds in the 60’s along with “knock-knock” and “how many ethnics” jokes which made people laugh at its skewering of sensitivity. It was personified in Playboy Magazine by one of their regular contributors (I think it was either Eldon Dedini or Phil Interlandi) in a single panel; a business executive was sitting at his desk talking with an elderly woman wearing a shawl. The caption was “I know that mom, but what have you done for me lately?” Space Coast residents have been getting that particular feeling ever since NASA and the Obama Administration announced the end of the manned flight space program recently, which will have an adverse impact on 22,000 jobs in Central Florida.

The rally had been called for 3:00 PM at Brevard Community College. Union representatives from across the state of Florida as well as national union officers were on hand to speak about saving Space Coast jobs. Local merchants, politicians and community activists not affiliated with the unions were also there to speak and lend support. Over two thousand showed up and if the weather had been cooperative many more people would been there.

The theme was consistent throughout. “I am one of the faces of the Space Coast. My family is worth fighting for, my community is worth fighting for and my job is worth fighting for!” Laurilee Thompson is a co-owner of the Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant who complained that she has already lost a valued employee due to the anxiety in the community. Thompson exclaimed that the community has to act to save itself as in the earlier ban on local fishing because, “The Fish Fairy didn’t save us and The Space Fairy won’t save us!”

Brevard County Commissioner Robin Fisher reminded the crowd that Candidate Obama made promises on this campus to save space jobs. “This is the first time I’ve seen you pissed off!” said Fisher, adding that congressmen from all the local districts as well as Senator Bill Nelson should “hold up all votes until we save Florida, and if that stops Washington that’s OK!”

The most impassioned speaker of the local speakers was Janet Eastman, President of the Brevard County Federation of Teachers, noting that Brevard schools partnering with NASA has produced one of the best school systems in Florida and perhaps the country. She remembers the devastation caused by the elimination of the Apollo program, noting that it took years for the area to recover.” Eastman warned, “The quality of our public education will implode and it won’t be a gradual decline.”

Ed Hill, National President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, reminded the crowd that the IBEW has been with the Space Program for 50 years, having helped put Alan Sheppard into space and John Glenn into orbit among its other contributions. Robert Martinez, President of IAMAW, the machinists and aerospace workers union claimed that that the Obama Administration has been mislead by others in its decisions, adding that the private sector can in no way match the current space program.

“Let me ask you something” said Donald Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO in his opening statement, “is there anybody out there that’s ready to fight for jobs and stop what’s going on in this nation? Anybody out there had enough?” The crowd responded with applause and cheers. Trumka cited the “Miracle of Titusville” a coming together of space workers, their unions, local merchants and politicians to create a forty year period of cooperation to “make this a great place to live and to work.”  Trumka emphasized that at a time of great economic hardship it makes no sense whatever to eliminate critical jobs in the space industry. He went on to say that while many Americans may think that government is broken, the space program is a model that works well and efficiently and asked the question “Does it make any sense?” The crowd roared no in disapproval. Trumka told the crowd to tell Washington that “if it isn’t broken don’t try to fix it!”

Trumka told the crowd that he has just come from Evansville, Indiana where Whirlpool has announced that it is closing its plant and moving the production to Mexico putting another 1100 people out of work. Condemning the country’s policies on moving production Trumka said “I say enough is enough. It’s time we keep it and make it right here in America.”  Trumka went on to say “We can only do so much in Washington. What we have to do is exactly what our union movement and this entire community is doing right here in Florida, we have to take the initiative, building a broad coalition of workers and business people and elected and community leaders fighting back with everything that we have. All across our country we’re seeing an uprising that’s bringing entire communities together, communities that were split before, now standing arms locked, demanding jobs, demanding that Main Street come before Wall Street, and we come first!”

The rally ended about 4:40 PM and the sun shone through briefly. Perhaps it was a sign of better things to come. The Space Coast is ready to increase its commitment just in case the Administration doesn’t think it’s doing enough for them lately.

By Jerry Waxman

As submitted to the Huffington Post

Orlando, FL. Feb. 22 After a sustained two month period of unseasonably cold and damp weather it began to warm up in Central Florida. I thought at times “so, this is what it’s like to live in London.” On the weather front beginning on Sunday the breezes were again balmy and temperatures got to the point that you didn’t need a jacket or sweater to venture out. The power and energy companies have had a good winter so far; many Floridians, not used to such cold weather, had their heat on for weeks at a time and got bills that made their eyes pop. Abnormal weather patterns aside, there is a lot of heat building up among Florida’s labor unions.

Florida’s economy has not fared well during the past two years of recession and leadership in Tallahassee has been nonexistent. Nor has the federal government given Florida more than mere lip service. The work that has been available, such as the new VA hospital in East Orange County was supposed to be built under a Project Labor Agreement. President Obama signed Executive Order 13502 on Feb. 6, 2009 which specified that work on these projects should be done by Veteran owned companies. The companies were supposed to hire veterans under the project known as “Helmets to Hard Hats”, a way of getting veterans back into society with good jobs. Congressional representatives in the immediate area, Alan Grayson, Corrine Brown and Suzanne Kosmas signed letters of support, but virtually to no avail. Don’t ask any of the construction trade unions or veterans looking for work how things fared for them without having earplugs available. The new initiative, Putting Florida Back to Work, will concentrate on getting decent jobs for Florida. Today’s press conference was held on the Orlando City Hall steps specifically to inform Florida’s two senators, Richard Lemieux and Bill Nelson that a robust jobs bill is a vital necessity for Florida. Similar events will be held on Feb 23 in Miami and Jacksonville, leading up to Saturday when the combined unions will hold a “Save Our Space Jobs” rally in Titusville, Florida in order to bring attention to what most Central Florida residents consider a vital industry.

At 12:30 PM as people gathered for the event the sky was sunny and clear. As the 1:00 start time approached the sky became increasingly dark gray, but symbolism and ominous portents notwithstanding, the event was definitely upbeat. Paul Wilson, president of the Central Florida CLC, spoke about Florida’s expected three billion dollar budget shortfall and the economic impact that will follow. “The recession is much deeper than anyone imagined, and unless we act now to stave off our budget shortfalls and get people back to work it is going to start unraveling again,” said Wilson. Wilson also stated that Titusville was selected because it was the “epicenter” of the Florida jobs crisis. Recent decisions by the Obama Administration have left a void in the future of manned space flight turning over many of those components to private contractors. “This is an economic atomic bomb being dropped on Titusville and the rest of the space center that will destroy the community and send shockwaves across the state,” added Wilson.

The next speaker, Joshua Leclair of AFSCME Council 79 said “Some in Congress think the way out of this recession and towards jobs growth in Florida and Orlando is to slash budgets and to lay off public employees like teachers, fire fighters, nurses and transportation workers but this makes no sense; you can’t grow jobs by cutting jobs.”  Leclair also warned that not addressing the budget shortfalls another three million jobs could be lost. Leclair cited economist Mark Zandi, former advisor to John McCain, stating that every dollar invested in the public sector returns 1.4 to the economy.

Jennifer Kenny, Florida field organizer for the Alliance for Retired Americans emphasized that worrying about the cost is not a priority-putting people to work is. She urged everyone to call Senators Nelson and Lemieux to urge them to pass a robust jobs bill that will put Florida back to work. The number is 1-888-460-0813. Here’s the video of the press conference.

A short while afterward Josh Anijar, Central Florida field representative for the AFL-CIO commented that he had just returned from Titusville and it was looking “more and more like a ghost town.” Saving the Space jobs is so important that Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO nationally, as well as other well known national labor leaders will be in attendance. Anijar also stated that for the first time local businessmen and chambers of commerce who have a huge stake in the outcome want to be involved. “Since this is a union event the tea baggers will also be there. It ought to be real interesting to see whom they protest” said Anijar. Douglas De Clue, a currently unemployed aerospace engineer claimed that “The entire Space Coast will be a third world country if we don’t save those jobs. People will continue to be out of work and will continue to lose their homes. Property values will be down to nothing and you can forget about money for education. This isn’t just a Titusville issue-lots of people who depend on NASA live here in Orange, Osceola, Volusia and Seminole counties. How do you replace an entire industry that has so greatly added to our technological superiority and immeasurably enhanced our quality of life? How do you let it go in the first place?”

Disappointing news

I received an email on Friday from Florida Attorney General Candidate, Dave Aronberg via Avery Salkey who was the subject of an earlier Huffington Post article under Arthur Delaney’s byline which I had also contributed to. Avery had been fighting off foreclosure since before February of 2009 from Yale Mortgage, a hard equity lender. She’s received a 24 hour notice to vacate, and there is such bad blood between her and Woody Kahn, the president of Yale, that there is no way the two of them can work things out. Now that ACORN has lost its impact there is no one to fight for her, certainly not Bill McCollum, Florida’s current Attorney General. He’s too busy trying to indict every Democrat in Broward County while sweeping his own Republican Party’s corruption under the rug. I’ve tried to get in touch with Avery but as of this posting she has not returned my calls.

as submitted to the Huffing Post

By Jerry Waxman

These are the people who make 85 year old grandparents using walkers take off their shoes before walking through the airport security posts. They also make sure that you don’t have shampoo or medications in containers over 3 ounces or nail clippers going through these points as well. Stupid little stuff like that. They don’t make the policy, but it’s their job to enforce it. These are the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) and they are on duty at every U.S. airport seven days a week, twenty four hours a day, three hundred sixty five days a year. Their job and mission is to protect you as part of Homeland Security, but who protects them?

Eight years ago when the Bush Administration and Congress formed the Department of Homeland Security the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) worked hard to establish a federalized system of passenger and baggage screening instead of the old patchwork system of private companies. This resulted in the formation of the Transportation Security Agency, which administers screening throughout the country. In stark contrast to other employees at the Department of Homeland Security, and most other federal employees, TSOs are denied the basic workplace rights such as collective bargaining. AFGE has worked for eight years to have these rights restored. It’s been a long battle, and candidate Barack Obama promised (in writing) to AFGE that during his administration TSOs would gain those rights.

AFGE Local 556 represents TSOs in Tampa, Stanford, Dayton, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Panama City, Pensacola, Sarasota, Clearwater and Orlando, Florida. AFGE has represented the TSA workforce since the agency was created in 2001. The union currently has approximately 12,000 dues-paying TSA members at more than 100 airports in 36 union Locals nationwide. AFGE is the largest federal employee union representing 600,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia, including tens of thousands of DHS employees.

On December 17 AFGE members, supported by Central Florida members of the AFL-CIO held a Solidarity Day at the Orlando International Airport in support of TSOs. All present signed statements in support. The statement reads, in part, “[TSOs] are the front line of homeland security. Just as you work hard every day to protect us, and everyone who utilizes our nation’s airlines, we will support you in your struggle for justice on the job.” The statements are being signed in conjunction with the American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO’s National TSO Solidarity Week, with events being held in more than 30 cities nationwide. Donald Thomas, head of local AFGE local 556 spoke about the difficulties of dealing with the Transportation Security Agency and the agency’s unwillingness to cooperate. Thomas cited managers with the agency who impede his security people while they are on the job, noting that some of the managers have records of alleged sexual harassment but are still on the agency’s payroll.

Paul Wilson, president of the AFL-CIO Central Florida Labor Council spoke in support, as well as Denise Diaz of Central Florida Jobs With Justice. Florida State House District 35 candidate Amy Mercado spoke in support as well as Debra M. Booth, District Director for Congressman Alan Grayson (D. FL). Orlando Int’l Airport is in Grayson’s district and Ms. Booth spoke for Grayson, saying that he supports their efforts, also mentioning that  the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will be brought up in 2010 and its passage should ease the burdens immensely.  Machinists union people also spoke in support.  Marita Palmer of AFGE and Josh Leclair of AFSCME among others met the employee shuttle buses as they arrived with literature for both arriving and departing employees. The Solidarity Support lasted from 10: AM through 2:00 PM.