NYSUT Editor’s Note: An Estimated 20,000 Teachers, Parents, Students, Union Members and Community Allies of Education (Pictured Above) took part in a Massive Rally that was held in Albany on Saturday (June 8th) for the Reduction of State-Mandated Testing and Additional Funding for Education.  You can learn more about the One Voice United Rally at www.nysut.org/rallyjune8.

(ALBANY) – Leading with a Thunderous Chant of: “GET IT RIGHT, GET IT RIGHT, GET IT RIGHT,” New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) President Richard Iannuzzi (Pictured Below) told the 20,000 Teachers, Parents, Students, Union Members and Community Allies of Education who took part in a Massive Rally that was held in the State Capitol on Saturday (June 8th) for the Reduction of State-Mandated Testing and Additional Funding for Education that “this is the beginning of a Fight to Move Public Education in the Right Direction.”

As far as the eye could see, from one end of the Empire State Plaza to the other – those at the Rally roared their Support as the NYSUT President, whose Statewide Union represents 600,000 Members - made it clear at the Mammoth One Voice United/Albany rally that Teachers “Won't ‘Shy Away’ from Offering Solutions – ‘That's What We Do.’”

“"We will Engage every Stakeholder in the Struggle" with a Firm Commitment "to the Values and Principles We Stand For," Iannuzzi said, and to those who would Over-Test and Underfund, the NYSUT President sent a Clear Message that referenced Legendary Singer/Songwriter Bob Dylan: "Let's remind the powers-that-be: Get out of the way if you can't lend a hand!"

Iannuzzi also stressed: “Today is not ‘Against Anyone’ - Today is ‘FOR’ Children.’  It is a Day for Re-Examining how we look at Testing and the Achievement Gap, Poverty and the Wealth Gap and Equity and Fairness."

After watching Public Education come Under Siege across the United States, Iannuzzi said the Need to create "a New York State ‘Moment’ where ‘We Come Together’ to Speak with ‘One Voice’ about the Future of Public Education: ‘Celebrating’ Educators, ‘Not’ Demonizing Them; Supporting Quality in Higher Education, ‘Not’ Gimmicks; and Sideshows and Pathways that Lead to ‘No’ Place."  

The NYSUT President, who also offered Support for Dreamers and talked of the Need to Fix what he described as a Broken and Undemocratic Tax Cap, was referring to Remarks made by New York State Education Department Commissioner John King, who claimed NYSUT was "Trying to Create a ‘More Tense’ Environment around Testing."

"We don't have ‘Any’ Concerns about Accountability, if you do it ‘Right’ and it's Fair!  Mr. Commissioner, ‘How Much More Tense Can It Get?’," Iannuzzi said.  There wouldn't be Tension, he added, "If You Didn't Put Tests before Instruction or Test Obsessively or Ignore the ‘Voice’ of Parents and Teachers!  We all know there is a Place for Assessment and Accountability Done in the ‘Right Time’ and ‘Right Way.’  We are joining with AFT (American Federation of Teachers) in Calling for a Moratorium on ‘High Stakes’ for Students and Teachers."

Looking out at the thousands who stood in the Plaza Waving Signs and Banners, Iannuzzi said: "I don't see ‘Tension.’  I see People who ‘Care’ about Students!  I don't see ‘Tension,’ I see Advocacy.  I see People speaking with ‘One Voice:’ 'Get It Right!'"

New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento (Pictured Below), whose Statewide Labor Federation represents 2.5 million Union Members, also spoke and told those at the Rally: "You are Not in this Fight Alone! Your Union Brothers and Sisters across New York State are ‘Here’ with ‘You.’  ‘Your’ Fight for the Future of Public Education in this State is ‘Everybody's Fight!’"

Cilento stresses the Importance Public Education has to the Future of New York State. Every Single Night, Cilento says, his Children "start off with their Teachers, talking about what their Teachers Taught Them."  He also said Policymakers Need to See Education "through the Eyes of Children, with the Reverence, Love and Respect ‘Our’ Children show for their Teachers.  "We are ‘with’ You Every Step of the Way.  We are Stronger ‘Together’ and when We Raise ‘Our Voices Together,’ We Win, Our Children Win and the Schools Win!"

Standing atop a Box at the Podium so she could take in the Massive Throng of Rally-Goers gathered on the Empire States Plaza, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten waved a Baldwinsville Teachers Association Towel and whipped up the crowd into a frenzy: “We are here to Reclaim the Promise of Public Education and to ‘Stop this Craziness’ of Disclosure, Testing and Budget Cuts.  If We Do Not Speak with ‘One Voice,’ then We Cannot Fight against this Growing Inequality and Inequity.”

Weingarten’s Call To Arms was echoed repeatedly Saturday by United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew and Joyce Powell of the National Education Association (NEA), all three of whom make it clear to the Parents, Students, Families and Educators who attended the One Voice United Rally that: “We are in a Fight for the Very Future of Public Education.” 

“I would rather take on that [Fight] with People like all of ‘You,’” Mulgrew told those at the Rally, because “We are the People who have Decided to ‘Make A Difference’ in the Lives of Children.”

Powell said the Rally was Important to Effect Change on both the State and National Levels as Teachers across the Country are Being Subjected to Unfair Evaluations Based on a Barrage of Standardized Testing: “As Teachers, we know Tests are Used for Learning, and not as ‘Weapons of Punishment.’  We must Stop this Unnecessary Testing and Protect the Privacy of Students from ‘Test Profiteers.’  Our Students are ‘Not for Sale.’”

Weingarten, meanwhile, said the AFT - which along with the NEA is a National Affiliate of NYSUT - is in Favor of Common Core Standards.  But, she says, the Rush to Implement Unfair Testing will be the Common Core’s Death.  “That’s why we are calling for a Moratorium,” she said. “We have an Obligation to Give ‘all’ our Kids the Skills They Need for Tomorrow.”

Mulgrew also said the Relentless Push to Privatize and Profit Off Public School Students through Testing is Private-Sector Assault that must be Defeated: “They see us as a ‘Marketplace.’  They don’t ‘See Us’ as a Learning Place.  We are in a War for the ‘Soul’ of this Country’s Education System.”

Cornelius Clark, who serves as President of the Troy NAACP was on hand to represent New York State NAACP President Hazel Dukes. Clark told those at the Rally: "We come to Lend ‘Our Voice’ to those who are Fighting for Children to have all the Resources they need.  We are here to say: ‘Let's Make Sure Every School has all the Resources required to Provide the Kind of Education our Children ‘Need’ to Succeed in Life.”

Also speaking at the Rally was National Political Blogger John Nichols of The Nation, who said Every Teacher in New York State and across this Nation Deserves Heaps of Praise.  After Specifically Noting the Heroism of Educators in Sandy Hook, Connecticut and in Moore, Oklahoma, Nichols shouted to the Crowd: “Every Teacher is a Hero and We Salute You!”

Nichols’ also told those at the Rally that: “Corporations are ‘Not’ People; Money is ‘Not’ Speech; Cuts ‘Don’t Make’ Kids Smarter; and that Standardized Testing is ‘Not’ Education.

Reflecting on the Fight of Public Workers in Wisconsin more than one year ago, Nichols said that Fight was to Protect Democracy in America, and “it’s the ‘Same Fight’ in New York ‘Now.’”  “If we are to be a Democracy - the Republic that was intended by our Forefathers - then We ‘Must’ have a Strong Public Education System,” he said.