Back in the NYCPS Groove

Returning to the classroom reminded me why I fell in love with this work. I may be disappointed in the UFT’s leadership, but I’m still here for my students and our members.

It’s been a little over one month since I started – or more accurately, restarted – my teaching career. So I’d like to share what the month has brought me and taught me.

First of all, let me say thank you. The outpouring of support from friends, former UFT colleagues, and other people in my life has been affirming and uplifting. I found it initially surprising that so few of the people who interact and interface with the UFT regularly really know (and knew) what was going on behind the scenes. My life was so wrapped up in the work I did for the UFT these last 20 years that it shocked me when people outside of that orbit were taken aback by what I wrote in my first Substack post. This proves the point that people don’t share your life experiences. Nor can you expect them to.

That post was extremely cathartic. And I’m aware that I burned a lot of bridges by writing and posting it. And for a brief moment before publishing it, I was trying to convince myself that there was some weird, unforeseen series of events that could open the door to my return to the UFT. But what would I be going back to and under what conditions? As long as the UFT is run by people who value obedience over integrity, I won’t be welcome there.

So let me tell you about teaching! Just over a month in, and I feel like I am getting into a groove. Things are starting to gel in the classroom. Much thanks to the educators, administration, and staff at my school who have given me their time, insight, and support every day. The help and grace they have shown me have made any successes I have had in the classroom possible. Routines are solidifying. Planning is getting easier. Learning is happening. My students are happy to see me every morning, and I am happy to see them, too.

But man, those first two days before the kids got there, I felt like I was drowning.

I recognized the words presented to me in those two days of professional development and orientation, but I really didn’t understand what they meant. Perhaps it gave me some experience akin to what my 5th-grade ENL students might be feeling when their teacher speaks to them in English so easily while they struggle with comprehension. It was scary to believe that I was going to be in front of a classroom of kids in this new age of education, where I don’t know any of the tools and systems that are so easily understood by people who live this work every day, while I’ve been working on more specialized union-related work and pension-related work.

In all my years representing the union, I tried never to lose sight of how vital and demanding the day-to-day work of our members truly is. But the longer I was out of the classroom, the less aware I was of everything teachers and educators must do. I think that’s a flaw in the system that the UFT has at this moment that maybe could be rectified sooner rather than later. So many of the representatives in UFT departments have not been in front of kids in a classroom in a really, really long time. Things are not the same from year to year, let alone decade to decade. If I could remake the UFT into something that could be more effective and relevant for its mission, I would make it part of the job that every full-time representative has to keep teaching children. Anyone who leaves the classroom to go and work for the UFT should continue to go into the classroom in some regular manner. It can only improve the work the UFT does.

I recall being in rooms when these instructional issues were discussed. But I wasn’t a teacher in the classroom, and I was focused on other things. But how could I really understand it unless I was in a classroom? In some part, I feel that is why so many reps keep their mouths shut in meetings and in public. They know when the UFT leadership is missing the point or just plain wrong. But the longer they are away from teaching students, the more desperate they are to keep it that way. I’m guilty of it too. When Michael Mulgrew told me to stop speaking in AdCom because he didn’t want to hear what I had to say, I did it. I kept my mouth shut to protect what I had, when instead I should have opened it more. I have to live with my decisions, as we all do. Actions and inactions both have consequences.

Many good people who devoted their working lives to improving the lives of our members have had that opportunity taken away from them. And other good people still inside the UFT have seen firsthand what it means to be an at-will employee while working for an organization that is supposed to be better than this. Who on the inside will ever choose to speak out or speak up to UFT leadership, even behind closed doors, when they could be the next one removed? Regardless of who you voted for or wanted to win, the UFT is less than it was just a few months ago.

I ended my last blog post stating that I don’t require a title or permission to continue doing good for members of the UFT. And as the distance from the day of my removal continues to grow, I am even more convinced that the UFT needed me more than I needed the UFT.

I am choosing to take what I know and share it with people who might benefit from my decades of insight and knowledge. Starting later this month, I will be hosting online financial wellness workshops for UFT members. Continuing something I did for the UFT and its members, without being asked to, but because I wanted our hard-working members to get some information so they can make better decisions about their money today and set themselves up for a more stable financial future.

On October 23, I’ll be hosting two online workshops on financial wellness for UFT members. We’ll talk about budgeting, practical ways to reduce personal debt, and saving for both the near future and retirement. There will be an afternoon session at 4:30 PM and an evening session at 7 PM. If you’d like to join, please email me at davidkaznyc@gmail.com with your name, school, personal email, and preferred session. I’ll follow up with a registration link. Each session is capped at 300 participants, so reach out soon to reserve a spot.

I’m looking forward to reconnecting with members and sharing some tools to help you build greater financial stability and confidence.