New York Union Elections Heating U04

New York State United Teachers bosses are waging war upon each other, unable to settle on a candidate to support in the upcoming officer elections.  Liz Benjamin has th story in nystateofpolitics.com.

A significant rift has developed between UFT President Mike Mulgrew and NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi, with the downstate teachers union honcho backing a slate of challengers against his statewide counterpart’s leadership team.

Mulgrew announced his support yesterday on the website of “REVIVE NYSUT” – the insurgent arm of the statewide teachers’ union that is challenging Iannuzzi and his allies in a fight for the NYSUT leadership. The opposition slate includes Andy Pallotta, NYSUT’s current executive vice president and a Mulgrew ally.

Common Core – or, more specifically, its impact on the controversial teacher performance evaluation process (which, by the way, both NYSUT and the UFT signed off on) – is indeed a source of consternation among NYSUT members, especially on Long Island, where opponents have been particularly vocal. This is one of the prime examples offered by the anti-Iannuzzi faction about why the current leadership team needs to go.But there’s also chatter that what this is really all about is an effort by the UFT to wrest control of its parent union once and for all. This theory is primarily being pushed by the pro-Iannuzzi faction, which thinks Mulgrew, who has a close relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is particularly miffed that Iannuzzi is apparently unwilling to even entertain the possibility of endorsing the governor for re-election this fall.