<HTML>There are many ways to respond to these points, some of which I agree with. It is, of course, true that a teacher's union, to stick to the immediate example, needs to have public support in its general struggle to save public education, and its specific struggle, such as the one the UFT is in to get a decent contract. That is done in a number of ways, most of which will not be readily evident as other than isolated acts to an outsider who does not see the shape of the entire effort. The UFT is in the midst of a major, long term effort to win and keep public support for our contract battle right now -- leafleting campaigns during the holiday season, neighbor to neighbor house meetings in the early spring, radio and television ad and UFT speakers bureau to go to meetings of community organizations, houses of worship, etc. There are also major, more long term efforts to work closely with pa! ! rents organizations and groups. The problem here is that there is very little in the way of a strong central PTA/parents organization presence in NYC, so you have to make links, as we have, with what an array of more 'local' groupings -- with Alinskyite groups such ACORN and East Brooklyn Congregations, which has developed a strong presence in NYC schools in a number of communities and even sponsored a few schools, with a group called MOM [Mothers on the Move] in the South Bronx, which was organized to improve schools in some educationally desperate settings, with what PTA organizations exist. In part because of the lack of a strong central parental presence in NYC, the UFT has developed its own parental outreach programs -- Helpline's for parents on educational issues, a publication that goes to parents on a regular basis, and citywide parent conferences once or twice a year. Indeed, as far as I know, we are the only group t! ! hat does such a citywide parent conference. We have a number of full-time staff people who do nothing but this outreach to parents. The very nature of all of this work is that it is not going to be high profile and visible. It is natural that even rank-and-file teachers would not be aware of the full array of UFT outreach to parents, just of the particular projects they may be directly involved in, so I am not surprised that Doug would not be aware of it. Nor am I surprised that the assumption always is that the UFT isn't doing it, and doesn't care about it. Not only are the views of us, as a union, shaped strongly by the general negative frame this society has of unions, but we also find ourselves defined by all sorts of memories, shaped over 30 years ago in the 1968 strike by perceptions and misperceptions that have now just blurred into one vague impression. On the more general point, neither the UFT nor any other union could not -- even if it wanted to -- participate in every attempt at organizing a coalition. Those efforts -- and the request to participate in them -- are begun on a daily basis in NYC. Political energy, political capacity and political organization are subject to real, material limits, for organizations just as for individuals. More and more, I find myself -- against my instincts -- talking about them in terms of "political capital," because they are something which one possesses in limited amounts, forcing strategic decisions on how to best spend what one has to get what you want. It is a truism that one can spend it well, or spend it poorly. The very fact that I have no memory of the particular effort that Doug mentions suggests to me that it was one of many stillborn efforts, and that a strategic decision not to use resources to support it were probably well ! ! founded. On the AOHell question, as Kelley calls it: I had already taken all the steps you suggest, but there appears to be no way to turn on "plain text" only, and so when I send out of AOL, the message appears twice [at least in the digest I get back], one in plain text and one in HTML, with all the bloody codes. I have looked everywhere, read the material provided to the list by the quote kvetcher, but nowhere can I find a solution. The web mail is a big pain, so any help would be appreciated. I am off to Jamaica tomorrow evening for a family reunion of my significant other, so I do not know how regularly I will be able to post for the next two weeks. <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Depends. In this case, the "differences" themselves are part of the issue - specifically the ludicrous anti-Communism Feldman professed. The whole point of a coalition, though, is bringing together people who differ in many particulars but who are united on one or more specific issues. I'm not privy to Feldman's inner deliberations, but I'm guessing that "avowed Communists" was shorthand for anyone slightly to the left, and that she was very reluctant to be seen signing on with some broad anti-austerity agenda. Though it's been a long time, one of the points I remember from Marc Maier's book on the NYC municipal unions was that the city was adamant that the unions it recognized not make any kind of alliance with the public to protect the quality of services. Wouldn't it be nice if the teachers union allied with parents to agitate for better schools, if the transit unions allied with riders for better subway and bus service, etc.? Not likely to happen anytime soon, though. How much public support do you think there is for the teachers in their contract battle with Rudy? Seems pretty low to me, though maybe I'm wrong. So, again, Leo, the Douglass quote bothers; it's amazing how easily pragmatism and anti-sectarianism morph into conservatism and inaction. Doug</BLOCKQUOTE> Leo Casey United Federation of Teachers 260 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869) Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass -- </HTML>