FOR THE RECORD

FOR THE RECORD

Those old sparring partners, United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and former City Council Education Committee chairwoman, Eva Moskowitz, reunited for another round on the Nixzmary Brown tragedy.

Ms. Moskowitz, who now runs the start-up Harlem Success Academy charter school, wrote to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein expressing outrage over the actions of Nixzmary's school, P.S. 256, marking her as the only prominent official who did not believe school employees acted commendably in the situation.

"They did the bare minimum required of them," she said in her Jan. 12 letter. "Nixzmary was absent for weeks last May, and in November, she only attended 2 days of school. Merely notifying ACS is a complete abdication of their responsibility. Please let me know which members of school personnel will be held accountable for this tragic failure." Ms. Weingarten bristled at Ms. Moskowitz's call for public school heads to roll.

"It's a shame that Eva Moskowitz is engaging in this terrible exploitation of a tragedy," the UFT leader said in a Jan. 14 statement. "We knew she was opportunistic when she was a City Council member, but her unbridled, uninformed insinuations that school personnel at P.S. 256 may not have done their best to avoid this tragedy are outrageous."

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Arnold Cherry, a leader of the last strike by Transport Workers' Union Local 100, said he wasn't surprised that union members narrowly rejected the contract President Roger Toussaint brought back after last month's three-day walkout.

The strike, Mr. Cherry said in a phone interview minutes after it was announced Jan. 20 that members voted down the tentative deal, was triggered because Mr. Toussaint was unwilling to "sacrifice the unborn" by agreeing to an inferior pension plan for future employees, in effect creating a two-tier system of employment.

But to meet the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's demand for an alternative stream of savings, Mr. Toussaint agreed to have all members pay 1.5 percent of their health premiums, with deductions to be based on overtime earnings as well. Another onerous aspect of that provision of the deal was that the percentage could have been raised if the rise in health benefit costs exceeded the amount by which salaries were being raised.

Mr. Cherry said of Mr. Toussaint, "He came back with a contract that reflected negatively not only on the 'unborn' but also the active members. I think he accepted the terms because [the contract] didn't deal with the pension issue and so he thought he had some cover."

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AFL-CIO President John Sweeney last week urged Congress to approve universal health insurance, saying the need for the program was demonstrated by "the failure of Bush's complicated Medicare prescription drug benefit."

The New York Times reported that during a speech before the National Press Club in Washington, Mr. Sweeney said unions would press in 30 different states for legislation similar to what was enacted earlier this month in Maryland, requiring large corporations to devote a set portion of their payrolls toward health insurance.

He also railed against corporations shipping their operations to foreign countries where costs can be much cheaper because "they can exploit workers with child labor and forced labor."

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The MetLife Foundation is sponsoring an Ambassadors in Education Award, which will provide a $5,000 grant to a middle or high school principal in the Department of Education system who demonstrates an impact in the community beyond school.

Students, parents, educators or other community members have until March 15 to submit nominations for the award. MetLife Foundation and the National Civic League will announce the local winner April 1.

For a nomination form, visit the website http://www.ncl.org/metlife/2006/Metlife_ Nomination_Form.doc .