The MORE Caucus stands in absolute solidarity with Nadia Topete, an immigrant’s rights activist who has been subpoenaed a second time to a grand jury for her role protesting ICE. We know grand juries are used by the DOJ and Trump as a weapon to target activists for speaking out.

Protesting and organizing against ICE terror is not a crime. Last year, the UFT’s delegate assembly adopted an organizing resolution that supports both the rights of immigrant students as well as anti-ICE activists and unionists in the face of bogus charges from the corrupt Trump government. We know very well that these blatant attacks will not stop at activists and will attempt to put a muzzle on the brave people’s resistance to ICE, and as progressive educators we cannot allow that to happen. Hands off Nadia Topete!

#InJusticeSystem #ImmigrantRights #NadiaTopete #PoliticalRepression #MORE #UFT

New York, NY – On Wednesday, May 6, the Movement of Rank and File Educators gathered for general assembly in Midtown Manhattan. More than 40 classroom teachers from across the city met to discuss the presence of NYPD in schools and the police’s role in oppressing the student body of New York and intimidating teachers and staff in schools. The group was joined by the Dignity in Schools organization, which is against scanners and police in schools.

The meeting began with a teach-in on the history of policing in schools in NYC, which first began in the 1970s after the United Federation of Teachers made a mistake by striking against Black and Puerto Rican parents who wanted to exercise control over their children’s schools, known as the Oceanhill – Brownesville strike. The UFT, led by Albert Shanker, made an historic mistake by pitting the rights of white teachers to a job against the rights of Black and brown parents to decide who taught their children, instead of uniting the struggles together against a common enemy.

The assembly moved on to discuss the way language in the UFT contract about students “disruptive behavior” has been used by teachers to have students removed from their classes. This practice disproportionately affects Black and brown students today.

They also talked about how the NYPD imposes expensive scanners for students onto certain schools, and obscures data about where these scanners are located in the city. It can be assumed that most scanners are placed in majority Black and brown schools. Some students in the NYC public school system are required to go through metal detectors and scanners operated by cops and are treated as possible suspects when they get to school.

The frequent delays at scanning make students late to school and makes it more difficult for teachers in the classroom to teach their lessons. The group discussed how the money that goes into expensive scanners could easily be used to give teachers better working conditions, and students better learning conditions, or funneled into job positions in the school that are staffed by unions.

The teachers then broke out into groups to talk about the situations in their schools, and, with the help of a campaign toolkit, some came up with plans to get rid of racist scanning and NYPD presence in their schools through rank-and-file mobilization and engagement of the broader school community.

#NewYorkNY #NYC #NY #MORE #UFT #Labor #PoliceAccountability #Teachers

New York City, NY – On April 29, UFT teachers from the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) and community members who engages with the NYC public school system flooded the New York City Department of Education’s “Panel for Educational Policy.”

First, they rallied outside the panel venue at Sun Yat Sen Intermediate School at 5:30 p.m., with speeches calling on the department to give more material support for immigrant students being abducted by ICE, to oppose the encroachment of AI in public education, and criticizing the push from the New York Police Department to establish buffer zones around schools.

Teachers chanted, “When immigrant students are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Then the activists went inside. They were all wearing red and holding signs like “More support for our immigrant students!” and “No AI!” The teachers lined up for public comment, criticizing their bosses, the education department and the chancellor about the backward budget plan and its connection to big education technology companies, as well as for the lack of material support and guidance for immigrant students.

While the panel tried to shut down speakers for being “off topic,” union activist and Bronx teacher Lee Dynes during his public comment, “When’s the last time you were in a classroom? If ever? It’s the teachers and the students who really know the problems that we are dealing with.”

A longtime MORE member and teacher said to the panel, “We have all this money for AI, but somehow we don't have any money for legal support for our immigrant students.” She continued, with the crowd applauding, “We’re asking for some clear and immediate actions: we ask that the DoE denounce any detention, removal, or family separation by ICE within 24 hours; that teachers and school staff be allowed to go to 26 Federal Plaza during the work day to support impacted families, and trainings to ensure staff know what to do when immigration enforcement is outside of schools, and what happens if they come inside.”

In New York City, there are no democratically elected school boards like