By Joe Williams
Poor Rubain Dorancy had no idea what he was walking into. Dorancy, a candidate for the New York State Senate, joined tens of thousands of Americans last week in noting the importance of the Vergara v. California lawsuit. Now he’s got Mike Mulgrew in his grill.
To bring you up to speed on all of the fake-drama that has ensued in the last few days so you can appreciate Dorancy’s plight:
- Judge rules in favor of the public (and against the State of California) in the Vergara case.
- Education Secretary Arne Duncan issues a pro-public education reaction to the judge’s ruling. (Joining other pro-public education figures like Rep. George Miller in highlighting the need to do better by kids.)
- AFT President rips Duncan to shreds on Twitter and in the press for siding with the young victims in the case and not standing with the rank-and-file in her union. While EdWeek notes that Duncan’s comments were actually “pretty anemic as these things go, and took a typically middle-of-the-road approach. It called on districts and unions to collaborate to write laws that better balance student and adult needs.”
- NEA President Dennis van Roekel goes off on education reformers in the wake of the case.
- Press reports in New York suggest that Dorancy may now lose the backing of the once-powerful United Federation of Teachers because he dared to re-tweet Secretary Duncan’s original tweet after the Vergara verdict was announced. “With a tweet, Dorancy shot himself in the foot as far as teachers are concerned,” one ball-busting union boss told City and State newspaper.
If it is any consolation, Mr. Dorancy, look no further than Mayor Bill de Blasio, who probably wouldn’t be mayor right now if the UFT had decided to endorse him in the Democratic Primary. This too shall pass. Keep fighting for the little guys.
UPDATE: Yesterday, Secretary Duncan doubled-down on his comments, offering even more details on what he sees as the lessons learned coming out of Vergara. Important read.