In the world of politics relationships matter, matter a lot. I was selected as UFT District Rep in a district run by a political club. The TJ Democratic Club elected the school board who selected the superintendent. Aside from required meetings I was out of the loop. I complained to an old timer, His advice,, “Join the club.”
Over time I built relationships, if a club member had a “school” question I was the go to guy. Would the UFT endorse someone in Queens? I’ll find out. The Speaker of the Assembly came out of the club, he asked the superintendent to find a job for his wife, the superintendent was panicked, What if she didn’t like the job? The pride of the district was the Eagle program, a gifted program. I suggested creating a teacher center for the teachers in the Eagle program and hire the Speaker’s wife as the paraprofessional, she loved it! The superintendent was ecstatic and said, “Great idea, we have to chat more often.”
We built a relationship.. If a teacher needed an emergency leave, no wait, if a para payroll was screwed up it got fixed quickly. I built relationships with the key decision makers and was more effective in serving the needs of my members
Currently a UFT staffer is assigned to the City Council, she’s developed a personal relationship with most members.
A key member of the state Senate, with young public school age children adroitly steered the Class Size Reduction bill through the legislature,
The wannabes, the opposition caucuses, suggest “preparing for a strike,” as the way to get thing done, and, btw, and effectively isolating the union and chasing away allies,
“Fixing Tier 6,” paid for by school districts. is a heavy lift, how do you get legislators on board, I have no idea, understanding the political reality, the twisting paths, and building relationships is crucial to succeeding in the legislative process.
The musical Hamilton has a wonderful song, “The Room Where It Happens,” describing getting things done in the 1790s, listen, its wonderful.
Is building special relations with legislators unethical? Are we actually “bribing” legislators?
In a number of recent Supreme Court decisions justices wrote interactions of constituents with electeds were “constitutionally protected, an intrinsic part of our political system.”
And, of course, in the Trumpian world, the survival of public education and teacher unionism will depend on collaborative relationships with electeds. being in “The Room Where It Happens,” not “preparing” for fruitless strikes
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Ed in the Apple: Blogging on the Intersection of Education and Politics Title 
In the best of all possible worlds, the Speaker of the State Assembly would not have been able to secure a position for a relative in a system governed by civil service rules. However, as the recent presidential election has amply demonstrated, we don’t live in the best possible world.
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