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1) Caviar in the Surf: On Vacation
with Pat Tornillo. Shortly after former United
Teachers of Dade (UTD) President Pat Tornillo pleaded guilty to fraud and
tax evasion for stealing union funds, the American Federation of Teachers
released the preliminary results of a forensic audit, charging Tornillo and
others with misappropriating almost $3.5 million in union dues.
“Our plan is to start by seeking
restitution from Mr. Tornillo, while our auditors continue to investigate
others who may have been involved in the misappropriation of UTD funds,”
said AFT Secretary-Treasurer Edward J. McElroy.
Tornillo’s fall will have ramifications
far beyond its effects on the Miami teachers’ union. People are already
beginning to question Tornillo’s relationships with the city’s
power-brokers, and his bio reveals the extent of his involvement in all
manner of Miami’s financial life.
Tornillo served as an appointed member
of the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Committee, an elected director of
the Miami branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a trustee member of
the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, and a director of the United Way of
Dade County. He also served as a member of the Youth Crime Watch of America
advisory board. Perhaps he thought his role was to give youth some crime to
watch.
The forensic audit (available at
http://www.utd.org/Forensic_Examination_Report.htm) lists Tornillo’s
schemes in laudable detail, from diverting continuing education payments, to
using union dues to pay for a personal shopper for Mrs. Tornillo, to
staffers cashing in on unused vacation and sick leave days both before
and after the FBI raid on April 29. But the auditors can’t provide the
flavor of Tornillo’s actions – a gap EIA is obliged to fill.
The audit notes that UTD paid for a
$71,430 cruise to Southeast Asia on Seabourn Cruise Lines for Tornillo and
his wife. At a salary of a quarter-million dollars a year, Tornillo could
afford to pay his own fare, but he instead opted to illegally use money
extracted from the paychecks of Miami teachers in the following ways:
Seabourn urges its guests to “challenge
us to overindulge you,” and the cruise line’s efforts begin even before you
leave home. Seabourn has a personal valet luggage service, which allows your
luggage to be picked up at your home and you never have to deal with it
again until it is delivered to your suite on board ship. No bothersome
checked luggage lines at the airport.
We don’t know the exact itinerary the
Tornillos used, but Seabourn offers several for Southeast Asia that include
stops in Thailand, Burma and Vietnam. The “yachts of Seabourn” carry no more
than 104 couples on their cruises, and there is a ratio of nearly one crew
member for every passenger.
Guests are greeted with complimentary
champagne upon their arrival, before being escorted to their suites, many
with balconies. Each cabin receives a fresh fruit basket daily, and the
spacious bathrooms contain aromatherapy bath selections.
Seabourn boasts world-class cuisine from
a menu designed by celebrity chef Charlie Palmer. A typical meal would start
with iced Russian malossol caviar, followed by duck broth with confit.
Rosemary grilled double cut lamb chops are a main course, coupled with
eggplant potato tart and balsamic jus. Each lunch and dinner is accompanied
with complimentary wines and spirits. Finish with a dessert of hot Grand
Marnier soufflé with orange blossom sauce, and exotic teas or cappuccino
with petits fours. Should you feel “peckish” later, order something from the
free 24-hour room service.
Spend the evening in one of the ship’s
three lounges, drinking from the open bar and rubbing shoulders with
“luminaries in the arts and world affairs,” including actor Alan Arkin,
comedian Tom Smothers, a former deputy assistant secretary of state, or the
former British ambassador to Vietnam.
During the day, enjoy the complimentary
land excursions in each of the exotic ports of Southeast Asia. But even if
you remain on board, the ship offers dozens of diversions, including a
sauna, spa, outdoor whirlpool, casino and boutique. Various water sport
activities are available right off the lowered marina deck on the stern of
the ship. If you wear yourself out, ship’s staffers offer complimentary
“massage moments” on deck, and their renowned “caviar in the surf” (see the
EIA web site at
http://www.eiaonline.com for a photo of the line’s signature tradition).
And though you have been indulged in
every way imaginable, there’s no need to fret about additional costs,
because there is no tipping aboard Seabourn ships.
Seabourn claims that “It’s hard to
imagine a more pampered existence.”
2) Clark County Support Workers
Reject Contract. A tiny group of members of the
Education Support Employees Association (ESEA), the NEA-affiliated union
representing education support personnel in Clark County, Nevada, rejected a
recently negotiated contract with the school district. The union claims more
than 4,000 members, but the contract vote was 114 in favor and 278 against.
At the same time, a union representation
election in the district is stalled because it would require an opposing
union (the Teamsters) to be voted in by a majority of support employees in
the district (numbering nearly 8,000), rather than winning a majority of
votes cast. So, if you’re a custodian in Clark County, you can reject a
contract with 278 votes, but you need 4,000 votes to reject the union that
negotiated it.
3) Anti-Dissection Activists Picket
Massachusetts Union Headquarters. Activists from
the Ethical Science and Education Coalition (ESEC) protested outside the
Boston headquarters of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) today in
order to publicize the union’s opposition to a bill that would allow
students to opt out of animal dissections in the public schools. ESEC blames
MTA lobbying for preventing passage of similar bills for years.
ESEC plans to picket union headquarters
every day until the bill is heard in the state House. “The daily presence is
a wake-up call to those few lobbyists for MTA who are sorely out-of-touch
with 2003 science education and the absolute necessity to respect
compassionate students,” said ESEC President Dr. Theo Capaldo.
4) Quote of the Week #1.
“The other guys are taking money from the Indians and from the unions. And
how can you take money from those guys if you sit one day across the table
negotiating [with them]?”– California gubernatorial candidate Arnold
Schwarzenegger. (September 3 Los Angeles Times)
Quote of the Week #2.
“[Board members] are controlled by their UTLA sponsorship and don’t have the
independence to vote with what they think is right.”– Los Angeles Board of
Education member Mike Lansing, the sole vote against rescinding a proposal
to seek 2 ½ unpaid furlough days from education employees in upcoming
contract negotiations. The vote, coupled with a second vote to fully fund
health care benefits, will cost the district an estimated $85 million.
(September 5 Los Angeles Times)
Quote of the Week #3.
“In too many cases, teacher preparation [programs] are not being
market-responsive. They’re not targeting their people to the shortages in
the districts and schools they serve.”– Thomas G. Carroll, executive
director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.
(September 3 Education Week)
Quote of the Week #4.
“Teacher glut leaves hundreds unemployed.”– Subhead from a story in the
September 7 Los Angeles Daily News.
Quote of the Week #5.
“It applies in the private sector and it applies in education: You have to
focus on your core competence.”– St. Louis School District Acting
Superintendent William V. Roberti, under fire for his structural reforms of
district finances, which include cutting $60 million from the budget without
laying off a teacher. One of his cuts was to shut down the district-operated
greenhouse that grew plants for classrooms. (September 7 Los Angeles
Times)
Quote of the Week #6.
“A union is a union. They are dealing with the same issues.”– Alan Hopkins,
principal of the tiny Surprise Valley Elementary School, where teachers and
support workers are represented by the Teamsters instead of an education
union. (September 3 Education Week)
Quote of the Week #7.
“We view legal wrangling as an inevitable consequence of standing up to the
[teachers’ unions] in defense of children.”– Margaret Fortune,
superintendent of St. HOPE Public Schools, commenting on ongoing efforts by
the Sacramento City Teachers Association to deny the organization a charter
to run Sacramento City High School. The school opened under St. HOPE
administration last week. (September 5 Sacramento Bee)
Quote of the Week #8.
“We believe that a vast majority of our members were getting tired of
subsidizing the cost of representing substitute teachers who were
increasingly engaging in conduct that was difficult to defend.”– Bill Gist,
executive director of the Fort Wayne Education Association in Indiana,
explaining the union’s decision to no longer provide representation to subs.
(September 4 Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)
Quote of the
Week #9.
“I call it ‘me-ism.’ My generation sacrificed self for the greater cause.
This generation is immediate gratification.”– Ernie Duran, president of the
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 in Denver, Colorado, explaining
the steady decline in union membership, particularly among younger workers.
(September 1 Denver Post) |
