There was an ancient time, according to a story often heard in Tweed, when teachers needed due process to protect their academic freedom. This was the era of the Red Scare and the period of McCarthyism, times which are far in our past. Today’s teachers face no such threat and need no protection.
Danny Dromm tells a different story. Dromm, a 24 year veteran teacher in New York City public schools and a ten year UFT Chapter Leader of PS 199 in Queens, courageously came out as an openly gay teacher in the early 1990s, during the Children of the Rainbow controversy. As a consequence, he was targeted by a virulently homophobic faction on the School Board of Community School District 24.
After winning last Tuesday’s Democratic primary, Dromm is today the presumptive City Councilperson for the 25th City Council district in Queens covering Woodside, Jackson Heights, Rego Park and Corona.
As Drumm told Wednesday’s Delegate Assembly, it was only tenure and the support of the UFT that turned back that effort by the homophobic school board members. Were it not for due process and for tenure, he would not be about to enter the City Council.
1 Comment:
1 Remainders: A union leader from central casting | GothamSchools
· Sep 21, 2009 at 10:04 pm
[...] Danny Dromm made the case for due process before the UFT last week. [...]