For all our criticism of the United Federation of Teachers and its leader Michael Mulgrew, we appreciate the union’s strong stand against the transfer of school safety duties from the NYPD to the Department of Education.
The UFT’s Delegate Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing the shift, while calling for changes to safety-agent training and operations.
As Mona Davids of the NYC School Safety Coalition notes, “Teachers witness the incredible work and commitment of our school safety agents every day.”
Various city lawmakers and their anti-police allies have spent months demonizing these mostly minority and female safety officers in their quest to “defund” the NYPD.
Mayor Bill de Blasio backed the City Council’s call to transfer the school-safety budget from the NYPD to the DOE by next year. Manhattan Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal slandered the agents by saying, “Why would we want anyone who is part of a paramilitary organization to be in our schools?”
Kudos to Mulgrew & Co. for recognizing the value and need for well-trained and properly supervised school-safety personnel who don’t report to the ill-managed city Department of Education.
