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December 19, 2008
Randi Weingarten’s tardiness in the spotlight
A Times report on this morning’s meeting between Caroline Kennedy and Randi Weingarten includes a tidbit that will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever had a meeting with the teachers union leader:
Sitting at a table by the restaurant’s front door, Ms. Kennedy sat alone for a short time until Ms. Weingarten arrived.
The first time I ever saw Weingarten in a close setting, it was at Sarabeth’s on the Upper West Side, where I noticed a man (Michael Mendel, it turned out, a vice president of the union) waiting for at least 20 minutes for his breakfast date. I also once sat for half an hour in the grand dining room of the Harvard Club, waiting for her to show.
The tardiness was no surprise, given Weingarten’s tireless work ethic, and neither was it irritating, given that she will always sit with you through and beyond the allotted time, once she’s arrived. Now that she’s not only president of the local union but also the national, commuting between New York and Washington, the astonishing thing is that she can ever make a date at all.
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December 19th, 2008 5:51 pm
Staying late to continue a meeting she delayed is of little consolation to someone that has other meetings to get to. As someone that shows up 5 minutes early for every meeting and often has places to be at specific times across town, I would find this very disrespectful. I do not like my time wasted.
As my parents would say, if you show up to a late, you better be out of breath. Perhaps she should cut back on one of her jobs, or work harder and manage expectations of herself for the two she has now.
This post reeks of pro-Weingarten bias and it’s apologist sentiment is the same fallacy that is ruining our schools. Is it okay for Weingarten to habitually late to meetings because she’s working as president for two union? No, it is not okay to relax standards for someone because they are working for something ‘good’ or ‘right’.
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December 19th, 2008 6:19 pm
Ms. Weingarten’s lack of punctuality is legendary. Ms. Kennedy should consider herself quite fortunate for her brief wait. Many of us have waited for her appearance at meetings for hours.
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December 19th, 2008 8:54 pm
A “tireless work ethic” should include being on time for meetings. Tardiness is unprofessional. Doesn’t she have “people” to handle scheduling?
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December 19th, 2008 9:08 pm
It also find it curious that a “tireless work ethic” would include chronic tardiness. That’s a quality not much appreciated in teachers, and for good reason.
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December 20th, 2008 1:07 am
C’mon, NYC Educator. It’s a big deal that she’s done nothing to make the job easier for new teachers and that we’re the only union in the city that has trouble retaining members. It’s not a big deal that she’s late for meetings.
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December 20th, 2008 5:03 am
I certainly can’t argue the importance of the issues you mention. Perhaps it’s just emblematic of something else.
My job entails reporting to a decrepit trailer well past its expiration date while it’s still dark outside, and making cold, tired, hungry kids do the same. It’s a little tough for me to sympathize with Ms. Weingarten’s chronic inability to report on time for the gala luncheons we appear to be paying her to attend, and I’m afraid I remain unimpressed with her failure to meet standards I regularly impose on14-year-olds.
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December 20th, 2008 8:14 am
Look, give her a break, will ya’? When backroom deals are constantly being made, it takes a little while longer to get to your next destination.
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December 20th, 2008 5:57 pm
Hey, cut her a little slack. Protecting mediocre educators both locally and nationally from those with other (pro-children) priorities is more than a full-time gig.
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December 20th, 2008 10:01 pm
Yeah, we need reform now, because teachers have done a lot more damage to this country than the greedily mediocre CEO’s, Wall Streeters, and SEC both locally and nationally who have ruined this nation’s economy.
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