UPDATE: After this post went up on Friday, a member of the UFT's bargaining team emailed to say that whistleblower protections for NYC teachers were not raised in any recent contract bargaining sessions.

One thoughtful reader took me to task for this week's post on the NYC whistleblower bill, wondering if I realized that the UFT had tried to bargain that protection into one of their recent contract settlements and that the legislation effectively served as an end-run around the bargaining process.

Reading between the lines, it seemed like he was saying to me: You idiot, it doesn't matter what the actual merits are of the policy, this is clipping the wings of the people who are trying to negotiate on behalf of the city. its taxpayers, and the students. So, essentially, this is about a whole lot more than just whistleblowing.

Fine. Very fair point, and an interesting one at that. But I do want to point out that I gave myself a little wiggle room by cautiously pointing out that I didn't know any of the details and was commenting purely on the larger issue about getting real about the problem that we've got on our hands in public education.

Our angry reader is correct that things are always more complicated than they appear. But Weingarten is still right that the individual eyes and ears of our schools ought to have their individual voices heard/protected as well.

The NYC school system is filled with spineless men and women at all levels. They need to speak up more often. Honestly.