A Message from Your Chapter Leader

It is with mixed feelings that I write this message. As some of you already know, I retired from my position as a guidance counselor at New Utrecht High School this past June. According to UFT rules one must be an active member in order to be chapter leader. It is with much sadness that I am stepping down as your chapter leader. On October 27, I will preside over a meeting to elect the election committee that will, along with Ray Frankel (from the UFT Election Committee), conduct the election for a new chapter leader.

I was elected chapter leader in 1992. What an experience it has been! I have worked with some of the most marvelous, talented, unselfish and caring counselors in the world—people that anyone would always want around them. Our chapter has grown by many members. Counselors are seen for the positive effect that they have on students’ performance. Many principals see that guidance counselors are there to help them. Teachers and parents rely on us for advice regarding students and of course when a crisis occurs.

At Your Service

Randi has asked me to continue to conduct guidance chapter business until the election for a new chapter leader is completed. I will be in the office on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. If I am not here and you need information, please e-mail me at areformato@uft.org. I will answer as quickly as possible, usually within 24 hours.

There will also be other counselors available to answer your questions in Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens.

They are as follows:

Brooklyn
John Capuano
Monday & Tuesday
718-852-4900

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Bronx
Rosemarie Thompson
Thursday
718-379-6200

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Queens
Sal Emanuele
Wednesday
718-275-4400
Karen Konstan
Tuesday & Thursday
718-275-4400

During the past 16 years, I have learned a lot about elementary and junior high school settings. We have been working together with legislators, parents, and community leaders to stress the need for a mandate that requires a minimum of one full-time counselor in every elementary school. On the junior high level, we have worked to modify the articulation process and ease the paperwork involved for the counselors. When I first became chapter leader, I didn’t know anything about special ed mandated counseling, but through the years and many meetings I was able to learn and bring the issues of the related service provider to the Department of Education. I collaborated with the High School Division (when there was one) to sponsor much needed valuable professional development at a yearly conference for high school related service providers.

On the high school front, with which I was the most familiar, I was able to bring the Board of Education hands-on examples of burdensome extra paperwork. For the veteran high school counselors, do you remember when we had to SARK all grades when a student transferred from one New York City school to another? We also had to SARK all evening and summer school grades each term. After many meetings and my showing them concrete examples, we were able to have it done automatically by UAPC through the OSIS number. This alleviated much burdensome paperwork that, in the age of computers, was not necessary. I worked through the transitions that counselors had when dealing with programming by hand and then the computer through UAPC, and now we have come to the ever problematic HSST. Ironically, if the computers wouldn’t go down so much, the system would actually help counselors; but since it does freeze so much, it has added to our problems.

I have worked through three reorganizations of the Board of Education into the Department of Education. We went from Guidance Support Services to School and Youth Development. I have met and collaborated with many supervisors and administrators who wanted to increase counseling services and strengthen our role in the schools. We have worked collaboratively to sponsor professional development for all counselors.

These are a few things that have come to my mind, but one of the things I am proudest of is our brochure “School Guidance Counselors in New York City Public Schools: Making the Difference for the 21st Century Students and Schools.” This brochure has brought visibility to our role in the schools. I was proud that the brochure was the work of a joint committee of counselors, administrators and professors, but I was truly honored that it was initiated by Lisa Anzalone at the Department of Education, who in 1979 was my math student at New Utrecht High School.

During my career I have worked under two presidents. Sandy Feldman was so supportive when I first had to run a meeting. I met her in the elevator and she gave me encouragement. Sandy was a frequent speaker at our meetings and was never afraid to answer the tough questions. Speaking of supportive, I can’t thank Randi Weingarten enough for the guidance she has given our chapter. She has always listened to our concerns and acted on them. I will never forget how she was able to get, finally, counselors’ salary schedules corrected so that new counselors with no prior experience would get the salary they deserved and not make less than new teachers. The unequal treatment had been the practice, and as counselors with about six years in the system know, as of September 2002 it was rectified. All future counselors will reap the benefits of those hard negotiations that got us the raises to bring up the beginning salaries. Randi has always advocated for more counselors in the schools and has always supported all of the initiatives I brought to her on the chapter’s behalf.

During my career I have had the opportunity to see former students now as parents, teachers, counselors, assistant principals, principals and supervisors at the Department of Education. It has been very rewarding and humbling. We have worked together and, again, it has been very rewarding.

I must also take this time to thank all of the counselors, past and present, who have served on the Guidance Chapter Executive Board and those who have been delegates to the Delegate Assembly. You were there to listen to my concerns and guide me. You brought concerns to our meetings and helped solve the problems. You represented our members well, and I deeply appreciate your support.

As I end this message I would like to welcome the new guidance counselors into the chapter. I wish you nothing but success. Get active both in your school and the UFT. You are an important part of what makes a school successful, and what makes the union successful. It is the members that are important, and remember: we are doers and helpers. To the rest of the chapter, I want to thank you for all of your support throughout the years. Through thick and thin you knew that I was your voice at the Department of Education, in the Legislature, in the press and in the union. I wish you many successful years in one of the best professions there is. I commend you and I will miss you.

— Angela Reformato Solomon