• February 2007
• Message from the Chair
• Planning to apply for a transfer?
• Have you listened to a Para today?
• Are you in need of affordable child care?
• Never use physical force to restrain a child.
• Know Your Rights
• Free Tax Preparation
• Congratulations and Kudos
• Hold The Date
  Para Festival and Awards Luncheon
  Mar. 3, 2007

Greetings,

Our unprecedented early contract, ratified by an overwhelming 9-to-1 vote of members, will give us a measure of security through the end of Mayor Bloomberg’s term. This deal gives paraprofessionals the same 7.1 percent salary increase that teachers will get, plus a new five-year longevity payment of up to $500.

As you know, the mayor and chancellor have announced yet another major reorganization of the city school system and again took some shots at our tenure. The main message I want to reassure you of is that your jobs are secure!

I’m sure that all of your supervisors are totally freaked out by this new reorganization and you’ll suffer the spillover from that. But you have nothing to fear. Our contract gives you job security. Unless there is a citywide layoff — and that’s not going to happen because the city is flush with money — every teacher and para with satisfactory service has a job. If a school has to excess people, they can only be excessed in reverse seniority order.

Now, with the contract a done deal, we can look ahead and devote time to other important issues, such as lowering class size. As you know, the UFT is making a major effort to convince lawmakers to put New York City classrooms on a par with the rest of the state — and that means a substantial reduction in class size for most grades.

We have been inundating state legislators with faxes urging them to help lower class sizes, and if you have not yet done so, please use the link on the UFT Web site to send faxes to your Assembly member and state senator urging them to support the idea of mandating smaller class sizes. That is the union’s chief mission, now that we have a new governor who has made education a top priority.

To drive home the message, the UFT is also setting up after-school appointments between mid-January and the end of February with every one of the 92 state Assembly members and senators representing New York City in their district offices to talk to them about the importance of class size. We want as many classroom educators as possible to participate in these visits. If you would like to take part in this lobbying push, we’d love to have you onboard. Just let us know by telling your chapter leader or e-mailing brein@uft.org, giving your name, phone number and school district.

The other key issue that we are focusing on right now is school safety and discipline. We paras can take the lead in making sure a report is filed with the union anytime anyone experiences a safety or discipline incident. Please see the safety section of this newsletter.

In Solidarity,
Shelvy Young Abrams