ARTICLE ELEVEN

May 22, 2006 4:59 PM

IV. Professional Development Assignments and Positions

Lead Teachers, Mentors and Math and Literacy Coaches are covered by all provisions of this Agreement not inconsistent with this Part IV of Article 11.[2]

A. Lead Teachers

The CC9 Lead Teacher Pilot Program will be expanded as follows:

1. The Chancellor will determine the number and location of lead teacher positions.

2. Lead teachers will receive $10,000 per year as a salary, differential in addition to the applicable salary otherwise provided in this Agreement. Such salary differential shall be included in the gross annual salary of teachers to whom it is paid.

3. In the elementary schools, each pair of lead teachers will have responsibility for one regular class. Each lead teacher will be programmed for a duty-free lunch period and a preparation period that will be scheduled at the same time as the preparation period of the lead teacher with whom they are sharing a class. Half of the remainder of the day will be spent teaching their class and half providing professional support to teaching staff.

Middle School and High School lead teachers will be programmed for a duty free lunch and a preparation period each day. Lead teachers will teach three regular classes per day and will provide professional support to teaching staff three periods per day.

4. Lead teachers will work as a group the five weekdays prior to the start of the work year for other teachers according to a plan set and approved by the applicable Regional Superintendent. Lead teachers will work 4 hours per month outside of the normal workday, according to a schedule and plan set and approved by the applicable Regional Superintendent at the start of the school year. Lead teachers shall not receive additional compensation for the work time specified in this paragraph. Lead teachers from extended time schools, in lieu of working the five days during the summer provided for in Article 12 II A1 of this Agreement, shall have the choice of either having the monetary value of that workweek, as determined by the Board in consultation with UFT, deducted from their compensation as a teacher in an extended time school, or making up that work time during the school year, subject to the approval of the school principal.

5. Lead Teachers will be selected and assigned in the following manner. Positions will be advertised through a city-wide posting and assigned to individual schools. Selection will be done in a two-stage process: first, a regional personnel committee, made up of four representatives of the Regional Superintendent, two representatives of the Union and two parent representatives (chosen from among volunteers of the relevant Community Education Councils and/or presidents of the Parent Associations) shall select a pool of applicants with the best qualifications according to criteria established by the committee, other than in District 9 where the current selection committee will be maintained. Selections, to the extent possible, shall be made by consensus. Second, each participating school will establish its own personnel committee, made up of the principal, administration representatives, staff representatives and parent representatives, with a majority of teachers, to make selections from the pool selected by the regional personnel committee. Selections, to the extent possible, shall be made by consensus and the principal shall have the ability to veto any selections of such school committee.

6. Lead teachers leaving the assignment at the end of their first year as a lead teacher may return to a vacancy in the last school where they served before becoming a lead teacher and take their rightful place in seniority order, and if there is no vacancy in such school, to a vacancy in the district. In the alternative, the lead teacher may choose to be placed in a vacancy in the district where they served as a lead teacher.

7. If a lead teacher is involuntarily removed in the middle of the year by the principal, the lead teacher will be placed in a vacancy in the district s/he is working in as a lead teacher or in a vacancy in the district s/he worked in immediately prior to becoming a lead teacher (at the lead teacher’s option). If no such vacancies exist, the lead teacher will be placed in the substitute pool in the district s/he served in as a lead teacher. At the end of the school year, the lead teacher shall be placed in a school pursuant to paragraph 6 above.

8. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any lead teacher may be placed in a teaching vacancy in the school in which he or she is serving as lead teacher, with the consent of the lead teacher and such school’s principal.

9. A lead teacher’s school seniority is determined in accordance with Article 28C of this Agreement.

10. Grievances regarding this provision, except the selection of lead teachers, shall be governed by Article 22B1 except that applicants rejected by the regional personnel committee may challenge that committee’s decision through the process set forth in Article 22E and if successful, will be included in the pool of applicants considered for selection. The Union may challenge the selection of a lead teacher at the school level by appealing to the Chancellor/designee, who will consult with the Union prior to rendering a decision. The Union may appeal the decision of the Chancellor/designee to the New York City Office of Labor Relations, which will issue a final and binding decision.

B. Mentors

1. The Mentor position will be selected pursuant to a City-wide posting. Each region will establish a Regional Selection Committee, which will select the mentors for such region. Fifty percent of the membership of the Regional Selection Committee will be selected by the President of the UFT. The committee will attempt to make all decisions by consensus. If no consensus can be reached, the Regional Superintendent or his or her designee will make the final decision. The selection process set forth in this paragraph will apply to the selection of Mentors for all new teachers.

2. The Mentor position shall be for one year with option to reapply.

3. The Mentors will be teachers and their work day and year will be governed by Article 6 of this Agreement. In addition to the time prescribed in Article 6, all Mentors will be required to work 18 hours after school during the school year. All Mentors will also be required to attend three days of professional development during the summer preceding the start of the 2004-2005 school year. Thereafter, only first-year Mentors will be required to attend the three days of professional development in the summer preceding the start of their first school year in the Mentor program. For those unable to attend the summer professional development session, a make-up session will be required during the month of September.

4. The Board will compensate the Mentors at the per session rate established by the Agreement for any hours or days worked pursuant to paragraph 3 that are outside of the regular teacher work day or year established by Article 6. Such work will not count as a per session activity for purposes of any restrictions on a Mentor’s ability to apply for other per session work.

5. A mentor who leaves a mentoring assignment at the end of the first year of the assignment shall return to the last school where he or she served before becoming a mentor and take his or her rightful place in seniority order, unless he or she chooses to be placed in a vacancy in either the district(s) he or she served in as a mentor or the district he or she served in prior to becoming a mentor (if different), at his or her option (though the Board retains the right to determine the vacancy in which the mentor will be placed within the district chosen by the mentor).

6. A mentor who leaves the assignment after the first year shall be returned to his or her former district in accordance with his or her seniority, unless he or she chooses to be placed in a vacancy in the school he or she served in prior to becoming a mentor or in a vacancy in the district(s) he or she served in as a mentor (if different), at his or her option (though the Board retains the right to determine the vacancy in which the mentor will be placed within the district chosen by the mentor).

7. If a mentor is involuntarily removed in the middle of the year, the mentor may be placed (a) in a vacancy in the district(s) in which he or she is mentoring, (b) in a vacancy in the district he or she served in prior to becoming a mentor (if different) or, (c) in a vacancy in any other district, at the mentor’s option (though the Board retains the right to determine the vacancy in which the mentor will be placed within the district chosen by the mentor). If there is no vacancy, the mentor will be placed in the substitute pool in one of the districts in which he or she served as a mentor. At the end of such school year, the mentor shall be placed in a school pursuant to either paragraph 5 or 6 above, as applicable.

8. The Board agrees to fund 10 UFT Teacher Center positions, who will serve as liaisons to the Regional Directors of mentoring. Such Teacher Center professionals will report to the Regional Superintendent.

9. The Board agrees to evaluate whether it can limit the ratio of teachers to mentors and/or seek additional funding to supplement the support given to mentors, consistent with budgetary restraints.

10. Grievances regarding this Article II IV B, including selection of mentors, shall be governed by Article 22B1 of this Agreement.

C. Math and Literacy Coaches

1. Coaches will be selected for terms of one school year pursuant to annual city-wide postings and assigned to individual schools. Coaches will serve the work day and year set forth in Article 6 of this Agreement.

2. Should a coach selected in one year wish to serve another term as a coach in the same school the following year and should the principal agree, the principal may select such coach for another year term without the need for the coach to reapply.

3. Coaches will teach one regularly scheduled period per day which will be for the purpose of co-teaching and/or providing a demonstration lesson for the regular classroom teacher and/or other staff. Other than such regularly scheduled period, coaches shall not be required to teach or cover other classes. In the event that the principal requires the coach to perform other appropriate duties during this regularly scheduled teaching period, the coach will be relieved of such teaching period. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a coach from performing other demonstration lessons as part of his/her coaching duties.

4. Coaches are eligible to apply for per session jobs appropriate to their regular license.

5. A coach who leaves a coaching assignment at the end of the first year of the assignment shall return to the last school where he or she served before becoming a coach and take his or her rightful place in seniority order, unless he or she chooses to be placed in a vacancy in either the district he or she served in as a coach or the district he or she served in prior to becoming a coach (if different), at his or her option (though the Board retains the right to determine the vacancy in which the coach will be placed within the district chosen by the coach).

6. A coach who leaves the assignment after the first year shall be returned to his or her former district in accordance with his or her seniority, unless he or she chooses to be placed in a vacancy in the school he or she served in prior to becoming a coach or in a vacancy in the district he or she served in as a coach (if different), at his or her option (though the Board retains the right to determine the vacancy in which the coach will be placed within the district chosen by the coach).

7. If a coach is involuntarily removed in the middle of the year by the principal, the coach may be placed (a) in a vacancy in the district in which he or she is coaching, (b) in a vacancy in the district he or she served in prior to becoming a coach (if different) or, (c) in a vacancy in any other district, at the coach's option (though the Board retains the right to determine the vacancy in which the coach will be placed within the district chosen by the coach). If there is no vacancy, the coach will be placed in the substitute pool in the district in which he or she served as a coach. At the end of such school year, the coach shall be placed in a school pursuant to either paragraph 5 or 6 above, as applicable.

8. Notwithstanding the number of years served as coach, any coach may be placed in a teaching vacancy in the school in which he or she is serving as a coach, with the consent of the coach and such school's principal.

9. A coach's school seniority is determined in accordance with Article 28C of this Agreement.

10. Grievances regarding this provision, including selection of coaches, shall be governed by Article 22B1 of this Agreement.

11. The Board intends to provide coaches, during the 2004-2005 school year, with laptop computers or other similar computer devices to assist them with their work. Final decisions on this project will be made after the Board considers the results of a pilot project which is being conducted during the spring of 2004.

12. Coaches having to travel outside their regions for mandatory training are eligible for reimbursement for travel expenses under the Board's Standard Operating Procedures.