Know Your Rights
Feb 6, 2007 10:44 AM
Paperwork Reduction
In this age where the buzz words are accountability and assessments, required paperwork is a growing concern. Yet redundant, excessive paperwork only shortchanges instruction. As a result, a newly negotiated provision requires the union and DOE to form a central committee to develop recommendations to the chancellor to reduce unnecessary, excessive or redundant paperwork that reduces the amount of instructional time to students. Issues that cannot be resolved at the school or district levels will be referred to the committee for recommendations to the chancellor to resolve the matter. If you believe the forms and paperwork are excessive, unnecessary, redundant, or plainly ridiculous, speak to your chapter leader, who can help you try to resolve the problem or bring your concerns to the central committee.
Peer Intervention Plus
Starting in the 2007-08 school year, teachers in danger of being charged under section 3020-a of the State Education Law for incompetence may either volunteer or be recommended by their principal to participate in a newly designed “Peer Intervention Plus” program to improve their teaching skills.
Independent Consulting Teachers, provided by an independent third-party vendor agreed to by both the UFT and the DOE, will be assigned to work with “U”-rated teachers and to tailor a specific plan for each participating teacher, based upon his or her individual needs. While the teacher is participating in the program, charges under section 3020-a will not be filed.
If, after the intervention is complete, charges are filed against a participant in the program, then the observation reports of the consulting teacher will be admissible in a 3020-a hearing. If a teacher is denied the right to participate, or the teacher refuses to participate in the program, that fact is also admissible in the 3020-a proceeding. As a result of this program, we should see the end of principals’ ability to railroad teachers based upon personality conflicts or pettiness.
Peer Intervention Program (PIP)
The Peer Intervention Program, negotiated in the 1980s and operated by the UFT, helps tenured teachers and guidance counselors who are experiencing difficulties in the classroom to strengthen their performance. Assistance by this specially trained staff is voluntary and confidential. If you are experiencing difficulties in your classroom (i.e., classroom management/behavior modification, lesson planning, questioning techniques, etc.) a peer intervener will tailor assistance to your strengths and weaknesses and work with you in your classroom. If you believe that you can benefit from this program, phone 1-212-598-6585.
Per-Session Work
Throughout the school year, teachers apply for “per-session” activities that are done either before school, after school, on weekends or holidays or during the summer. If you apply for and are accepted for such an activity, you are paid at the per-session rate listed in the contract. Selection for most per-session activities is based upon the individual criteria established in each posting, which appear on the DOE Web site. If the activity you desire is specifically listed in the contract, selection is based upon your meeting the posted qualifications and your seniority in the system.
Upon completing two consecutive years of satisfactory service in the same activity, you gain “retention rights,” giving you priority for hiring in future years in the same activity. To exercise your retention rights, you must indicate on the per-session application form that you have such rights and you must be applying for the same activity in the time frame specified in the posting. You can exercise your retention rights to only one activity each school year, although you can apply for more than one per-session activity during that time.
As a matter of right, you can work up to 400 per-session hours in one year (July 1 through June 30). If you want to work more than 400 hours, you need to obtain a waiver in writing from the executive director of the Division of Human Resources.
There are certain high school extracurricular activities listed in the contract — athletic and non-athletic — that are paid based upon a maximum number of “sessions” allocated for each activity. A “session” is defined as two hours beyond the school day. Effective September 2007, the number of sessions for these activities will be increased by 12 sessions per school year.
You accrue sick leave in a per-session activity on the basis of one day per 20 days worked. If it is not used, the time may be transferred into your Cumulative Absence Reserve.
Like regular salary, per-session pay is now pensionable, as a result of a long legal battle the UFT won.
Preparation Periods, see Teacher Programs.
Probationary Period
If you are appointed under a new license, state law requires that you serve a three-year probationary period. Each time you change your license and are reappointed, you must serve a new three-year probationary period. You may be able to reduce your probationary period in one of the following ways:
Jarema Credit. This is a way that appointed teachers who worked satisfactorily as regular substitutes in the same license and at the same school level can reduce the normal three-year probationary period by up to two years. To obtain one term of credit, you must have worked as a sub for a minimum of 80 days within a period of 90 consecutive school days in the same school. For a credit of one year, you must have worked at least 160 days in a one-year period. If you have any questions, call your UFT borough office for assistance. You can find the application for Jarema Credit online at http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/DHR/ToolsResources/DHRForms.
htm or at your DOE Regional Operations Center (ROC). Return the completed form to the Division of Human Resources, Office of Regional Field Services, 65 Court Street, Room 811, Brooklyn, NY, 11201. Make sure to keep a copy of the application for your records, along with the “return receipt requested” notice.
Traveling Tenure. If you received tenure in one license area and elect to take an appointment in a new license area, or if you were tenured in another school district in New York State, you can apply to have your probationary period reduced to two years. This is commonly known as “traveling tenure.” If this applies to you, call your UFT borough office for more information.
Once you complete probation, you are granted tenure. If the DOE intends to discontinue your service prior to your obtaining tenure, you must be given 60 calendar days’ notice prior to the end of your probationary period. If you are discontinued, call your UFT borough office for assistance in preparing for an administrative hearing. You may not be dismissed without cause. An advocate will be assigned to assist you in fighting the termination.
Also see Tenure.
Professional Activity Options
Most secondary school teachers and elementary teachers in eight-period schools are programmed for a professional period, for which they elect a professional activity. (You are required to select a professional activity and to work on it — but, you need not spend every minute of your professional period working on it.) You select your activity from a menu appropriate to your grade level that is specified in Article 7 of our contract. If you want to participate in an activity not listed on the menu, you can do so with the permission of your principal. Your principal is required to meet with your chapter leader to consult on the number of positions and qualifications for each menu item. If your principal fails to consult, the chapter leader should file an appeal to the chancellor and, if denied, to the city Office of Labor Relations.
If you are assigned homeroom or AM/PM bus duty, you are fulfilling the responsibilities of the professional period; your professional period becomes one for you to use like a preparation period.
Professional Activity Procedures
If you have a professional period in your teaching program, your principal will give you a preference sheet listing the appropriate menu (this is the same preference sheet for choosing your program). You must prioritize three of the activities and the principal will make the final decision. Selection will be based upon the established criteria for the requested activity and the availability of the item. If you are not given one of your three choices, you may select three other menu items.
If the principal assigns you to an administrative assignment (e.g., lunchroom, hall or yard duty), voluntarily or involuntarily, he or she cannot assign you to any administrative duty the following year unless you voluntarily agree to do it. Principals must make all involuntary administrative assignments on a rotational basis in inverse seniority order. Before the end of the current school year, your principal must notify you in writing as to which professional activity you’ve been assigned for the coming school year.
If you are new to the school system or in danger of receiving a “U” rating, the principal can assign you to either professional development or common planning as your professional activity, regardless of your preference.
Professional Conciliation
If you have a difference of professional judgment with your supervisor, the contract provides you with a mechanism for resolving it that is similar to nonbinding mediation. Often an entire staff or department uses this procedure to settle differences about educational practices. Call your UFT borough office to request that an impartial third party be assigned to help you resolve conflicts over issues including curriculum, textbook selection, student testing, program offerings and scheduling, and pedagogical and instructional strategy, techniques and methodology.
Program Preference
Each spring (or each term in some high schools), you may request an assignment for the following school year (or term) on a preference sheet that your principal will hand out. (This is the same preference sheet as for professional activities.) You should indicate the subject and grade level you desire in priority order. If you are a special education teacher, you should place in priority order the age range of special education classes you want, as well as the special education program designation you want to teach. Requests for special teaching positions (cluster positions) or compensatory time positions should be made in a separate application to your principal as they are posted and become available.
If you don’t get your first choice for two consecutive years, you can file a reorganization grievance. Talk to your chapter leader.
Also see Teacher Programs.
