Category Archive
A positive giveawayJun 05, 2008
A few weeks ago the UFT gave away another million dollars. Just gave it away. That makes 39 million over the years. And it was one of the best things the union could have done.
The backbone of the unionJun 05, 2008
It’s easy to forget, sometimes, when there is an eventful year like this one, how much the union is indebted to its chapter leaders.
Tell City Hall you careMay 22, 2008
Schools across the city are developing activities to dramatize the fact that even though the city has a budget surplus schools are receiving $450 million less than the city had promised.
‘Off with their heads’May 22, 2008
One of the more inexplicable results of the DOE’s budget cuts would be the decimation of the Peer Intervention Program.
Another betrayalMay 08, 2008
It’s hard to understand the DOE’s most recent example of breaking faith with the public. Despite receiving almost $153 million in state funding specifically targeted for reducing class size, the DOE has actually allowed class sizes to go up in one-third of the schools that received targeted funds to reduce class size.
Mayor lets down schoolchildrenMay 08, 2008
We have been fighting Mayor Bloomberg all of 2008 for what he could have done for the city’s schoolchildren — but has not. That is to fulfill the promise made last year as part of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit settlement to increase funding for the schools.
Whose school is it, anyway?Apr 24, 2008
Had we not run into plenty of examples of Chancellor Klein’s arrogance, we would not believe what is happening at Julia Richman.
The rest of the promiseApr 24, 2008
The governor and the state Legislature came through big time early this month when they restored the promised funding for education — even in the midst of economic uncertainty — that had been agreed to in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit.
Promises kept, key compromise reachedApr 10, 2008
In the state budget agreement reached on April 8, the governor and the state Legislature kept their prior commitment to increased operating aid for New York City public schools.
From toxic to tonicApr 10, 2008
Not to be Pollyannaish about it, but there are school turnarounds that give us hope — like the one at PS 276 in Brooklyn.
An impressive and important victoryApr 10, 2008
Perhaps for as long as there have been school secretaries, some in the school system have been looking for ways to have other, lower-salaried employees do their work.
Newspaper or porn?Mar 27, 2008
On Friday, March 14, a lurid photograph landed in the public schools across the city.
Indispensable membersMar 27, 2008
One of the union’s staunchest components celebrated itself on March 15 at the annual Parafest.
Singin’ in the rainMar 27, 2008
The mood was definitely upbeat and positive despite the urgency of the message at the huge “Keep the Promises” rally at City Hall on March 19.
Where’s the beef?Mar 13, 2008
The union is reprising its survey on assessment-related paperwork and test prep to collect ammunition for our fight against excessive testing.
55/25: A victory of negotiations and political actionMar 13, 2008
55/25 is now a reality and thousands of teachers are delighted.
‘Cooperate when we can, fight when we must’Mar 13, 2008
The union’s cooperate-if-possible-or-fight-if-it-must approach is a solid, long-term policy.
Speak up in MarchFeb 28, 2008
Two events are coming up that give educators an opportunity to step out, speak up and be counted: Lobby Day on March 11 and the giant City Hall rally to protest budget cuts on March 19.
Making things crystal clearFeb 28, 2008
Not that there was ever any real doubt, but a newly released survey showing that parents overwhelmingly want the classes their kids attend to be smaller should be the final word.
New York and New Jersey deliver for HillaryFeb 19, 2008
It was one of the most exciting and involving Primary Days ever in New York and, at least as far as the Democrats and the UFT’s favorite daughter are concerned, a very successful one.
Still neglecting those who need the most supportFeb 14, 2008
When you’re obsessed with test scores because you’ve backed yourself into a corner and set up that quite imperfect measure as the only way to judge your competence in running the school system, it is understandable that you might wish that students with learning disabilities would just, well, disappear.
Bolstering CTEJan 31, 2008
Good choices in bad times
Jan 31, 2008
Spending unwisely
Jan 17, 2008
Without any system of oversight, autonomy means unscrupulous principals can misuse resources with impunity.
Do not pass GoJan 17, 2008
Some teachers get up well before dawn so they can get to school an hour or two before it opens. This is not just extraordinary dedication to their jobs; usually they can’t even get into the building that early. They do it because it’s the only way they can be sure to find one of the few parking spaces near the school. And that’s even with a Department of Education parking permit.
Providing the means for instructional endsDec 06, 2007
Yes, it would be wonderful if schools were so well-funded that there was money available for every instructional project in every classroom — but let’s face it, nirvana is not quite here yet.
Heavy symbolismDec 06, 2007
Our high school English teachers, we recall, explained that the most effective and meaningful symbolism requires no further explanation. So ...
Smaller classes nowDec 06, 2007
The goal of achieving appropriately smaller class sizes in New York City public schools is measurably closer today than it has ever been, though reaching that goal still seems like it’s a long way off. It shouldn’t be.
Healthy minds in healthy bodiesNov 01, 2007
While educators focus primarily on the minds of their students they know that minds don’t function well if they’re not in healthy bodies.
Showing the wayNov 01, 2007
Under the re-re-re-organization of the school system, principals must find a way to generate strong and willing support by their staff or their schools will flounder.
Forging a strong partnershipOct 18, 2007
The latest installment of what by now has become a singularly important event for New York parents and educators, the UFT Parent Conference, was a great success earlier this month.
An important precedentOct 18, 2007
How can we attract and retain great educators when just living here is so expensive? Raising pay is one way; affordable housing is another, and the union, the city and the TRS recently took a dramatic step to achieve that.
Congratulations!Oct 04, 2007
We congratulate you — the New York City public school educators — on recently winning the Broad Prize for Urban Education.
Logistics 101Oct 04, 2007
A solution to the problem of oversized classes in New York City is pretty obvious. But so far, the Department of Education hasn’t seen it.
A win for parentsSep 06, 2007
With the union’s strenuous urging, the governor signed legislation that eased the burden on these parents when they go to a legal hearing where they seek to classify their children as eligible to receive special ed services.
New hope for middle schoolsSep 06, 2007
For many years the thorn in the side of improving school systems, not only in the city but across the country, has been middle schools.
A year to rememberJun 07, 2007
Before you turn out the classroom lights and head for the beach and a well-earned rest, it might be well to reflect on some of the union’s accomplishments of the year — and there were significant ones.
A ringing endorsement of a sound ideaMay 24, 2007
The Chief, the civil service newspaper in New York, has not only endorsed the proposals for improving low-performing schools made by UFT President Randi Weingarten at the spring conference but in one case has gone a step further.
Another promise keptMay 24, 2007
A two-year-long struggle for home day-care providers to organize into a union has cleared a huge hurdle.
An idea worth copyingMay 10, 2007
You have a school full of overachievers, gifted and talented kids who hardly need the 37.5 minutes of extended time for remedial work and tutoring in order to prep for high-stakes tests. So what do you do?
We are familyMay 10, 2007
For the first time, this year's NYSUT Representative Assembly, included New York chapters of the NEA. This was a simple first step in creating a larger, stronger, more comprehensive union.
The purpose of going to schoolApr 26, 2007
There was a time when the purpose of going to school was to receive an education and tests were simply a measure of how much you had learned.
Truth in advertisingApr 12, 2007
The Department of Education needs to starting reading its own advertising.
Pushing the right buttonsApr 02, 2007
It is, of course, an important message so it’s good that so many UFT members participated in Button Day earlier this month.
Media drops the ballMar 29, 2007
News is a funny business in New York. There are too many times when you pick up a paper or watch television and you wonder: Are they covering the news of a city with 8 million people?
A salute to valuable membersMar 15, 2007
A couple of weeks ago the union’s paraprofessional chapter held its annual celebration, Parafest, and, as always, it was a joyous affair.
Misinformation campaignMar 15, 2007
In back-to-back editorials over two days on Feb. 28 and March 1, the New York Post’s it is clear that its opinion about the state of the city’s school system, is at odds with nearly everyone else.
An essential jobMar 01, 2007
Most kids in the school system are good kids with the normal problems of growing up. But there are also, unfortunately, a too many youngsters who suffer because of enormous strife in their personal lives.
Something specialMar 01, 2007
UFT members are about to engage in something quite special though for them it’s routine: union elections.
An illustrative fiascoFeb 15, 2007
Not consulting with educators about classroom management has disastrous consequences, as the results show.
Making workers’ lives betterFeb 15, 2007
Employer goes ballistic when worker tries to unionize. While illegal, the employer holds the purse strings.
Enriching students’ livesFeb 01, 2007
The little story about a group of New York school kids who went to play soccer in Ghana during the recent winter recess is more than just a feel-good story because it tells of the kind of experience a well-rounded education is supposed to provide to children.
Sending a message loud and clearFeb 01, 2007
Listen closely; that noise you hear all the way from Albany is the sound of fax machines grinding out a message from UFT members to their legislators.
Union action: Three success storiesJan 18, 2007
The UFT works. Here are three examples of just how it has been able to successfully advocate for its members.
The home-school connection par excellenceDec 07, 2006
Education, as any teacher knows, begins and ends at home. Without the commitment and involvement of a child’s family, there is only so much a school can do.
Federal ed policy: One size fits allDec 07, 2006
New York State learned earlier this year that the federal DOE has changed its position and will now require ELL and LEP students who have been in the country for as little as a single year to take the same English Language Arts exam as all other students in grades 3 through 8.
The truth about health careNov 16, 2006
Health insurance has, for as long as anyone can remember, been bargained citywide by the Municipal Labor Committee and is the same for all city employees.
Time for cheers — and resolveNov 16, 2006
The temptation is to give a rousing cheer over last week’s election results that may put a brake on the imperial presidency of George W. Bush.
Make your vote countNov 02, 2006
Next week’s election is terribly important. On the national level it is crucial that progressives take back at least one house of Congress in order to provide some kind of check to the imperial presidency of George Bush.
More union bashingOct 19, 2006
The Bush presidency continued its effort to inflict death-by-a-thousand-cuts to the labor movement earlier this month.
Time for a positive CFE decisionOct 19, 2006
Much has changed in these last 13 years but the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit has remained something of a constant in our lives.
Cause for reflectionOct 05, 2006
There are 47 million Americans — 16 percent of the population — who have no health insurance at all while millions of others have insufficient insurance.
Another mammoth exerciseOct 05, 2006
The more than 6,000 classes that are over the maximum class size two weeks after school started is, well, more than 6,000 too many.
There they go againSep 21, 2006
The Bush administration has shown time and time again that it believes it has the unfettered powers of an imperial presidency.
A welcome message from TweedSep 21, 2006
In the last issue we criticized the Department of Education for obscuring safety problems in the schools by failing to accurately report all incidents. It seems Chancellor Klein got the message.
Sept. 12 Primary: When your vote counts moreSep 07, 2006
Next Tuesday, Sept. 12, with a lot at stake for working families, election observers estimate that fewer than one in seven registered party voters will even bother to show up at the polls.
School Safety ReduxSep 07, 2006
We’ll wager you had no idea how safe New York City public school are.
It was a dream of a centuryJun 08, 2006
As we approach the end of the last school year of the century, it is fitting that we take a look back at some of the profound developments in the history of education and acknowledge the great debt we owe to the pioneers of our profession who have brought it to the pinnacle we enjoy today.
Peer Intervention: A peerless programMay 25, 2006
Since 1988, the UFT's Peer Intervention Program has serviced some 1,100 teachers, most of whom have been rejuvenated, learning new techniques and honing their skills so that they are successful in the classroom.
Nurses at the barricadesMay 25, 2006
Earlier this month the UFT/Federation of Nurses joined colleagues from around the state to rally on the steps of the State Capitol for legislation to ban mandatory overtime and to require safer nurse-patient staffing ratios.
Undoing the governor’s destructionMay 11, 2006
It’s almost impossible to understand why the governor, once again this year, made deep slashes in the Teacher Centers budget.
IM 4 the mayor: Not 2 L8 to change ur cell policyMay 11, 2006
Mayor Bloomberg, it appears, needs to learn to come to terms with the 21st-century world as it is, not as he might wish it were — at least as far as cell phones are concerned.
Students like lower class sizes, tooApr 27, 2006
On April 26, a coalition of parents, community groups and the UFT asked a State Supreme Court judge to direct New York City to put on November’s ballot a question asking voters whether 25 percent of the money from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity decision should be used exclusively for lowering class sizes in the city’s schools. How sad!
Another missed opportunity by TweedApr 27, 2006
Once again the Department of Edcuation has deliberately decided to ignore the most knowledgeable resource it has: its educators.
A king-size committee for a king-size jobApr 13, 2006
The UFT took a historic step last week when a greatly expanded new negotiating committee held its first meeting.
Good news from AlbanyApr 13, 2006
With the defeat of tuition tax credits, increased funding for New York City schools — especially a good chunk for construction — and another on-time budget, this year April will not be the cruelest month.
Chat with DATMar 30, 2006
Not content with merely being the exemplar of homework help programs, the UFT's Dial-A-Teacher program is now reaching into cyberspace.
Another insult to parentsMar 30, 2006
Despite a lot of lip service to the contrary, from the beginning of his tenure Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has had his conception of how the school system should operate and he’s not interested in hearing from anyone else.
A teachable momentMar 16, 2006
At the protest rally last Wednesday, UFT President Randi Weingarten said that it might be a teachable moment if "20/20" co-anchor John Stossel accepted her challenge to teach in a typical New York City classroom for a week.
Celebrating excellenceMar 14, 2006
Amid all the tension and strife of the school year, one of the nicer events is the UFT’s annual Career and Technical Education Recognition Awards Ceremony.
Common groundMar 02, 2006
In peeling the veneer off the Bloomberg/Klein education facade, Manhattan Institute senior fellow Sol Stern lambastes the administration’s policy of secrecy and deceit.
Middle school folliesMar 02, 2006
Last fall, the State Education Department sent a team to investigate a typical middle school, IS 228 in Brooklyn, and found that a slew of state curriculum mandates were simply being ignored.
City’s pupils get more hype than hopeFeb 28, 2006
While Sol Stern, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, is no friend of teacher unions, this article makes clear he is also no friend of the Department of Education.
The road to October 2007Feb 16, 2006
With the frustrations of the last contract struggle still lingering, the UFT is gearing up for the next contract and for fighting for its demands — for respect and better working conditions and against additional sacrifices — with greater resolve and a willingness to back up that resolve.
Good news on Brooklyn TechFeb 16, 2006
We congratulate the brave educators of Brooklyn Tech HS who, despite the likelihood of reprisals, spoke out against a repressive administration that not only made working there a nightmare for much of the staff but seriously shortchanged the students by eliminating important programs and activities.
A Valentine for John StosselFeb 02, 2006
UFT members who happened to see John Stossel’s “Stupid in America” report on ABC-TV’s “20/20” last month, in which he loudly criticized public education and teachers unions, are undoubtedly outraged by his hatchet job.
The most adventurous place in schoolFeb 02, 2006
When people of a certain age think about librarians, they have a mental image of whispering matrons who spent their days shushing people and stamping file cards in the shadows of tall, dusty, forbidding stacks of shelves.
Saving youngsters on the brinkJan 19, 2006
The Alternative to Detention program could very well mean the difference between a wasted, criminal life and productive citizenship for some youngsters accused of illegal acts. But the city is about to kill the program.
The failure of the Taylor LawJan 19, 2006
Transit workers are slated to decide on ratification of their new contract later this week. Whatever happens, though, organized labor in this city — and especially municipal workers — owe the transit workers a thank you.
Lessons from the transit strikeJan 19, 2006
The Post attacks the UFT again (ho-hum)
Dec 08, 2005
The New York Post thinks that the whistle-blower legislation the union is urging the City Council to adopt is “an outrage.”
Providing a haven for the dispossessedDec 08, 2005
The UFT and its statewide affiliate, NYSUT, are deeply immersed in an organizing effort to unionize 52,000 home-based child-care providers, 20,000 of whom are in New York City.
Another winnerNov 17, 2005
Last month the Dial-A-Teacher program sponsored another superb conference for parents. There is nothing like it in the city — which may be why this event is perennially sold out, so to speak (it’s free).
… and protecting whistle-blowersNov 17, 2005
What is urgently needed, and what the Delegate Assembly also called for at the meeting last week, is legislation by the City Council to protect whistle-blowers so that they can report violations of special ed mandates, failure to enforce safety regulations and any other educational practices that harm children, without putting their careers on the line.
Protecting the most fragile of our students…Nov 17, 2005
Despite repeated promises by the schools chancellor to improve special education — and his vaunted reorganization of the program a couple of years ago — thousands of special ed students are still not receiving the services to which they are entitled, nor are they being properly assessed, referred and taught.
Vote ‘yes’ on the Transportation Bond ActNov 03, 2005
With the mayoral election getting most of the headlines, voters may overlook an important question on the ballot next Tuesday: a $2.9 billion transportation bond act.
The real targetsNov 03, 2005
Jill Levy, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA), says the principal of Brooklyn Tech is a “target of the frustration shared by many Department of Education employees, members of several unions.” If that is the case then his conduct of taking out his own frustration on his teachers is even more reprehensible.
Ignoring what should be a priorityNov 03, 2005
In another dismaying abrogation of responsibility, the Department of Education is allowing the adult education program to wither.
The art of the possibleOct 20, 2005
Every member of the UFT knew what we were up against when, to the accompaniment of a barrage of editorials and news stories in the daily press continually vilifying the union, the city and Department of Education showed up at negotiations and presented their demands: an eight-page “contract” that eliminated virtually everything the union had built up over 40 years.
The principal problem with some principalsOct 06, 2005
Many schools have good principals. That’s music to our ears. But sad to say, far too many do not.
Cutting off a lifelineOct 06, 2005
For 30 years the city’s school system has had a program called Auxiliary Services for High Schools (ASHS) that provides a second chance for dropouts. But the Department of Education has drastically cut this important program.
An important winSep 22, 2005
UFT members should take pride in the primary election victory of Scott Stringer in the race for the Democratic nomination for Manhattan borough president.
Cogs in a machine?Sep 22, 2005
In these most difficult of times in the union’s contract struggle, the specter of a disdainful, inflexible employer looms large. The mayor and the schools chancellor pay lip service to caring about the well being of educators but their actions belie their words.
An exciting and far-reaching experimentSep 08, 2005
The start of the new school year marks the start of the UFT’s grand experiment in education: its own charter school.
Unfathomable oppositionSep 08, 2005
New Yorkers who have children in the public schools, and even those who have only considered the matter, know how important small class sizes are in the education of children.
‘The Sad, Sad Tale of Counsellor Small’Jun 09, 2005
School is almost over for the year, so everyone gather round and find a spot on the rug — be careful of the rungs on my rocking chair, now — and pay attention. (june 9 issue)
A funny thing happened on the way to the GardenMay 24, 2005
The frequency, quantity and ingenuity of activities by UFT members in campaigning for a fair contract has been nothing less than astounding. Without including any of the citywide actions — namely the citywide leafletting an May 3 and the day of informational picketing on May 11 — there have been 3,989 actions and counting.
A matter of fairnessMay 12, 2005
The Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (HIP) is planning to convert from a not-for-profit company to for-profit status, a conversion that under state law means the proceeds of its initial stock offering, which could range from $1 billion to $2 billion, must be put to a public purpose.
Democracy at workMay 12, 2005
In this issue, you will find the UFT’s Legislative Program for the year, a listing of the bills in the state Assembly and Senate that the union believes are of great importance to the welfare of UFT members.
The parent factorApr 28, 2005
The chancellor and the Department of Education talk a lot about how important parents are in their scheme of things. It’s lip service.
Ease the pain of an injuryApr 14, 2005
Being hurt on the job can be a devastating experience, not only for the worker but for his or her family. It comes out of the blue, means pain and suffering, heaping medical expenses and, often, loss of income.
Finding common groundApr 14, 2005
To ease the economic toll on individuals with serious, chronic illnesses who work for New York City, the municipal labor unions and the city worked out an agreement in 2001 to provide coverage through the city’s Health Benefits Program for some of the most expensive categories of drugs: psychotropic, injectables, chemotherapy and asthma, known by the acronym PICA.
Time to remember our rootsMar 31, 2005
To look at ourselves today, the largest labor union local and one of the most politically powerful in the nation, it’s hard to believe what a tenuous beginning the UFT had when it was tweaked into existence 45 years ago this month.
A positive reversalMar 31, 2005
Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t often heed criticism and we have taken him to task for that. But when he does and it is of great benefit to the schoolchildren of the city then he deserves to be commended.
Paraprofessionals: IndispensibleMar 30, 2005
The UFT has long known the worth of paraprofessionals. The annual Paraprofessional Festival and Awards Luncheon, held this year on Feb. 12 at the New York Hilton, where paras were feted and honored for outstanding work, is one way that the union thanks the 17,600 paras working in the school system today.
A campaign of disdainMar 17, 2005
Nothing these days is simple, clear and logical where the Department of Education is concerned.
Forward to the pastMar 17, 2005
Anyone involved with New York’s public schools a decade or so ago will remember some of the deplorable conditions that students and staff were subjected to. Unfortunately, they are occurring all over again.
CFE: One final opportunityMar 03, 2005
If the mayor wants today’s schoolchildren to benefit from the landmark Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, and if he is genuine when he says that city schools are his top priority, now is the moment for compromise.
Driving off a cliffFeb 17, 2005
Link below for story number 11738. Mayor Bloomberg has famously based the success of his administration on his effectiveness in improving the schools. If he’s sincere, then here’s what he must do at once: completely change the culture at the Department of Education.
Eyes wide shutFeb 17, 2005
In a recent letter to The New York Times, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein writes, “[O]vercrowding in New York City’s public schools has been a significant problem for many years, and it is one we are tackling.”
Mobilizing a vigorous oppositionFeb 03, 2005
Members are urged to make a personal commitment to participate in one or more of the many Action Plan activities that are popping up all around the city.
Battling the paperwork monsterJan 20, 2005
Believe it or not, the denizens at Tweed do not understand that teachers are being overwhelmed by paperwork.
Doing right for the brightJan 20, 2005
A school administration that fails to help children who have scored in the lowest quartile on the standards-based city and state tests is clearly going to be criticized. But when a school administration fails to educate children who already score in the highest quartile, they should be subject to the same scrutiny.
