To our newest colleagues —

Being a New York City teacher is a rewarding and fulfilling profession, but don’t let anyone tell you that it will be easy. Certainly, the first few years will be among the most challenging of your career. As you navigate the road ahead, remember that the union is here to help you do your job.

Too many young, promising teachers get discouraged and leave the system, and that’s bad for the profession and bad for kids. The best advice I can give you is to reach out to your colleagues and ask for help. The members of this union are always there to help each other.

The union devotes substantial time and resources to help you get a strong start. When school starts, the UFT chapter leader based in your school will be on hand to answer your questions or put you in touch with the people who can.

In this special summer issue of the New York Teacher, you’ll also find lots of useful information about your benefits, your pay, your contract, the UFT borough offices, and other services available to you. For educational support, there are UFT Teacher Centers in hundreds of schools with master teachers who can advise you on everything from classroom management to lesson planning.

Our New Teacher Advisory Committee is set up especially for you. Its summer series includes seminars on ways to save, grant-writing for class resources, and succeeding as a classroom manager. Subcommittees in each borough will also be holding orientation events for new teachers at our borough offices.

The union’s Web site is another resource for you. If you have not already, you should sign up on the Web site to get UFT e-mails and alerts. Signing up will also give you access to online UFT course registration and other member-only benefits.

As you prepare for the new school year, remember that the UFT is there to support you by advocating for your rights and by fighting for our schools — that means everything from pushing the DOE to honor its obligation to provide mentors to new teachers to protesting against budget cuts and fighting for smaller class sizes and safe schools. It means fighting for your right to teach and not just “teach to the test,” and working to reduce the number of hours you have to spend doing paperwork so you can spend more time in the classroom. It means working to get adequate supplies and instructional materials.

What makes our union powerful is the active participation of its members — you — every day in the schools. I hope that you’ll become active in the union. And I can’t emphasize this enough: Just ask for help. We’re all there for you.

I want to wish all of our members, both new and old, the best of luck in this upcoming school year. I hope that I have a chance to meet you, in your school or at a union event.

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew
UFT President