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The next generation
Oct 15, 2009 2:50 PM
UFT’s newest chapter leaders learn the ropes at training
UFT President Michael Mulgrew addresses the opening of the training, reminding members not to take criticism personally and also how important it is that they not try to do the job alone. He said the chapter leaders’ message to the DOE is: “You will not hurt children as long as UFT people are in the building.” He reminded the members that “our profession is under attack.” Mulgrew told the chapter leaders that “the core of your soul is to help children. You wear that badge with great honor and don’t ever let anyone disrespect us.”
Two hundred and sixty new chapter leaders spent the weekend of Oct. 2-4 in Princeton, N.J., being trained by UFT instructors on issues ranging from the grievance procedure to how to organize to increase teacher voice.
The training was intended to give chapter leaders the knowledge and tools they need to do their job effectively in schools.
The core message of the training was that the chapter leaders are the chief organizers in their schools, but they are not in this alone — they have a strong support system in the UFT borough offices and at UFT headquarters.
The October weekend session, which emphasized the things that chapter leaders need to know from the get-go, is the first in a series of four sessions that will take place over the course of the school year.
The four main themes of the first session were: 1. Roles and Responsibilities of Chapter Leaders, 2. Serving the Members, 3. Creating a Consultation Committee, and 4. The School Safety Plan and Student Removal.
Christopher Verdone, chapter leader from Kingsborough HS, reflecting the general consensus of his colleagues, said the training was “awesome.” “I can’t believe how much I have learned in such a short period of time,” he said, adding that all the instructors were “superb.”
UFT District 11 Representative Alice Cooper-Jackson (left) can’t believe that Nicolina Zimmerman of MS 127 is old enough to be the mother of Daniele Zimmerman of Bronxwood Prep Academy. Both Zimmermans are chapter leaders at their Bronx schools. Daniele said she learned how to hone her skills at the training weekend and liked the emphasis on how a chapter is a community effort. Nicolina, a teacher for 33 years, said that “the amount of information is incredible. I thought I knew a lot.”
Karen Konstan, a guidance counselor and chapter leader at PS 165 in Manhattan, said the training was valuable to her “because you can’t learn by osmosis. You need to hear it.”
Several instructors discovered how chapter leaders felt about their training at the close of their Sunday session when entire classes — unprompted — broke into rounds of applause.
“Just like our students, you know when you have a good teacher and we sure had them,” one chapter leader said.
The new chapter leaders, who were elected in June, are already facing major challenges. When asked by their instructors what the pressing issues were in their schools, chapter leaders mentioned excessive paperwork, overemphasis on test scores, safety issues, overcrowding, principals hiding the budget, the failure to post vacancies, lack of prep time, lack of trust from administrators, excessive data collection, not enough time to visit multiple sites, parking problems, a dearth of supplies, and top-down management.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew opened the training by jokingly calling the chapter leader position the “I Can’t Win Job.”
He said that when he first started out as a chapter leader at William F. Grady HS in Brooklyn, he had a core group who helped him. They relied on each other in dealing with the school’s issues. He emphasized how important it was to communicate and collaborate with the entire UFT chapter, not just teachers.
“You took this job because of the children and your passion for education,” he said.
UFT Director of Legislation and Political Action Paul Egan tells the new chapter leaders about the resources the UFT has to get news out to them. They include the UFT Web site, Facebook, e-mails and the New York Teacher.
UFT Director of Legislation and Political Action Paul Egan, who organized and chaired the event, told the members how important politics is to the health of the union and pointed out recent electoral victories in which the UFT made a difference [see story on page 3].
In a presentation about the importance of staying informed and informing the members, Egan encouraged the chapter leaders to sign up on the UFT Web site so they would receive chapter leader alerts and the Chapter Leader Update that is e-mailed every Friday during the school year. Egan urged them to ask their members to create a school-based e-mail system, which would make their job less onerous, especially when it comes to distributing a chapter newsletter.
At almost every turn, the new leaders were told how staffers at UFT headquarters and the UFT borough offices are there to help them and that they can’t go it alone in their buildings.
UFT Vice President Sterling Roberson emphasized this point by saying school safety is a collective responsibility. Roberson, who has served as the UFT director of school safety, said, “You cannot educate students unless you have a secure and well-managed school. That can only be accomplished with true collaboration.”
All the instructors held detailed discussions about how to use the collective-bargaining agreement between the Department of Education and the UFT to support members in schools.
The importance of engaging the community and parents was another topic of discussion.
“That means the parents from the PTA or the Parents Association, not the DOE parent coordinator at the school,” Egan said. He reminded them that each UFT borough office has a parent liaison to help them.
Another important piece of advice dispensed at the “Serving the Members” class was to never let a member get called to the principal’s office alone, particularly if the principal tells the member that the meeting may lead to disciplinary action. The chapter leaders were also reminded to alert members that they don’t have to speak to investigators from the Office of Special Investigations or the Special Commissioner of Investigations without union representation.
Virginia Agosto from PS 146 in the Bronx joins colleague Sonya Gimondo from PS 234 in Queens in signing up on the UFT Web site. Doing so allows chapter leaders to file grievances online and receive UFT chapter leader alerts and the weekly online Chapter Leader Update.
The chapter leaders were given six tasks to complete over the course of the weekend:
- Meet and speak with your district representative.
- Introduce yourself to an officer of the UFT.
- Visit the membership booth to register (or verify registration) as a chapter leader on the UFT Web site.
- Visit the breast cancer walk booth.
- Visit the COPE booth.
- Visit the special education display table.
Once they had signatures confirming they had completed the assignment, they received a jump drive loaded with the chapter leader handbook, the UFT contracts and other documents.
The feeling of camaraderie and teamwork that permeated all the classes was best summed up by Manhattan Borough Representative Evelyn DeJesus. She told the “students” that she and her district reps, special reps and staff work for them.
She ebulliently thanked the chapter leaders for taking the job and for giving up four weekends away from their families and friends to attend the training. “We (UFT staff) belong to you,” she said.
Guidance counselor Steve Jarrett from Bronx Haven HS gets to know Victoria M. Rush from Horizon Academy. Jarrett said he was thrilled that the training did not turn out to be his worst fear: that it would be “a boring, long, drawn-out event.”
At the special education display table was UFT Vice President Carmen Alvarez (seated, right), seen here with UFT staffer Emelina Camacho-Mendez. Together they helped (standing, from left) Robert Romano of PS 22 in the Bronx, Adrianna O’Hagan of JHS 518 in Brooklyn and Lorraine Porter of PS 6 in Brooklyn.
Taking advantage of a break in the weather, new Brooklyn chapter leaders get down to business about educating students in the fourth-largest city in the world. They are (from left) Martin Marczika from MS 88, Michelle Grecco from PS 215, Joann Savage from PS 215 and Ronald Robertson from MS 393.
What, no classes outside? Enjoying a lighter moment and discussing the day’s events are Queens chapter leaders (from left) Kathleen Burke from PS 877, Emilio Burgos from PS 303 and Jimmy Kalamaras from PS 300.
[For more photos, go to the “Chapter Leader Training" gallery]
