Partners in Education

We in the United Federation of Teachers have always believed that “teachers want what children need,” and we have always known that parents are our best allies in fighting for those needs – whether it’s smaller classes, intervention and support services or safer schools. That is one reason we have UFT parent and community liaisons in every borough.

I believe that strong relationships with parents and communities are central to our educational mission. Working with parent and community groups has been crucial to our ability to fight devastating budget cuts to our schools and to change school governance law to provide greater transparency and accountability and give parents a greater say in the system.

We have put together this Web page and this resource booklet to help you navigate the New York City school system and be the best advocate you can for your child’s education. Children do best when parents and educators work together, and you as a parent are entitled know what to expect from your child’s school and whom to turn to for answers. Additionally, we have included some resources, both in the DOE and the UFT, and we hope you find them useful.

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew
UFT President

Dial-A-Teacher

The UFT sponsors a homework help program called Dial-A-Teacher. Classroom teachers answer homework questions at 212-777-3380, Monday through Thursday, from 4 to 7 p.m. during the school year. They can also answer parents’ questions and give advice on how you can help your child at home. The staff speaks 12 languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese and Fukanese), English, French, Greek, Haitian-Creole, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, Russian, Slovak and Spanish.

Visit the main Dial-A-Teacher Web page for more information.