Parental leave during the District 75/Chapter 683 summer program
If you have worked the District 75/Chapter 683 summer program for the past two years, you may choose to take advantage of UFT parental leave during the summer program, or you may wait to take your leave when the school year begins.
Taking stock in students’ skills
Steven Leaderman, a teacher at P370, a District 75 program in Coney Island, has created an innovative vocational program that has his students sort and deliver school supplies. The program helps the students develop key vocational and life skills...
Educational support team key to District 75 hydroponics lab
The hydroponics lab at P141K at IS 71, a District 75 site that serves students with profound learning challenges, allows students to participate in gardening activities year-round. The students have the opportunity to witness the plant life cycle...
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks 2024
UFT members took strides in the fight against breast cancer in all five boroughs of New York City and on Long Island to raise awareness and money for the union’s annual October fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Many wore pink and walked in tribute to colleagues who have battled the disease.
Para-lyzing process
New York City schools, particularly in District 75, are in dire need of paraprofessionals, who provide essential support services for children with disabilities. The shortage won’t get resolved until the city Department of Education streamlines its...
Pink Day 2024
UFT members from all five boroughs of New York City wore pink on Oct. 16, 2024, to raise awareness about breast cancer.
Better tool to assure special ed compliance
The new contract establishes school-based Special Education Committees and annual training of all staff on special education rules and regulations. Vice President for Special Education MaryJo Ginese writes that these new rights will empower members...
Fergie Cantos, bilingual speech therapist
A bilingual speech therapist who “loves to talk,” Fergie Cantos helps students at P 186, a District 75 school in the Bronx, make themselves understood.
Speaking up for students with disabilities
The city’s superintendents gathered at UFT headquarters in early October. UFT Vice President for Special Education MaryJo Ginese said the union made it clear to them at this introductory meeting that when special education compliance issues are...
Labor Day Parade 2022
More than 700 UFT members marched up Fifth Avenue in the city’s Labor Day Parade, the first one held since 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic that hit early the following year. As they waited for their turn to march, the union’s members gathered for a pre-parade celebration.