Although the union is called the United Federation of Teachers, the membership has grown to include many other types of educators and professionals who serve the children of New York City in a variety of ways.These Department of Education-employed members have functional chapters of their own to address common issues and concerns.

Due to severe weather conditions, New York City public schools will be closed on Thursday, Jan. 4. Please follow the policy issued by the Department of Education for certain employees including members of this chapter.

We know you are concerned about the 2015 civil service exam results. The DOE tells us that it has completed hiring from the list of people who passed the exam. So, for now, the DOE can keep people in a provisional status. However, the only way to truly protect yourself is for you to pass an appropriate civil service test for your title. For this reason, we have negotiated an agreement that the city Department of Citywide Administrative Services will administer a new exam by November 2018 and release a new list by November 2019.

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services has posted the results of the Education Officer exam on the DCAS website and will begin reaching out to Education Officers individually this week with their test scores.

With the retirement of the chapter leader of the Education Officers and Analysts Chapter earlier this year, the UFT is now holding an election for the chapter leader.

We've had an exciting school year so far! Although it has been challenging at times, I encourage you to take a moment to celebrate all the victories we've had along the way.

Jessica Dickson is an associate education officer for special education who works out of a DOE office building in Long Island City.