With the New York metropolitan area the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, we want to inform you about the health benefits that in-service UFT members with EmblemHealth coverage, whether GHI or HIP, have.

The DOE employs many types of educators and professionals who work with New York City public school students in a variety of ways, from providing guidance to high school seniors to offering physical and occupational therapy to special needs children. They are organized into what the UFT calls functional chapters because what unites the members in each group is their function.

Diana Gorda is a lab specialist at James Madison HS in Brooklyn, where she works to make sure that science teachers and the school’s 4,000 students have everything they need to perform safe and engaging laboratory experiments.

Three of the UFT's functional chapters recently elected new chapter leaders.

Bronx Engineering and Technical Academy Chapter Leader Yvonne Reasen used the new expedited resolution process for operational issues, negotiated as part of the 2018 DOE-UFT contract, to get the basic instructional supplies desperately needed by science teachers at her school.

The overriding theme of the proposed DOE-UFT contract agreement is empowering educators to fight for the working conditions they need to do their jobs.

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.

Effective May 18, 2017, every school employee who has a car will receive a Department of Education-issued parking permit, and the school’s on-street parking spots will become available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Here are PDFs of the presentation and handouts from the January 2016 lab specialists training.

Here is a schedule of chapter meetings for lab specialists for the 2015-16 school year.