Next Delegate Assembly is on Wednesday, Dec. 10
Chapter Leader UpdateDec. 4, 2025
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Jonathan Fickies
THANKSGIVING GLOW-UP: Megan Pomara, a cosmetology teacher at Queens Technical HS, helped her students provide hair and nail makeovers for children in temporary housing as part of the UFT Middle Schools Division’s Thanksgiving Luncheon on Nov. 22. Each child went home with new winter gear, thanks to the generosity of UFT members who participated in this year’s coat drive.
This Week's Focus
Join our online Fix Tier 6 campaign kickoff this Saturday
Please join us online this Saturday, Dec. 6, from noon to 1 p.m., as we launch our as we launch our Fix Tier 6 campaign for 2026. Encourage all of your members to register and hear from our campaign organizers, our TRS trustees and UFT President Michael Mulgrew about our mobilization plan to push state lawmakers to act in the legislative session that opens in January. Improving the pension benefits of Tier 6 members is not only a matter of fairness but also a commitment to maintaining a school system that will keep public education strong. Together, we can make 2026 the year we fix Tier 6. But we need all hands on deck.
Next steps on class size surveys
Wednesday, Dec. 3, was the official deadline for principals to submit their school’s class size survey, but there is still time to get it in. If your principal hasn’t submitted the survey, the DOE will follow up in the coming days to push them to complete it. The survey is the vehicle the DOE is using this school year to identify schools’ needs and challenges. It will determine how class size funding is allocated for next school year, so it’s important not to miss out.
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE: Speak with your principal to confirm they submitted the class size survey and request a copy of your school’s responses.
Keep the pressure on Speaker Adrienne Adams
As this year’s last New York City Council stated meeting — and opportunity to hold a vote — draw near, Speaker Adrienne Adams is standing in the way of our paraprofessional “RESPECT check” bill. Encourage your members to keep pushing her. Ask her to support the RESPECT check in the comment section on her Facebook (@NYCSpeakerAdams) and Instagram(@nycspeakeradams) posts, tag her on your posts on X and Bluesky, and call her Council office at 718-206-2068. Members can also send her a prewritten email telling her to let our bill pass — more than 8,000 emails have been sent so far! Use this toolkit to download graphics, flyers and sample social media posts. Adrienne Adams is turning her back on paraprofessionals, their families and the communities that support them. Call on her to stand with our paraprofessionals, who serve their school communities in countless ways and deserve this RESPECT check, by letting this legislation come to a vote now!
Chapter Leader Checklist
To Do #1
Include your paraprofessional representative on your consultation committee
Please make sure to include your school's paraprofessional representative on your UFT consultation committee if they are not already on the committee. It's important to give paraprofessionals a voice and a seat at the table at the monthly consultation meeting with your principal.
To Do #2
Remind teachers and staff to be prepared to pivot to remote
Now that winter is upon us, please remind all teachers and mandated service providers that they should make sure their Google classroom is ready in case the entire school system must shift to remote learning due to bad weather. See the pivot-to-remote section of the 2023 DOE-UFT contract for details. Please let your district representative know if you have any issues.
To Do #3
Purchase order available for 2026 Paraprofessional Awards Luncheon
The UFT Paraprofessionals Awards Luncheon will take place at the New York Hilton on Saturday, March 7, 2026. School chapter leaders, in conjunction with their school leadership team, can use a DOE purchase order to buy a table for paraprofessionals from their school using school leadership team funds. The deadline to submit purchase orders is on Feb. 13. The conference registration fee is $25 per person. Regular registration for the awards luncheon will open shortly. Print and complete the registration form, then scan it and email it to uftparaevents [at] gmail [dot] com (uftparaevents[at]gmail[dot]com). Direct any questions to the same email address.
To Do #4
Submit your November consultation summary by Dec. 31
Your consultation committee summary for your November meeting with your principal is due on Dec. 31. After holding your December meeting with your principal, please submit the summary before you go on break via the Chapter Leader Hub. The final deadline for December consultation committee summaries is Jan. 31, 2026.
To Do #5
Flyers to share with your members
Here are flyers you can print and distribute in member mailboxes or post on your school’s UFT bulletin board:
Hub Highlights
Boost COPE contributions at your school
Chapter leaders can see which members are contributing to COPE and how much in the UFT Chapter Leader Hub. You can then personally approach members who haven't signed up for COPE yet and encourage them to contribute. And contributing to COPE just got easier. Members can now register and update their COPE contributions in the UFT Member Hub. No more paper forms or extra steps! Remember: You can access the hub using your UFT website username and password.
Work in progress
The UFT is tackling the following issues with the DOE and other city, state and federal-level entities as appropriate:
- Working with the DOE to review the class size surveys submitted by principals.
- Pushing the DOE to move paraprofessional per-session payments to a separate paycheck.
- Working with the DOE to plan and hold paraprofessional hiring fairs to address the shortage of paraprofessionals.
You Should Know
Professional learning & instruction
Talk about MOSL assignments with your teachers
Teachers received their individual Measures of Student Learning assignments on Nov. 15. Let the teachers know if your school is using the "no decision" default for MOSL because your principal did not agree with the MOSL committee's decision or because your MOSL committee did not reach consensus. In the default, a teacher's individual MOSL rating includes all state assessments for all grades on a schoolwide growth model. Below the boxes in teachers’ MOSL assignment emails is a list of any assessments that would be included in the default if your school administers them. If you have any questions, please contact Sally-Ann Famularo at sfamularo [at] uft [dot] org (sfamularo[at]uft[dot]org).
Action you can take: At your next chapter meeting, review the MOSL assignments for the teachers at your school.
Medical & wellness
A podcast on understanding bullying in our schools
To overcome bullying, we have to understand it. In the latest episode of the UFT Member Assistance Program’s Brewing Wellness podcast, Carol Morrison, a licensed clinical social worker and the director of New Directions Clinic, explores how bullying affects not only students, but educators, other school staff and entire school communities. This podcast unpacks what bullying looks like in 2025 and how its dynamics shape the emotional climate of our schools. Learn how educators can respond in grounded, sustainable ways and where to find support. You can listen to Brewing Wellness wherever you get your podcasts.
Everything else
Encourage seniors to apply for a UFT college scholarship
Make sure high school seniors at your school apply for a $5,000 Albert Shanker College Scholarship. The application form is now live, and the deadline to apply is Feb. 28, 2026. Each year, the UFT awards $1 million in scholarships to academically excellent and financially eligible New York City public high school seniors through the Albert Shanker College Scholarship Fund. If you work in a high school, please reach out to your school's college advisers and school counselors to make sure that eligible seniors apply for these scholarships. If you do not work in a high school, please spread the word to family, friends and community members who may qualify for this award. Eligible recipients must be accepted into a full-time, matriculated, degree-granting program at an accredited college or university for fall 2026. Students can apply online through the Albert Shanker College Scholarship Fund portal. You can find more information and the application materials on the UFT website.
Request a UFT Honors tribute when a member dies
Has a UFT member from your school community recently died? Consider memorializing their life on the UFT Honors website. Our tributes highlight the contributions these members made to their school communities, their union and our city, while also sharing other aspects of their lives to provide a fuller picture. If you know a UFT member, either in service or retired, who should be included on the UFT Honors website, submit the name. If you have questions, contact UFT Honors coordinator Karen King at kking [at] uft [dot] org (kking[at]uft[dot]org).
Recent Guidance and Agreements
- Payroll Administration Memorandum: 2025 Social Security and Medicare Rates (November 2025)
- Labor Guidance: Paperwork Standards and Operational Issues (September 2025)
- Personnel Memorandum on Additional Compensation for Teachers in Shortage License Areas (September 2025)
- Chancellor’s Regulation A-413: Cellphones and Other Electronic Devices in Schools (July 2025)
Key Events & Deadlines
Contact the UFT
- DOE members, call 212‑331‑6311.
- DOE functional chapter members, call 212‑331‑6312.
- A health benefit question? Call the Welfare Fund at 212‑539‑0500.
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Look for your next Chapter Leader Update on Wednesday, Dec. 17