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This Week's Focus

Celebrate the life of UFT founder Abe Levine on Sept. 25

Please join us at union headquarters on Wednesday, Sept. 25, as we come together to celebrate the life of Abe Levine, who passed away in June. Abe was the union's first vice president for elementary schools and a steadfast presence at the UFT until his final months. Refreshments will be served at 4 p.m., and the memorial service will begin at 5 p.m. Use this online form to register. To learn about Abe Levine’s life and his importance to the union, read the New York Teacher obituary or hear Abe tell his own story on the On the Record with Michael Mulgrew podcast honoring his life and legacy.

Register now for Teacher Union Day on Oct. 20

You and your members are invited to attend Teacher Union Day on Sunday, Oct. 20. Teacher Union Day, which is taking place earlier this year, offers an opportunity to recognize our members’ recent accomplishments while remembering the brave educators who put everything on the line in the 1960 strike that forged the union and provided the impetus that made the UFT the force it is today. If you are one of the 56 chapter leaders who will be receiving the Ely Trachtenberg Award this year for building strong and vibrant chapters, we encourage you to pull together a group of your members to celebrate as a chapter-building activity. The Trachtenberg Award winners exemplify how we can empower and organize members to use their professional voices to advocate for our students and for public education. Teacher Union Day will take place at the New York Hilton at 1335 Avenue of the Americas in midtown Manhattan. The event will begin at 11 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25, which includes brunch. To register, complete the online form (you must be logged in to the UFT website).

Report class sizes to your district rep on Wednesday, Sept. 18

The 2018 DOE-UFT contract provides a new expedited process for handling class-size violations. The new process provides a new district-level resolution period and a fast track to arbitration to provide prompt relief to teachers and students in oversize classes. The UFT, however, cannot do this work without timely information from chapter leaders. Thank you for reporting your class-size data on Thursday, Sept. 12. We now need you to report your class-size data to your district representative on the following school days: Day 10 (Wednesday, Sept. 18), Day 14 (Tuesday, Sept. 24) and Day 19 (Thursday, Oct. 3). You’ll need to obtain your school’s RACL (elementary or middle schools) or Master Schedule Final (high schools), which indicate class sizes on a given date. The first 10 school days are an informal resolution period during which you should speak to your principal about resolving any oversize classes. We’ve fought for years to strengthen the process for addressing oversize classes so it’s critical that we take advantage of the new contractual provisions to get quicker relief for members. Class-size limits are in Article 7M of the contract.

New fall Student Debt Relief Program webinars

Following the overwhelming success of last school year’s in-person information sessions for our Student Debt Relief Program, we are excited to offer our members the same service in webinars on Saturday, Sept. 21, and Wednesday, Sept. 25, that you can view conveniently on your personal computer. The Student Debt Relief Program is an exclusive UFT member benefit that has helped many members to lower their student debt. As an educator working in public service, you may be eligible to participate in the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness and federal Title I Loan Forgiveness programs. Navigating your options and applying for the right programs is complicated but we can help. The first step is to view one of our webinars in September — or attend one of our traditional in-person information sessions in October — to receive an overview of the range of debt forgiveness programs. After viewing a webinar or attending an information session, you may make an appointment to speak by phone with a loan specialist to discuss your individual needs and create an action plan. Use this online form to sign up for a webinar and use this online form to sign up for an in-person information session in October. For more information, see the Student Debt Relief Program page on the UFT website.

Calling the UFT just became easier

The UFT opened a new contact center so you can quickly and efficiently get accurate information about your union rights and benefits. UFT members employed by the DOE should call 212-331-6311. Members in DOE functional chapters should call 212-331-6312. The UFT contact center is your gateway to information about your contractual rights and union-negotiated benefits, including your pension and the UFT’s wide array of professional development offerings. Members who call the union will immediately speak to one of a team of trained UFT staffers who will answer the most commonly asked questions. For more complicated questions or questions that require personal attention, the contact center staff will transfer the call to a representative in the appropriate union department and will stay on the line while transferring the call. The union recognizes that your time is valuable. Therefore, you will also have the option, if you don’t have time to remain on hold for a specialist to handle your call, to leave a callback number. A specialist will then return the call and you will retain your place in line. UFT members can continue to call the UFT Welfare Fund at 212-539-0500 if they have a question about their supplemental health benefits, including prescription drugs and dental and optical benefits. For Welfare Fund forms, call the Welfare Fund’s forms hotline at 212-539-0539. If you have questions about paid parental leave, call 212-539-0510.

Thanks to you, the Labor Day Parade was a success

We want to thank all of you who participated in the Labor Day Parade Sept. 7. A UFT contingent of more than 1,000 people marched up Fifth Avenue to show that New York City is a union town. Many of you posted photos from the parade on social media with the hashtags #LDP2019 and #UnionProud. And after the parade, many members went to the Wagner MS schoolyard for the union’s family BBQ. We hope you enjoyed the food, music and entertainment as much as we did. See photos from the parade on the UFT website.

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Your Chapter Leader Checklist

• NEW New members on payroll: Check with your school’s payroll secretary to make sure new members of your chapter are on payroll. Newly appointed pedagogues and paraprofessionals who were placed on payroll by Aug. 30 should receive their first paycheck on Sept.16. If payroll processing is completed between Aug. 31 and Sept. 17, these new hires should receive their first paycheck in the Sept. 27 payroll. New H Bank members, including therapists, nurses and supervisors of nurses and therapists, who were placed on payroll by Sept. 9 should receive their first paycheck on Sept. 20. If payroll processing was completed between Sept. 10 and Sept. 23, the new hires should receive their first paycheck in the Oct. 4 payroll.

• NEW Welcome members of the ATR pool: Be sure to welcome members of the ATR pool who are in rotation in your school. Greet ATRs when they come to your school and make sure they have a bathroom key and a secure place to store their belongings. They should be treated as full members of your school community — invite them to chapter meetings, PD sessions and any other events to which your other members are invited. Also, make sure they are given work that is appropriate for their title.

• NEW Teachers rated Developing and Ineffective must receive an improvement plan: Talk with your principal to make sure teachers in your school who received a rating of Developing or Ineffective are supported with a Teacher Improvement Plan (TIP). The principal must meet with the teacher by Tuesday, Oct. 31. Teachers should have received information about the TIP process in their DOE email about their rating. See page 8 of the UFT’s Your Guide to the Teacher Development and Evaluation System for helpful information for teachers rated Developing or Ineffective.

• NEW Mentoring for new teachers: Every new teacher in your school without prior teaching experience is entitled to mentoring. The mentor should be an experienced classroom teacher, coach or lead teacher, ideally in the new teacher’s subject area. The mentor will provide a minimum of two periods a week of confidential, non-evaluative and nonjudgmental support. Consult with your principal for a list of new teachers and their mentors. As a chapter leader, you are a required member of your school’s New Teacher Induction Committee, which ensures new teachers receive mentoring. If new teachers in your school have not been assigned a mentor or if you have questions about the mentor program, contact your district representative. For more information, see the mentoring requirements for certification on the New York State Education Department website.

• Enroll new hires in the union now: Because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME ruling in 2018, we must now enroll every new hire in the UFT as soon as possible or lose the union dues we need to serve and support all our members. Please introduce yourself to every new hire in your school, offer your help and support, and check that they have signed a union enrollment card or, better yet, filled out the online union enrollment form on the UFT website. If you don’t have any enrollment cards, please let your district rep know. Ask your school secretary to give you a heads up when a new hire comes on board. In the chapter leader section of the website, you can now view the Nonmember Report for your school and track your progress in signing up every UFT-represented employee.

• Hold your first chapter meeting: In the first few weeks of the school year, you should hold a meeting for your chapter. Use this meeting to extend a warm welcome to new educators and ask them to sign union membership cards if they have not yet done so. Please collect non-DOE email addresses and/or phone numbers for all members of your chapter for future communications.

• Form your school’s MOSL committee: Chapter leaders and their principals should form their eight-member MOSL committee for the 2019–20 school year as soon as possible. Four members are selected by the chapter leader and four are selected by the principal, inclusive of the principal and the chapter leader or their designees. Committees must meet to finalize selections for each grade and subject by Oct. 4. Review the guide for MOSL selection on the UFT website. The guidance found there will be critical to your school’s work. After these selections are finalized in the system, the committee must reconvene to assign measures to individual teachers by Oct. 31. As was the case last year, committees may provide more than one measure to teachers who teach multiple grades and/or subjects. Final MOSL assignments will be available to teachers by Nov. 15.

• Register now for chapter leader training: Chapter Leader Training, Part 1, is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook, New York. This training is open to new chapter leaders as well as any chapter leader who has served for five years or more. We recommend that you attend all three sessions, but each session can be attended independently of the others. Rooms are limited and will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. Register online. For more information, call 212-598-7747.

• Special education classes should not exceed class-size maximums and ratios: You as chapter leader should try to resolve with your principal any class-size issues involving special education classes in your school. There are two types of class-size concerns: 1) Any special class — in a District 1-32 school (12:1/15:1, 12:1+1) and in a District 75 school (12:1+1, 12:1+ (3:1), 8:1+1, 6:1+1) — with more than the designated maximum number of students assigned and attending. Notify your district representative at the same time you present your rep with other class-size issues. If the issue is not resolved by Day 19 (Oct. 3), make sure your district representative has a copy of the RACL with the official class code and number of students in the class and the name of a contact person to confirm resolution. 2) Any integrated co-teaching class exceeding the ratio of 60 percent general education students/40 percent students with IEPs or maximum of 12 students with IEPs. If the chapter leader cannot resolve the issue at the school level, a Special Education Complaint can and should be filed by an individual (UFT member and/or parent) who is directly tied to the affected students. UFT members may file a special education complaint if they have the affected students and/or classes in their schedule or are serving them in some way. Note that variances expire at the end of the school year in which they were obtained, and schools must be in compliance at the beginning of the school year to be eligible for a variance at a future time.

• Centrally funded IEP/Intervention Teacher positions: Chapter leaders in schools that received additional funding from the central Department of Education for the IEP/Intervention Teacher position can check their school’s status on the DOE website. If the school received funding for the position, there is a specific line on the budget for an IEP/Intervention Teacher (name included). The position must be implemented as described in the posting. According to this year’s guidance, any time in the IEP/Intervention Teacher’s program not allocated to attending initial IEP team meetings, covering for special education teachers to attend IEP team meetings and providing between one and five periods of special education instruction should be devoted to providing individual and/or small group reading interventions for at-risk general education and special education students. Also, the guidance clarifies that the IEP/Intervention Teacher must not be assigned to serve as the Special Education and/or IEP Coordinator, the Special Education Liaison, the Teacher Mentor or the Model Teacher or perform other non-instructional roles. Note: If your school did not receive central funding yet it has an IEP teacher who has out-of-classroom positions, that position could have been created only through the SBO process. Schools should not implement such a position if they are unable to fully staff and provide all special education services and programs. If you have an issue with the implementation of the IEP/Intervention Teacher position at your school, please email MaryJo Ginese, the UFT vice president for special education, at mginese@uft.org.

• Create your school’s Strides team: The UFT will again participate in the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraising walks in the five boroughs on Sunday, Oct. 20. If you’d like members from your chapter or school to walk together as a team, we need you as a chapter leader to create a team on the Strides website. Go to the UFT page of the Strides website, click “Join Us” and enter your zip code, select the location where your team will be walking, click “Join This Walk,” log in or click “Create an Account” if you don’t already have one, and click “Start a New Team.” Please include UFT at the beginning of your team name so your members can easily find it on a list, and choose “UFT” as the team company (we are in the regional section of the dropdown menu). Then complete the rest of the signup process. When members from your school or chapter sign up, they can choose “Join a Team” and select the team you created. Please extend a special invitation to new members to join your chapter’s team. It’s a great opportunity to build and strengthen your chapter.

• Updated Step 1 grievance: Our Step 1 online grievance filing system was updated over the summer along with our website. The process is still the same; it just has a new refreshed look. In addition, if the UFT does not have a non-DOE email address on file for the member filing the grievance, the chapter leader will be prompted to enter one before proceeding. See the screenshot of the grievance entry page. See the grievance section of the chapter leader section of the UFT website (you must be logged in to access it) for more details about the process and the link to the Step 1 grievance form.

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Share with Your Members

NEW Flier for Partners through Experience

NEW Flier for art therapy group

NEW Flier for In The Middle Anti-Bullying Student Conference

Your Guide to the Teacher Development and Evaluation System

Flier for UFT conference on effective instruction for English language learners

Flier for CaringKind Alzheimer’s Walk

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You Should Know

Certification

Speak with a certification specialist before signing up for classes: UFT members considering an additional certificate or an advanced degree to increase their salary should consult with a UFT certification specialist before making a decision. Certification specialists can help you decide the right course of action, so you don’t waste time and money on the wrong classes. Contact a certification specialist at 212-420-1830.

Community Service

NEW Participate in the 2019 CaringKind Alzheimer’s Walk: Register for the 2019 CaringKind Alzheimer’s Walk on Sunday, Sept. 22, on the boardwalk at Coney Island, Brooklyn. Join the UFT’s team and help raise funds for research to end Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Members who raise $100 will receive a CaringKind Walk T-shirt. If you raise more than $100, you will receive a tote bag, a water bottle or a picnic basket. The program starts at 10 a.m., and the walk begins at 10:30 a.m. We’ll meet on the boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Look for the UFT table and banner. For more information, contact Susan Perez-Gonzales at the UFT at sperez@uft.org or 718-862-6031.

English Language Learners

NEW Changes to the alternative pathways to support former ELLs: Effective this fall, Option B: Individualized Targeted Learning will no longer be considered a valid alternative pathway to serve former English language learners. In addition, for Option E, languages other than English (LOTE)/World Language and Culture Advanced Placement classes are no longer valid pathways.

NEW Updated guidance on the implementation of ENL units of study: ELL instructors who provide integrated co-teaching instruction should have appropriate common planning time with their co-teachers. In addition, stand-alone ENL should not be implemented in a push-in model in a content-area class. Stand-alone ENL is a separate time devoted exclusively to English language acquisition and English language development. The required amount of stand-alone ENL instruction depends on the English proficiency of the student.

Evaluation

Consult the UFT’s 2019-20 teacher evaluation guide: Teachers, both veteran and new, may have start-of-year questions about the evaluation process. New ratings are out, and schools are developing Measures of Student Learning selections. Your Guide to the Teacher Development and Evaluation System provides an overview of the evaluation process, defines terms and offers tips for teachers. For further information, read the Know Your Rights column on teacher ratings and see the teacher evaluation section of the UFT website.

File Ineffective rating appeals: Teachers with a year-end rating of Ineffective for the 2018-2019 school year should review the information on the UFT website and then call the UFT at 212-331-6311. A UFT member representative will help schedule an appointment and explain the steps to take prior to that appointment. A checklist of materials to gather in preparation for the appeal is posted on the UFT website.

Deadline for data corrections requests to correct MOSL data: The deadline for filing a data corrections request with the city Department of Education is Oct. 18. If teachers believe their MOSL data is incorrect, due to outdated roster information for example, they should ask the principal, by email, to submit a data corrections request. The principal must review the request and, if approved, submit the request using an online form to the DOE by Oct. 31. Teachers should keep a copy of any requests they send to the principal. If the principal approves the request and it leads to a correction in the teacher’s rating information, the DOE will send the teacher an updated overall rating.

Help for struggling tenured teachers: Tenured teachers who find themselves overwhelmed with classroom issues may find the UFT’s Peer Interventional Program a valuable resource. PIP is a voluntary, confidential program that provides support for teachers who want assistance. PIP has successfully helped thousands of teachers and is a proactive step toward professional growth for teachers struggling with their craft. Teachers can find more information about PIP, including an online form to request assistance, on the Peer Intervention Program page of the UFT website.

Functional Chapters

NEW Nominate a colleague for a 2019 paraprofessional award: Each year, the UFT honors paraprofessionals who have made outstanding contributions to their school, community or union. These activities can include youth groups, volunteer work in the community or at a house of worship, or any union-related activity including phone banks, rallies or political action. We encourage UFT members to nominate a paraprofessional for this award. Paraprofessionals cannot nominate themselves. The UFT will honor winners at the UFT's annual Paraprofessional Festival and Awards Luncheon on Saturday, March 14, at the New York Hilton in midtown Manhattan. The nomination deadline is Thursday, Nov. 21. Submit a nomination.

Health and Safety

NEW UFT Welfare Fund dental transfer period is now open: The transfer period for the UFT Welfare Fund dental plans runs through Tuesday, Oct. 15. New plans become effective Friday, Nov. 1. The UFT Welfare Fund provides two dental benefit options: the Scheduled Benefit Plan, which provides services through the Welfare Fund panel of dentists or a dentist of your choice; and Dentcare, a no-cost dental HMO. For more information, call the Welfare Fund at 212-539-0500 or see the dental information in the health benefits section of the UFT website.

New Members

NEW Join the UFT Partners through Experience program: UFT Partners through Experience matches a new teacher in years 1-3 with a recent retiree. The retiree provides informal, nonjudgmental support and feedback. New members may register online.

NEW Member Assistance Program art therapy for new members: The UFT’s Member Assistance Program is inviting all members in years 1-3 to an art therapy group. No artistic talent is required, just an openness to explore and participate in a group setting with your colleagues. Fall sessions will take place in October and November. Registration is also open for spring 2020 sessions. All sessions will take place at UFT headquarters, 50 Broadway, 2nd floor, from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. The registration fee is $10. Register for an art therapy session. For more information, see the art therapy group flier.

NEW UFT podcasts for new members: The UFT’s Member Assistance Program has created Classroom Café, a podcast series tailored for new members. Each podcast focuses on an aspect of well-being: being mindful and compassionate, making classrooms happy places, eating healthier, managing time successfully, and creating safe, welcoming and inclusive schools. The full series of Classroom Café podcasts is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and SoundCloud. For more information, contact MAP at mapinfo@uft.org or at 212-701-9620. Download the Member Assistance Program podcast series flier.

Opportunities

Low-cost theater tickets for 10th-grade high school students: The Broadway League on Broadway Bridges, in partnership with the UFT, offers $10 tickets to Broadway shows to 10th-graders and their chaperones. The shared goal of the union and the Broadway League is to provide every city public high school student with a chance to see a Broadway show before graduation. Participating shows this fall include “Aladdin,” “Beetlejuice,” “Come From Away,” “Frozen,” “Oklahoma!,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “The Great Society,” “The Lion King,” “Tootsie” and “Wicked.” Tickets are on sale now. Register online on the Broadway Bridges website for performances from Sept. 25 through Dec.13. Ticket requests are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Send an email to Robin Aronson at bridges@broadway.org if you have questions.

Political Action

NEW Youth-led climate strike on Sept. 20: On Friday, Sept. 20, three days before the U.N. Climate Summit in New York City, young people will strike globally to demand transformative action to address the climate crisis. “Climate change is a crisis, and we support students standing up for the planet,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. The city Department of Education has issued guidance regarding student participation: It will excuse absences of older students with parental consent; younger students may leave school only with a parent or guardian. The DOE said it will provide further guidance in the next few days. Two youth-led rallies are planned for Manhattan. Students will walk out of their classrooms and meet for the Global Student Rally and March for Climate in Foley Square at 12 noon and then march through the Financial District to Battery Park, where there will be another rally starting at 3 p.m. UFT members are invited to join thousands of unionists in a Labor Solidarity contingent at the rally in Battery Park, which is after school hours. Labor groups will meet at Battery Park's main lawn (the NE mid-area) beginning at 3 p.m. To join the UFT contingent, look for the UFT feather and other union signs, banners and bullhorns. Youth leader Greta Thunberg will address the crowd at 5 p.m. Sign up online for the Battery Park rally. For more information, contact Janella Hinds at teamhighschool@uft.org.

Make your voice known on the AFT presidential candidate questionnaire: If you watched the presidential debate on Sept. 12, you must have an opinion. Now’s your chance as a UFT member to help shape the questionnaire that the AFT will ask presidential candidates to fill out. Their answers on the questionnaire will be used in our national union’s endorsement process. Please fill out this survey and tell the AFT the types of questions you want candidates seeking the union’s endorsement to answer.

Professional Learning

NEW New FAQ on A+ courses for a salary differential: As a result of the recent DOE-UFT contract, teachers may now take A+ courses for credit toward the salary differential for 30 credits above a Master’s degree. To help members navigate the process, the DOE and the UFT prepared an A+ FAQ. Teachers hired on or after Sept. 1, 2019, must obtain a minimum of 18 A+ credits to earn the salary differential unless they have already attained an additional doctorate or master’s in an approved area. Teachers hired on or after Sept. 1, 2017, but before Sept. 1, 2019, must obtain a minimum of six A+ credits unless they have already earned a salary differential before Sept. 1, 2019. Teachers hired before Sept. 1, 2017, are not required to use A+ credits toward this salary differential. If they choose to take A+ credits toward this salary differential, they must obtain a minimum of six A+ credits. College courses also count toward the same differential, but will be considered A+ credits only if approved by the joint UFT/DOE committee. For more information, see the A+ FAQ.

Rights and Grievances

NEW Grievance decisions protect Regents scoring retention rights: Your union is continually fighting to protect your contractual rights. Two recent precedential grievance wins clarify retention rights in Regents scoring. In one case, an arbitrator ruled that the January and June scoring sessions are separate activities. It is not necessary to work in one Regents scoring period to claim retention rights in the other. An arbitrator also ruled in the UFT’s favor in a case in which a member was denied the opportunity to work in a scoring activity because she was unable to attend training due to religious observance. The grievance was sustained because the DOE failed to provide the Sabbath or holy day observance accommodation required by Chancellor’s Regulation C-606. You can read more about your contractual rights in the Know Your Rights section of the UFT website.

Salary and Personnel

NEW New DOE process to apply for salary steps and differentials: The DOE launched a new application process for pedagogues to apply for a salary step (a salary increase based on years of relevant service) or a salary differential (a salary increase based on academic credit, coursework or degrees earned). Paraprofessionals can use the same process to apply for a salary increase based on attainment of academic credentials and/or experience. The DOE has released several step-by-step guides to help employees navigate the new system: a guide for pedagogues to apply for a salary differential (pay increases for credits and degrees beyond a bachelor’s degree are not granted automatically); a guide for pedagogues to apply for a salary step so the employee is placed on the correct salary scale; and a guide for paraprofessionals to apply for salary upgrades. The DOE also put together an FAQ about its new salary application system. If you have any questions, please call the UFT at 212-331-6311. Salary applications are no longer accepted on the DOE Payroll Portal. Due to an overwhelming number of applications, the site may slow down and possibly freeze. As long as you apply within six months of your start date and/or conferral of your credits, you will receive arrears.

October’s lump-sum payment and your TDA: UFT-represented employees eligible for contractual lump-sum payments who participate in the Teachers’ Retirement System or the Board of Education Retirement System may contribute a larger percentage of their pay to the Tax-Deferred Annuity for the pay period in which they receive their lump-sum payments in October. Both retirement systems allow TDA participants to increase their contribution rate for only one pay period to help build their TDA account and reduce their taxable income. TRS members may increase their lump-sum payment TDA contribution through the TRS website secure account section using the Change Rate feature in the main menu bar. The deadline to increase your contribution rate is Sunday, Sept. 15. BERS members should contact BERS at 929-305-3800 for the deadline and forms.

Special Education

ICT and ENL teachers can grieve excessive class preps and room assignments: Co-teachers in integrated co-teaching classes and English as a new language teachers who provide stand-alone and/or integrated instruction have the right to file reorganization grievances if they are programmed with an unreasonable number of class preparations or multiple rooms in which to teach. Reorganization grievances must be filed through the chapter leader within two days of receiving the program. When filing the grievance, the teacher should indicate the contract article that was violated and provide a description of how it was violated. Relevant articles in the DOE-UFT contract are Articles7A (high schools) and Article 7B (intermediate and junior high schools). Reorganization grievances are eligible for expedited arbitration from the end of June through the first week of October.

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This Week in Education and Labor News

California bill upends gig economy: Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign a bill passed by California lawmakers on Sept. 10 that will give hundreds of thousands of workers basic labor rights for the first time, reports Vox. The bill will require businesses, including Uber and Lyft, to hire workers as employees, not independent contractors. Gig workers will receive protections and benefits such as unemployment insurance, health care subsidies, paid parental leave, overtime pay, a guaranteed $12 minimum hourly wage and the right to unionize.

New Jersey offers arts education in all public schools: New Jersey has become the first state in the nation to provide access to arts education in every public school, according to NorthJersey.com. About 81 percent of students study one of four arts disciplines — dance, music, theater and visual art — an all-time high in the state. That represents an increase of 25 percent over the last decade, or about 250,000 more students. Students involved in the arts are more likely to score higher in language arts literacy and are more likely to enroll in college, said Commissioner of Education Lamont Repollet.

De Blasio administration sues fast food giant: Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sept. 10 announced a $1 million lawsuit against Chipotle on behalf of more than 2,600 workers, according to The Hill. The lawsuit alleges the fast food chain violated nearly every aspect of the city’s “Fair Workweek” law by failing to provide good-faith estimates of work schedules or pay premiums for last-minute schedule changes, among other violations. “Chipotle must immediately stop their unfair labor practices and put their employees above profit,” de Blasio said in a statement.

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Events Calendar

Featured

Sunday, Sept. 22: Register for the 2019 CaringKind Alzheimer’s Walk on the boardwalk at Coney Island, Brooklyn. For more information, see the item in Community Service.

This Week

Wednesday, Sept. 18: Chapter leaders should attend the Citywide Chapter Leader Meeting from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, 2nd floor.

Wednesday, Sept. 18: REGISTRATION IS CLOSED — Queens-based members are invited to attend a small group maternity consultation from 4 to 6 p.m. at the UFT Queens borough office, 118-35 Queens Blvd., 7th floor.

Thursday, Sept. 19: Bronx-based members are invited to a Pathways to Parenthood workshop from 4 to 6 p.m. at the UFT Bronx borough office, 2500 Halsey St., rear entrance. Participants will get answers to questions about maternity and parental leave questions. To register, use the online form.

Save the Date

Saturday, Oct. 19: ExcELLing, the fourth annual UFT Conference on Effective Instruction for English Language Learners, runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway. For more information, see the ExcELLing flier. To register, use the online form.

Sunday, Oct. 20: The Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk takes place in all five boroughs and on Long Island at various locations. Visit uft.org/strides to sign up for a walk.

Sunday, Oct. 20: Join us for our annual celebration when we honor UFT leaders past and present at Teacher Union Day at the New York Hilton. To register, complete the online form (you must be logged in to the UFT website). See the item in This Week’s Focus.

Tuesday, Oct. 22: The UFT Middle School Division’s Anti-Bullying Student Conference will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway. Download the flier.

For more events, go to uft.org/calendar.

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In Case You Missed It

Another 25% lump-sum payment coming in October

Photo Gallery: Mulgrew visits Bronx Leadership Academy II

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Professional Committees

UFT Professional Committees offer a wide range of workshops, presentations and exchanges, enabling all members to take an active part in their professional growth. Unless indicated, meetings are at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, Manhattan. Check in the lobby for exact locations. For further information, contact us at 212-598-7772 or visit us online.

Capably Disabled

• Thursday, Oct. 17, 4:15 to 6 p.m., general membership meeting. Our guest is an emotional support pet, Fluffy, and his “human,” Patricia Kazas. Our topic is emotional support animals. For more information, see the Fluffy and His Human flier.

NYCATA

• Friday, Sept. 20, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., State of Arts Education Welcome Back membership meeting at UFT headquarters, 50 Broadway, Our speaker is Karen Rosner, DOE visual arts coordinator, followed by a community and arts organization round table. Start the new school year with a great networking opportunity. Refreshments will be served.
• Saturday, Oct. 26, 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., 38th annual All Day Art Education Conference.

NYCATA and Math Teachers Committee

• Wednesday, Sept. 25, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Exploring ArtMath/MathArt Connections: “Series in Art and the Fibonacci Sequence.” For more information, see the Series in Art and the Fibonacci Sequence flier.

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Executive Editor: Bernadette Weeks

Contributors include: Karen Alford, Shelvy Young-Abrams, George Altomare, LeRoy Barr, Jackie Bennett, Hannah Brown, David Campbell, Evelyn DeJesus, Crystal Deoraj, Brian Gibbons, MaryJo Ginese, Christopher Grandison, Anthony Harmon, Sarah Herman, David Hickey, Janella Hinds, David Kazansky, Lynne Kilroy, Katherine Kurjakovic, Joe LoVerde, Samantha Mark, Deidre McFadyen, Michael Murphy, Gabriel Nott, Suzanne Popadin, Cassie Prugh, Tina Puccio, Nadine Reis, Nanette Sanchez-Rosario, Robin Sentell, Michael Sill, Anne Silverstein, Geof Sorkin and Liz Truly.