Chapter Leader UpdateOct. 6, 2022

Ten people stand together holding signs expressing solidarity with Starbucks Workers United.

This Week's Focus

The Delegate Assembly is on Oct. 12

Wear blue on Oct. 13 to kick off our fight for a fair contract

We are just at the beginning of what may be a difficult fight to get the contract we deserve, and it’s vital that we show our unity and strength from the start. Tell your members that by wearing blue together on Thursday, Oct. 13 — the day that contract negotiations begin — and signing the fair contract pledge, we can show our power, solidarity and determination to reach a fair contract. Make sure your members use the non-DOE email address where they receive UFT email when signing the pledge. Take a group photo of your members wearing blue and send it to uftphotos@gmail.com. When you post photos on your own social accounts, tag @uftny on Instagram, #UFT on Facebook and @UFT on Twitter so we can reshare your post. (We know many of you are asking members to wear pink on Oct. 12 to raise awareness about breast cancer. Both are important causes.)

Sign the pledge

Sign up members for COPE at your school

Members’ voluntary contributions to our Committee on Political Education, COPE — not union dues — fund the union’s political work with members, communities and elected officials. By contributing to COPE each month, UFT members ensure their voices are heard by lawmakers and policy makers on the issues that matter to them. Please ask members in your school to sign up for COPE or increase their contribution. COPE’s recent impact can be seen in the passage of state legislation to reduce class sizes, survivor benefits for the families of COVID victims and a law ensuring paraprofessionals are automatically enrolled in the Teachers’ Retirement System. Members can enroll in COPE using this online enrollment form or filling out a paper COPE card. You can bring a printed copy of this flier to your next in-person chapter meeting and members can scan the QR code to go to the online form. Want to know who in your chapter contributes to COPE and who doesn’t? You can view the COPE report for your school in the Chapter Leader Hub. Please reach out to Melody Rondinelli, our COPE coordinator, at 212-598-6850, if you have any questions.

Learn more

Help us honor Shelvy Young-Abrams at Teacher Union Day

Teacher Union Day offers an opportunity to celebrate our union’s recent accomplishments while remembering the brave educators who put everything on the line in the 1960 strike that forged the union. This year, on Sunday, Nov. 6, Shelvy Young-Abrams, who has retired as chair of the UFT’s Paraprofessionals Chapter, will receive the Charles Cogen Award, the event’s highest honor, for her fierce advocacy on behalf of paraprofessionals for more than 50 years. Harlem science teacher Billy Green, the New York State Teacher of the Year, will be a featured speaker. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the New York Hilton Midtown at 1335 Sixth Ave. The $50 entrance fee includes a continental breakfast and a post-awards reception. The deadline to register is Monday, Nov. 1.

Donate new winter apparel for students in need

Let’s make sure students in need have new apparel to stay warm this winter. The donations will be given to children who live in temporary housing. We’ll give the clothing to children who attend the UFT’s Thanksgiving luncheon this November as well as those who can’t. This year, the union is especially helping children from the migrant families who were shipped by the Texas governor to New York City this summer. Please organize a winter clothing drive at your school and ask members of your school community to donate new winter coats, sweaters, scarves, mittens, gloves and hats. The union can only accept NEW articles of clothing. The garments may range in size from toddler to adult. You can bring your school’s donations of clothing to either the Wednesday, Oct. 12 or Wednesday, Nov. 16 Delegate Assembly. You may also drop off donations until Friday, Nov.18, at any UFT borough office or on the 14th floor at UFT headquarters in Manhattan. You and your members can also make a monetary donation, which will be used to buy winter clothing. If you have questions, reach out to Jeannette Noriega at JNoriega@uft.org. Please post this coat drive flier on your UFT bulletin board.

Chapter Leader Checklist

To Do #1
Amplify member voice with school-based committees
School-based committees ensure that UFT members have a voice in decision-making at the school level and that all the work does not fall on the chapter leader’s shoulders. Make sure that you have the following active committees at your school:

a consultation committee that meets monthly with the principal to discuss and attempt to resolve issues at the school level before they escalate;
a professional development committee to plan and review the professional learning offered during the time set aside for professional learning in the contract;
a school safety committee that meets monthly to address safety-related violations and issues such as crisis response, student removal procedures and fire drills;
a school leadership team that develops the school’s Comprehensive Educational Plan and makes sure it is aligned with the school-based budget.

If you need support, please contact your district representative.

To Do #2
Have you submitted your consultation committee summary?
Your consultation committee summary for your September meeting with your principal is due this week. Please submit your summary via the Chapter Leader Hub. Submission of meeting summaries will be a factor in the size of your supplementary stipend in June.

To Do #3
Report oversize classes on this Friday, Oct. 7
Thank you for keeping your UFT district representative apprised of the classes that exceed the contractual class-size limits in your school on the appropriate reporting dates. Remember: Only chapter leaders whose schools still have oversized classes should report class size data to their UFT district representative on Day 19 (Friday, Oct. 7). Your school’s RACL (elementary or middle schools) or Master Schedule Final (high schools) indicates class sizes on this date.

To Do #4
Share photos of your team at a Making Strides walk this month
If your school has put together a team to participate in a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, please help us raise awareness about breast cancer by sending your best one or two photos (large size, with captions) on the day of the walk to uftphotos@gmail.com for the union’s Facebook, Instagram and website photo albums. Use the hashtag #UFTStrides when you post your own photos to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The Brooklyn walk is on the Coney Island Boardwalk on Sunday, Oct. 9. The Long Island, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island walks are on Sunday, Oct. 16, at the customary locations. The Bronx walk this year will be at the Bay Plaza Shopping Center on Sunday, Oct. 23. There is still time to create a team if you haven’t yet. Read the UFT Team Leader Kit for more information and locations.

To Do #5
Take photos of your school’s Pink Day on Oct. 12
Are your members wearing pink to school on Wednesday, Oct. 12, to raise awareness about breast cancer? Let us know if you would like a UFT photographer to take photos if one is available that day. When you post photos on your own social accounts, tag @uftny on Instagram, #UFT on Facebook and @UFT on Twitter so we can reshare your post. Please send your best one or two photos (large size, with captions) to uftphotos@gmail.com for the union’s Facebook, Instagram and website photo albums. Also, you and your school delegate are asked to wear pink to the Delegate Assembly that day.

To Do #6
Fliers to share with your members
Here are fliers you can print and distribute in member mailboxes or post on your school’s UFT bulletin board.

Hub Highlights

Access all the DOE and union forms you need

When a member comes to you seeking the enrollment form for the UFT Welfare Fund or the form to apply for a FMLA leave of absence to care for a family member, visit the Chapter Leader Hub. We’ve assembled the forms you need most often in one easy-to-access location. Remember: You can access the hub using your UFT website username and password.

Enter the hub

Work in progress

The UFT is working on the following issues with the DOE and other city, state and federal-level entities as appropriate:

Pushing the DOE to improve its service to employees by fixing the broken HR Connect system and issuing paychecks more promptly following an employee’s return to payroll.
Ensuring the protection of the contractual rights of members affected by the restructuring of the Division of Early Childhood Education.
Streamlining the process for bilingual education certification.
Lobbying the New York City Council to amend the administrative code to state explicitly that the city must negotiate with the Municipal Labor Committee on all employee health care plans and must allow city unions to negotiate so employees have health care plan choices.

You Should Know

HEALTH & SAFETY

Change in school safety agent radios

School safety agents will now have the ability to communicate quickly with local police precincts in cases ranging from active threats to a student who is in need of other emergency assistance. In schools that have an in-house Level III agent and other safety agents, the Level III agent will monitor the DOE in-house frequency — which is also used by deans and assistant principals — while the other agents will monitor the NYPD School Safety citywide frequency. The Level III agent will dispatch agents as needed. Schools that have multiple agents but no in-house Level III agent will designate one agent to monitor the DOE frequency and the others will monitor the NYPD citywide frequency. When just one safety agent works at a school, that agent will have two radios to monitor: one will be on the DOE frequency and the other will be on the NYPD citywide frequency. Questions about the program, which took effect at the start of the school year, can be directed to UFT Safety and Health Director Jeff Povalitis.

INSTRUCTION

Listen to “Making small class sizes real” on the UFT's podcast

The UFT podcast “On the Record with Michael Mulgrew" starts its fourth season with a deep dive into the new class size law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. UFT President Michael Mulgrew is joined by state Sen. John Liu, a major force in enacting the law. You can listen to this podcast on your favorite streaming service.

Dial-a-Teacher is back in swing

Chapter leaders should tell members that homework help is available through the UFT’s Dial-A-Teacher hotline. Students who need homework help or their parents can speak to a teacher at Dial-A-Teacher by calling 212-777-3380, Mondays through Thursdays, from 4 to 7 p.m., during the school year. Dial-A-Teacher can also give parents advice on how they can help their child at home. The staff speaks 10 languages: Armenian, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, Haitian-Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Tagalog. See more information about Dial-A-Teacher on the UFT website.

MEDICAL & WELLNESS

Get your flu shot at the Oct. 12 Delegate Assembly

The UFT is bringing back free flu shots at the Oct. 12 Delegate Assembly. The shots are available from 2 to 5:30 p.m. on the second floor of 50 Broadway, rooms B & C. All in-service, DOE-employed members who have a New York City public employee health plan are eligible to receive a free shot.

New NYC employees get EmblemHealth HIP coverage

Effective Oct. 1, 2022, all newly hired New York City public employees, including new Department of Education employees, must select the EmblemHealth HIP HMO Gold program as their health care plan for their first year on the job. After their first year of employment, they may switch to one of a range of health care plan options or remain with the EmblemHealth HIP HMO Gold program.

POLITICAL ACTION

Sign petition to extend limited waiver for student debt

Help us gather signatures on a petition asking President Biden to extend the limited waiver on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program so eligible public employees have more time to apply. The program is currently due to expire on Oct. 31. Under this waiver, which the Biden administration enacted in the fall of 2021 after years of lobbying by the AFT and the UFT, public employees may receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for this federal program. The waiver is separate and apart from the Biden administration’s initiative to provide debt forgiveness to all student borrowers who meet eligibility requirements.

Sign the petition

You may vote by mail in the Nov. 8 election

Due to the COVID pandemic, all registered voters in New York State may vote by mail in the Nov. 8 general election if they prefer. If you live in New York City, you must request an absentee ballot by Monday, Oct. 24, at the NYC Absentee Voting website. If you live outside New York City, you can obtain your absentee ballot online from the New York State Board of Elections website. Make sure that you check off “Temporary Illness” on the application as the reason for your request to vote by mail. See the candidates endorsed by the UFT and NYSUT in the Nov. 8 general election.

Register to vote by Oct. 14

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 8 general election is Friday, Oct. 14. UFT members who have an ID issued by the state Department of Motor Vehicles can register to vote online by visiting the DMV Voter Registration website. If they wish to submit a written application, they can download the New York State Voter Registration Form and mail it to their county board of election address, which is found on the second page of the form. The paper form must be postmarked by Friday, Oct. 14 and received by the county board of election by Wednesday, Oct. 19. Not sure if you’re registered to vote? You can check your voter registration status by visiting the NY State Board of Elections Voter Registration and Poll Site Search website.

SALARY & PERSONNEL

Apply for a spring study sabbatical by Oct. 21

Eligible teachers who want time to study to enhance their teaching skills during the spring 2023 term, have until Friday, Oct. 21, to submit an application in SOLAS for a study sabbatical in 2022. Friday, Oct. 28, is the deadline for a principal's recommendation to the superintendent. Coursework must be rigorous and related to your teaching assignment. All teachers are eligible for a one-year study sabbatical after 14 years of service. Junior high or high school classroom teachers with seven years on the job may also apply for a six-month study sabbatical for the spring semester only. During a study sabbatical, whether six months or a full year, teachers earn 70 percent of their salary. Members can find out more in the sabbatical leaves section of the UFT website. Members can read the current guidelines and eligibility requirements in the DOE sabbatical memo, which the DOE updates and reissues each spring, and Chancellor’s Regulation C-650 on Sabbatical Leaves of Absence.

The latest teacher evaluation guidance

Your members rely on you as the source for accurate and up-to-date information on the rules governing teacher evaluation. To ensure you have the information you need to make decisions at your school on Measures of Student Learning, the union hosted two recent webinars for chapter leaders and MOSL committee members. We have also published a new teacher evaluation Q&A with answers to the most frequently asked questions. For more detailed information, please review the DOE’s 2022-23 MOSL Guide and the teacher evaluation section of the UFT website.

Speak with a certification specialist before enrolling in courses

UFT members who are considering taking a course towards an additional certificate or an advanced degree to increase their salary should consult with a UFT certification specialist before deciding. Union certification specialists can help you choose a study plan so you don’t waste time and money on the wrong classes. You’ll find information on salary differentials (and much more) on the DOE’s HR Connect web portal under “Paychecks and Salary.” For information about classes and certification, call 212-331-6311 and ask to speak to a UFT certification specialist.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

New students with disabilities certificate available

Effective Sept. 28, the New York State Education Department has made available an application for a students with disabilities (SWD) certificate for all grades. The new certificate permits individuals to teach students with disabilities in pre-K through grade 12. UFT members who hold a SWD/generalist certificate in a grade band (e.g., birth–grade 2, Grades 1–6, Grades 7–12) or a permanent special education certificate are not affected by this change. For more information, see the NYSED website. If you’d like a UFT educational liaison to come to your school to speak about certification or other issues, contact your UFT district representative or use this request form (you must be logged in to the UFT website to access it). Members may also call the UFT at 212-331-6311 to speak with a certification specialist.

Everything Else

Participate in the CaringKind Alzheimer’s Walk on Oct. 23

Please join the UFT team walking on Sunday, Oct. 23, in the CaringKind Alzheimer’s Walk to help fund Alzheimer’s research and raise awareness about the disease. So many of our families have been affected by this terrible disease, which robs people emotionally, physically and financially. The walk will start at 10 a.m. on Oct. 23 in Central Park. Please encourage your members to join the UFT team and/or make a donation. UFT Bronx Safety Liaison Susan Perez and UFT Vice President Janella Hinds are team co-captains and will meet members at the starting point.

UFT’s Future in Focus helps students explore unionized careers

Bring your 9th- through 12th-grade students to the UFT's annual Future in Focus event, sponsored by the UFT Academic High School Division, at UFT headquarters on Thursday, Oct. 20. Your high school students can learn about collective bargaining, the impact of organized labor on our society and the benefits of having union representation in your job. There will be presentations on an array of unionized careers and postsecondary opportunities including internships and apprenticeship programs. Your students can participate in discussions about labor unions and hear from young workers who are union members. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., and the program runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Only chaperoned groups may attend, and registration is required.

UFT’s anti-bullying conference for middle school students

Bring your middle school students to the UFT’s anti-bullying conference, organized by the union’s Middle School Division. This year, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, a terrific group of presenters will give information to students about how they can combat bullying in their schools and turn their communities into safer learning environments for everyone. Space is limited so each school may bring a maximum of 12 students. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch, snacks and giveaways will be provided. If you work in a school serving middle school students, download this flier and post it on your UFT bulletin board.

UFT college fair in the Bronx

Register to bring your high school students to the UFT’s annual college and career fair on Friday, Oct. 21, at the union’s Bronx borough office. Representatives from colleges and universities, including historically Black schools and SUNY/CUNY schools, will be available to answer students' questions. There will also be a financial aid workshop and take-home resources to help students plan for their future. Each student group may attend for one of four one-hour sessions.

Nominate an outstanding paraprofessional for a UFT award

Each year, the UFT recognizes outstanding paraprofessionals who have made contributions to their schools, their communities and their union. Use the form below to nominate a full-time paraprofessional for an award. Paraprofessionals may not nominate themselves and winners from prior years are ineligible. To process your nomination, all the information requested on the form must be filled in correctly. The Paraprofessionals Chapter will contact winners. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, at 3 p.m.

Nominate a para

Recent guidance and agreements

Updates on DOE's Grading, Attendance and Messaging Application (GAMA) (Sept. 16, 2022)
Teacher evaluation deadlines and benchmarks for 2022-23 (Sept. 14, 2022)
School transportation reminders for 2022-23 (Sept. 1, 2022)
Digital classroom agreement for 2022-23 (Aug. 24, 2022)
DOE school health policy (Aug. 16, 2022)
Personnel memo No. 1 for 2022-23 (July 1, 2022)
Mayor's Personnel Order No. 2021/2 on excused leave to get own child vaccinated (Nov. 8, 2021)

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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