Chapter Leader UpdateMarch 31, 2023
Chapter Leader UpdateMarch 31, 2023
CONTRACT ACTION: UFT members from PS 11 and the College of Staten Island HS for International Studies participated in a grade-in at the food court at the Staten Island Mall on March 30.
This Week's Focus
Make your voice heard in our fight to block charter school expansion
As negotiations on a final state budget enter the final stretch, Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing her charter expansion proposal that would add add 108 new charter schools in New York City. The proposal appeared dead on arrival when both houses of the New York State Legislature formally rejected it in their one-house budget bills. But reviving her chances is a $5 million ad campaign financed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other Wall Street billionaires. Bloomberg’s front group, America Opportunity, reserved close to $3 million in TV airtime ahead of the April 1 budget deadline and is financing mailers into lawmakers’ districts.
We need to let our state representatives know that we are counting on them to stand with our public schools. We’ve identified a bloc of lawmakers who are standing firm against the charter lobby and another group who is considering supporting the governor’s proposal. If your rep is one of the first group, your email will thank them, and if they are a member of the second group, they will get an email telling them it is not too late to do the right thing.
Members turn out for grade-ins across the city
We did our work in public spaces on Thursday to highlight our fight for a fair contract. We let our communities know we need better working conditions so we can better serve their children. When educators have more self-directed time and autonomy, we can focus our time and energy on the things that directly benefit our students. Please make sure to post photos of your grade-in on social media using the hashtag #UFTgradein. Please tag the UFT on your tweets (@uft) and Instagram posts (@uftny). Send your best one or two photos (include your school, your neighborhood and where you gathered) to uftphotos@gmail.com so we can share them in our Instagram story and elsewhere.
Mark Paraprofessional Appreciation Day on April 3
On Saturday, March 25, the UFT held its annual Paraprofessionals Awards Festival and Luncheon. The event was a wonderful celebration of the important work our paraprofessionals do to support New York City public school students. View the photo gallery. This coming Monday, April 3, is National Paraprofessional Appreciation Day, so be sure to thank your paraprofessionals for everything they do.
Chapter Leader Checklist
To Do #1
Secure items prior to the spring break
Remind members to protect themselves against theft by securing all personal belongings and valuable school equipment such as laptops and projectors during the break. For more tips, read this article on the UFT website. Please distribute the NYPD larceny prevention flier in your members’ mailboxes and post it on your UFT bulletin board.
To Do #2
Stay in touch with the UFT
Remind members to protect themselves against theft by securing all personal belongings and valuable school equipment such as laptops and projectors during the break. For more tips, read this article on the UFT website. Please distribute the NYPD larceny prevention flier in your members’ mailboxes and post it on your UFT bulletin board.
To Do #3
Review DOE guidance on school handbooks
Please make sure your principal is adhering to the Department of Education’s guidance about school handbooks. While school handbooks may be used to notify staff of school procedures such as safety drills and student dismissal, they may not contain directives that contradict the DOE-UFT contract. For example, handbooks may not establish a staff dress code or mandate a specific time frame for requesting a personal day. In addition, members can be asked to sign and acknowledge only the receipt of the handbook — not that they have familiarized themselves with its contents. If you think the DOE’s school handbook guidelines are not being followed in your school, contact your UFT district representative for help resolving any issues.
To Do #4
Share these fliers 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
See your school's SBOs on the hub
We’ve added a new section to the Chapter Leader Hub where chapter leaders can now see the school-based options (SBOs) their schools approved for the 2022-23 school year. The record will include the SBO ballot and the results of the SBO vote. Look for the link to your school’s SBO report at the top of the Chapter Leader Hub, next to your school’s reports for grievances and COPE. Moving forward, all approved SBOs will be stored in the Chapter Leader Hub, so it will become a valuable historical record over time. Remember, you can access the hub using your UFT website username and password.
Work in progress
The UFT is working on the following issues with the DOE and other city, state and federal-level entities as appropriate:
- Lobbying to block Gov. Hochul’s plan to expand charter schools.
- Pressing the DOE to provide appropriate professional development, materials and supplies to implement any new curriculum schools must adopt.
- Pushing the DOE to complete a plan to implement the state class-size law.
- Continuing discussions with the DOE on the 2023-24 school calendar.
- Advocating to improve Tier 6 pension benefits.
You Should Know
POLITICAL ACTION
UFT sues DOE to block charter co‑locations in Bronx and Queens
The UFT, along with parents from the affected public schools, has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan State Supreme Court charging that the DOE violated state education law and its own regulations when it voted late last year to co-locate Success Academy charter schools in the Waterside School for Leadership in Far Rockaway, Queens, and in the Sheepshead Bay Educational Campus in Brooklyn without providing an in-depth analysis of how these co-locations would affect public school students already in those buildings. According to the lawsuit, the DOE did not take into account the fact that the four affected schools would need the space in their buildings to create the smaller class sizes mandated by the 2022 state law. Also absent from the DOE’s Educational Impact Statement on the co-locations is any mention that students at Waterside will lose their science lab and that all four schools may lose many other dedicated rooms needed to deliver intervention and special education services. For more details, read the press release.
SALARY & PERSONNEL
Members on leave must notify the DOE of plans by May 15
UFT-represented employees who are currently on leave must notify the DOE about their plans for the next school year by Monday, May 15. If a member fails to notify the DOE about their plans or fails to apply for a leave extension by that date, the DOE will view that member as having voluntarily resigned from their position. The UFT and the DOE are emailing these members to remind them of this deadline. Members with questions should call the UFT at 212-331-6311.
Employees must give 30 days’ notice before resigning
According to Chancellor's Regulations, resigning employees must give at least 30 calendar days’ notice. Therefore, if a UFT-represented employee wants to resign (not retire) effective Tuesday, Sept. 5, the first day of work in the 2023-24 school year, that employee must submit a letter of resignation by Sunday, Aug. 6. Chapter leaders have reported that principals are asking members to add the word “irrevocable” to their letters of resignation. It is unnecessary as UFT-represented educators have a contractual right to withdraw their resignation at a later date should they want to return to the DOE. According to the DOE, employees who resign without providing 30 calendar days’ notice will receive a problem code in their personnel file that will flag them for review should they wish to return to teaching in the future. While there is no requirement to give notice for retirement, employees who are interested in taking terminal leave prior to retirement must also give 30 days’ notice.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Make sure your school plans for student IEP mandates
Begin planning now to meet student IEP mandates in the next school year. The DOE’s March 21 notice about special education hiring for the 2023-24 school year told principals to prioritize fair student funding for IEP-mandated programs and services (i.e., SETSS, ICT, special class, related services and paraprofessional services). IEP changes for incoming and existing students must be based on individual student needs, not on the ability to fund or hire special education teachers.
Principals were also reminded to:
- organize a hiring committee that includes staff knowledgeable about special education and the school’s special education needs;
- declare vacancies and hire special education teachers to cover all mandates before using budget for other positions, especially discretionary positions; and
- plan to address changes in the number of students with IEPs and student mandates during the school year as this can result in the need for additional classes or sections.
The DOE guidance provides additional information on forecasting; programming; creating, posting and filling vacancies; certification requirements for various special education positions; and what schools must — and may not do — if they are unable to find qualified and appropriately certified special education teachers. Chapter leaders should work with their principal to create a hiring committee and be sure to address their school’s specific staffing issues in consultation.
EVERYTHING ELSE
Save the date for our Spring Education Conference in May
Online registration will open soon for the Spring Education Conference, our premier annual conference that celebrates, supports and inspires our work as public school educators. We’ll gather at the New York Hilton Midtown on Saturday, May 20, from 7:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. As always, there will be a morning town hall during breakfast, CTLE workshops, an exhibit fair where CTE students show off their skills, and a gala luncheon. The registration fee for the conference is $50 per person. There is an additional cost of $30 per CTLE hour for teachers and $15 per CTLE hour for paraprofessionals and other UFT members who attend workshops for credit. School Leadership Team members may draw on funds allocated to the team to pay for registration fees by using their school purchase order. For more information about paying by purchase order, see the UFT purchase order memo. Stay tuned for email invitations to our union’s exciting day of professional learning and celebration of our craft.
Members can call the UFT during the spring break
Make sure your members know they can call the UFT at 212‑331‑6311 with questions about their rights and benefits, including their Welfare Fund benefits, during the week of April 10. Members can call the union from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, April 10 through Friday, April 14. The union’s offices will be closed on Thursday, April 6, and Friday, April 7, in observance of Passover and Good Friday.
Recent Guidance and Agreements
- DOE summer 2023 calendar (March 2, 2023)
- Clarification on duties of centrally funded IEP teachers (March 7, 2023)
- DOE school health policy (Feb. 9, 2023)
- Situation Room tips for principals (Nov. 17, 2022)
- Digital classroom agreement for 2022-23 (Aug. 24, 2022)
- Personnel Memo No. 1 for 2022-23 (July 1, 2022)
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.