October 15, 2026
WALKING THE WALK: Members at PS 200 in Manhattan smiled for the camera with teacher and photographer Lee Alexander at the Manhattan Making Strides Warm Up to Walk event on Friday, Oct. 9.
This Week's Focus
Get members ready for the contract campaign teach-in
Is your school ready for our upcoming contract negotiations? The contract is something that unites us all. Let’s see how much participation we can get so we are off to a strong start.
Your next step as a leader in your school is to organize a contract teach-in on or around our Oct. 29 Day of Action. Over 1,000 members attended our contract campaign teach-in training to prepare. If you missed it, don’t worry. We will have another prep session on Oct. 20, so stay tuned for an invite to register.
At the teach-in, we’ll talk to members about contract negotiations — where we’ve been, where we are and where we want to go. We will prepare them for our first big action: getting everyone to participate in the all-member contract survey.
You can find everything you need for the Day of Action and the contract campaign in general by accessing the contract campaign toolkit at uft.org/contracttoolkit. It can also be found at the top of your Chapter Leader Hub. The toolkit will be updated shortly with a PowerPoint presentation and lesson plan to use at your teach-in.
Make a final push to get members subscribed to emails by Friday, Oct. 16
This Friday, Oct. 16, is the deadline to subscribe to UFT emails for anyone who wants to receive and fill out our contract survey on Nov. 2. Please give your members one final reminder tomorrow to make sure they’re subscribed to UFT emails. They can do this by logging into the UFT website. Only members who are subscribed to UFT emails will receive the contract survey.
ACTIONS YOU SHOULD TAKE
This month's checklist:
- Invite your members to your contract teach-in on Oct. 29 (or another day if it works better for you). The teach-in should take 30-40 minutes. Use this pre-written template to invite them. Here’s a sign to post to advertise.
- Start your contract campaign bulletin board.
- Make sure your members are receiving UFT emails.
- Ask a colleague or two to support you in this first action.
- Hold your teach-in.
Update on the paraprofessional RESPECT campaign
Last week, a new judge was assigned to the city's lawsuit against the RESPECT check legislation. And this week, all parties have agreed for the UFT to join the City Council as a defendant in the case. We are just waiting for the new judge to make this official.
There has been no decision issued on the City Council's request for the lawsuit to be dismissed yet. We will alert all members as soon as we have any updates regarding this request.
Currently, the RESPECT check legislation remains a law, and paraprofessionals can still expect to receive their first payment in January.
The UFT is continuing to make progress in our talks with the city about a permanent solution to the pay gap for paraprofessionals, and we will keep you updated as those conversations move forward.
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 special education committee that meets at least twice a year (once in the fall and once in the spring) to address schoolwide special education compliance issues. The union's new reporting form went live on Oct. 1 in the Chapter Leader Hub.
- A staff development committee, which serves as the instructional leadership team, to plan and review the professional learning that is 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. You can also read the DOE's guidance on school leadership teams.
If you need support, please contact your district representative.
Chapter Leader Checklist
To Do #1
Enroll new members in the UFT
Take some time to welcome new staff in your building. About 3,000 new teachers joined the UFT on Sept. 1, the opening day of New Teacher Week, but we weren't able to reach every new hire. Please personally invite every new nonmember in your school to join the union. You can either collect their union enrollment card or have them enroll online. You can view the list of nonmembers in your chapter in the Chapter Leader Hub. A QR code linking directly to the online enrollment form is available in the Chapter Leader Hub.
To Do #2
Report unresolved issues from your special education committee meeting
Make sure you schedule your fall school-based special education committee meeting with your principal by early December. According to the DOE-UFT contract, the committee meets with the principal at least twice a school year, and more often as needed, with the goal of resolving compliance issues at the school level, including teacher and paraprofessional programming. You should then use the online Special Education Committee Notes form in the Consultation Committee Notes section of the Chapter Leader Hub to report unresolved issues. Those issues may be escalated by your district representative for district-level consultation with the superintendent.
To Do #3
Submit your summary for the September consultation by Oct. 31
Please submit your consultation summaries on the Chapter Leader Hub soon after your consultation committee meeting with the principal, but no later than the end of the following month. Consultation summaries should include all topics discussed during the committee meeting. It's important that chapter leaders submit these summaries in a timely fashion so the union can escalate unresolved issues to the monthly district consultation with the superintendent or — if the same issue is reported by chapter leaders across the city — to the monthly consultation at the chancellor's level.
To Do #4
Share photos of your members at a Making Strides walk
Will your school have a team at a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk this Sunday, Oct. 18, in Manhattan, Queens or Long Island or on Sunday, Oct. 25, in Brooklyn, the Bronx or Staten Island? Raise awareness about breast cancer by sharing your photos on social media and tagging the UFT. Send your best photo with caption information to uftphotos [at] gmail [dot] com (uftphotos[at]gmail[dot]com).
To Do #5
Remind paraprofessionals that they don't need to attend parent-teacher conferences
Please remind paraprofessionals at your school that they are not required to attend parent-teacher conferences in the evening. Paraprofessionals should only attend these conferences for per-session pay, unless the conference falls during the paraprofessional's contractual work day.
To Do #6
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
Answers to all your questions
Chapter leaders have access to the UFT knowledge base, a deep and extensive repository of information, in the Chapter Leader Hub. This searchable database supplies the answers to many of your members' questions about their rights and benefits as UFT members. Whether it is confirming the process for accessing a UFT Welfare Fund health benefit or obtaining information about retention rights, the UFT knowledge base has the answers. 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 fix the programming issues around MTSS.
- Pushing the DOE to provide time in the workday to complete all mandated trainings.
- Negotiating with the city for a permanent solution to the paraprofessional pay gap.
You Should Know
Contract empowerment & enforcement
Spread the word about Pathways to Parenthood workshops
Members who are expanding their families should take advantage of our Pathways to Parenthood workshops, which are offered regularly between now and the end of the school year. These two-hour online information sessions are an excellent opportunity for members who are about to welcome a new child to get crucial information about the leave of absence process and UFT parental leave.
Professional learning & instruction
Members must complete child abuse identification training by Nov. 17
A second update to the Child Abuse Identification Workshop, educators' mandated reporter training, became available in October 2025. To check if they have fulfilled the requirement, members should log onto their TEACH account, view the Workshop section of the account and confirm that Child Abuse Identification (Second Update) is posted. If they do not see it, they must complete the second update by Nov. 17.
You can complete the updated training online through the Office of Children and Family Services or through the UFT Teacher Center.
You can learn more about the requirement by visiting the NYSED website. If members are unclear about this or other certification requirements, chapter leaders can request a visit to their school from a UFT certification specialist through the Chapter Leader Hub.
The UFT is currently working to have the DOE ensure that educators are provided time during appropriate professional learning time or, if needed, released from instructional time, to complete all of the many mandated trainings. These trainings should not be done during preps, lunch, OPW time or other professional periods.
Medical & wellness
24/7 mental health helpline for UFT members
UFT members or their family members can call or text 866-UFT-FOR-U (866-838-3678) at any hour, seven days a week, to receive immediate, confidential support from a union-trained licensed counselor during a moment of crisis or to request a referral for ongoing mental health services or for a substance-abuse treatment center. Counselors from the mental health service Vibrant Emotional Health are available to assist in multiple languages. The counselor will request the caller's union ID, or the union ID of the UFT member associated with the caller, to verify eligibility.
Political action
Phone bank with the UFT
We're gearing up for the Nov. 3 elections with UFT phone-banking sessions, both in-person and online, throughout October. Getting out the vote for our state and nationwide affiliates' endorsed candidates is a powerful way to advance our interests as educators and union members.
Salary & personnel
$225 payment for digital classroom setup tentatively scheduled for Oct. 27
School-based teachers and mandated service providers who are part of the Q-bank payroll system will tentatively receive $225 in a supplemental check on Tuesday, Oct. 27, for setting up their digital classrooms. As part of the 2023 DOE-UFT contract, we made sure that members would continue to be appropriately compensated for that work. School-based teachers and mandated service providers on payroll as of Sept. 30 will be paid $225. Those who came on payroll after Sept. 30 may submit for this payment. As is always the case with supplemental checks, some banks take longer than others to post the checks. For members in the H-bank payroll system who need to set up digital classrooms, we are still waiting on the DOE to confirm the expected date for their checks.
Everything else
Organize a Thanksgiving coat drive at your school
Let's make sure students in need have new apparel to stay warm this winter. Consider organizing a winter clothing drive at your school to collect NEW winter coats, sweaters, scarves, mittens, gloves and hats ranging from toddler to adult size. Members can also make a monetary donation toward the purchase of winter apparel for New York City public school students living in temporary housing. You can drop off donations at your UFT borough office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays or bring items to the Nov. 18 Delegate Assembly. If your school or worksite has collected many items, the union can arrange to pick them up. If you have any questions, please contact Jeannette Noriega at JNoriega [at] uft [dot] org (JNoriega[at]uft[dot]org). Please share the UFT Middle Schools Division's coat drive flyer with your members.
Apply for a $20,000 award for teaching excellence
The Julian Robertson Award for Excellence in Teaching celebrates educators who go above and beyond for their students and communities. Each year, up to 10 teachers each receive an unrestricted cash prize of $20,000 in recognition of their impact.
Nominations are open through Oct. 31 for any current, full-time classroom teacher, of any subject, age or grade level, working in a New York City public school (district, charter or early childhood center). Any member of the community – students, parents, colleagues, school leaders, or teachers themselves – can nominate a teacher for consideration.
The Julian Robertson Award for Excellence in Teaching was established by Coleman Family Ventures in partnership with the Tiger Foundation to celebrate extraordinary New York City classroom teachers. Learn more by visiting the website.
Recent Guidance and Agreements
- 2026-27 Payroll Calendar (July 2026)
- Chancellor’s Regulation A-210: Standards for Attendance Programs (June 2026)
- School Allocation Memorandum No. 16: Centrally Funded Special Education Intervention Teacher Allocation (June 2026)
- Policy and Reference Guide for Multilingual Learners/English Language Learners: 2026-27 (September 2026)
- Payroll Administrative Memorandum: New Direct Deposit Enrollment Policy for Per Session Pay (April 2026)
- Supporting Latino Multilingual and Immigrant Students and Families, Educator Resource Guide (February 2026)
- Payroll Administrative Memorandum: Tax Changes Effective Jan. 1, 2026 (January 2026)
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.