The following email was sent from School Counselors Chapter Leader Rosemarie Thompson to all school counselors on Thursday, Jan. 27.

In a decision that UFT members have been waiting for since the early days of the pandemic, an independent arbitrator ruled on Jan. 5 that members will receive a vacation day — a brand-new type of day — for each day they worked during the 2020 spring break.

Last week we told the city to fix its safety system for schools that was undeniably broken before the break. Mayor de Blasio and Mayor-elect Adams held a press conference today announcing their new slogan for our schools — stay open, stay safe. That’s a great thing to say, but if we want to stay open and safe, the city has to do the work to make that happen.

This is the December 2021 issue of the Staten Island parent newsletter.

Two UFT members will sit on the New York City Council in January 2022: Rita Joseph and Eric Dinowitz. 

Leo Gordon, a New York City public school teacher for more than 26 years, has been elected the UFT’s vice president for career and technical education by the union’s Executive Board.