New York TeacherFebruary 18, 2021
Volume LXII, Number 4
The UFT and its members are taking their best shot to keep students and schools safe from COVID-19 and to maximize learning in and out of the classroom. In this issue, read how more than 25,000 educators are seeking immunizations through the union’s vaccine distribution network; learn how the UFT Teacher Centers are doing their best to spark learning; read how functional chapter members are coping in this unique year; and find out about the UFT Welfare Fund's new digital process for getting eyeglasses and contact lenses.
Cover Stories
UFT vaccine program takes off ‘with flying colors’
When Margaret Negrelli, the chapter leader at PS 370 in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, attempted to get the COVID-19 vaccine on her own, her doctor said it would be a while before she would have access to it and urged her to sign up for any program available. Not long after, she received an email from the UFT asking her if she was interested in getting the vaccine through the union’s new distribution network.
“A couple of days after that, I received an email saying I was matched with NYU Langone and the next day I received an appointment, with options on where to go for the vaccine,” said Negrelli, who received her first dose on Jan. 13. “The union came through with flying colors.” …
UFT vaccine program
We answer some of your most common questions about immunization and the UFT’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution program for members.
A shot at normalcy
The change in leadership in Washington, which has brought us a president who supports public education and honors teachers, is a solid foundation for the enormous work we must do as we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis it has created.
Latest News
UFT initiative helps stop hunger
The UFT stepped up to help New Yorkers confronting hunger because of the pandemic through its We Feed NYC initiative, which supports community-based food pantries in high-need neighborhoods across the five boroughs. By mid-January, in partnership with local restaurants, We Feed NYC had delivered 20,000 hot meals.
UFT members size up 2021 candidates
UFT members size up 2021 candidates (Sidebar: come to our next mayoral forum)
With many major city government positions up for grabs in the next election, the UFT is organizing remote member screening panels and virtual town halls to get to know candidates and determine who the union should endorse in 35 City Council races as well as races for mayor, comptroller, four borough presidents and Manhattan district attorney.
Feature Stories
Tales from a unique school year
The 2020–21 school year is demanding ingenuity, flexibility and patience from New York City public school educators in all job titles. Both in-person and remote functional chapter members are grappling with the unique challenges of serving their students during a pandemic. These are their stories.
A tale from Margie Pardo, school counselor
I’ve been working remotely since we left in March and it’s been extremely difficult because I’m a hands-on person with students. It was very long hours — it still is — because reaching some of the students is harder. We had the wrong numbers for some students, and some had their phones disconnected. When we can’t find the students, our attendance teacher and our principal make home visits. Everyone is supportive.…
A tale from Ponzella Johnson, school nurse
My greatest challenge this on Staten Island scho…
Using his head
Joseph Buro's students at Staten Island Technical HS can really get inside their teacher's head during Buro's 3D computer-aided design class. For their remote teaching lessons on biomedical engineering, Buro uses images of his own CAT scan, taken when he had skull surgery in 2019.
Creating a burn to learn
The UFT's 115 in-school Teacher Centers, located in all five boroughs, support educators as they investigate best practices, seek out new materials and collaborate to improve their instruction and, during the pandemic, have also helped with the successful transition to remote teaching.
More in Feature Stories
Member Spotlight
Heather Fefferman and Dana Botwinick
Heather Fefferman and Dana Botwinick, co-chapter leaders at PS 21 in Flushing, Queens, decided to add some morale-building activities to their usual union leadership responsibilities after seeing the roller coaster of emotions their members were experiencing this year of the pandemic.
“Staff have been hit pretty hard worrying about exposure to the virus,” said Fefferman (right, in photo). “We want them to know their resiliency in the face of so many challenges is appreciated.”
Mysterious Post-it note messages of appreciation and encouragement began appearing on bathroom mirrors: “It’s a good day to have a good day!” and “Your attitude determines your direction.”
Small gifts of candy, stickers, highlighters and candles began turning up on staff desks and in their mailboxes.
But now their cover is blown. One of their colleagues guessed who it was.
Fefferman said she scoured dollar stores for the gifts “to bring us together when w…
Kathleen Taylor, American Sign Language interpreter
Kathleen Taylor is an American Sign Language interpreter for the city Department of Education, providing interpreting services for students, staff and parents at meetings and events such as parent-teacher conferences and suspension hearings.
Valuable insight
Jonathan Hooper, an itinerant teacher of students with visual impairments in New York City and the Braille Institute Teacher of the Year for 2020, works one on one with students at all grade levels in all five boroughs. “With some accommodations, students with visual impairments can thrive,” he says.
Around the UFT
Student Enrichment Program
The UFT Teacher Center, which typically provides professional learning for educators, expanded its mandate during this unprecedented school year to provide a free program of student enrichment — tailored to different age groups — on three consecutive Saturdays in December to help build learning for thousands of students from pre-k through high school.
Ely Trachtenberg Awards
Twenty-eight chapter leaders received the Ely Trachtenberg award in recognition of their service in the 2019-20 school year. The award, named for a teacher whose rank-and-file organizing skills were critical to building the union, recognized chapters and their leaders who carry on that tradition with strong member engagement and advocacy.
Your Rights and Benefits
Know Your Rights
Absences and leaves related to COVID-19
The UFT has negotiated two hours of paid release time per vaccine dose for members who are unable to schedule their appointment outside the workday. UFT members who have side effects after taking the COVID-19 vaccine and feel sick may also be entitled to paid time off depending on their symptoms and the severity of the side effects.
Know Your Rights
Cumulative Absence Reserve
Having paid leave to rest and recuperate when you are sick is one of the many benefits of union membership and Cumulative Absence Reserve is the formal name for the bank of sick days earned by UFT-represented employees who work for the city Department of Education.
Your Well-being
Healthy habits
Healthy habits can be a way to maintain your own sense of control and well-being and keep your immune system strong in a world where many things seem out of control. Among the things to consider doing each day are taking a multivitamin, eating healthy food and making time for movement.
You Should Know
News Stories
Deductions available to educators when filing taxes
Eligible educators can deduct from their federal income taxes up to $250 of unreimbursed expenses from 2020 for books, supplies, computer equipment (including related software and services), other equipment and supplementary materials they use in the classroom, according to the IRS.
Secure Your Future
Planning to retire in June?
We outline the steps you need to take if you're planning to retire in June and give you a schedule of remote pension clinics, presented by UFT special pension representatives, tailored to your tier.
Opinions
VPerspective
Nurses find strength in union
Nearly a year after the pandemic began, New York City hospitals are once again at full capacity, but this time our own ranks have been thinned by illness. But Federation of Nurses/UFT members continue to demonstrate courage, compassion and relentless dedication while caring for patients in battlefield conditions.
Editorials
Funding our future
Now is not the time for the state to withhold funding that could help New York City students who have been traumatized by the life-changing effects of the pandemic. The governor’s executive budget proposes to reduce needed state school aid and then fill the gap with part of the $2.1 billion that New York State received for schools in the federal stimulus bill. Shortchanging our students now will have long-term consequences for them later.
Editorials
G&T wake-up call
The city's Panel for Education Policy refused to continue standardized testing for preschoolers for admission to the city’s gifted and talented programs, opening the door for reshaping the program and the criteria for admission and taking a crucial step toward addressing inequities in our segregated school system.
Editorial Cartoons
Teaching Resources
Learning Curve
Four ways to improve remote teaching
Here are surprising takeaways teachers can use to make remote instruction more effective: digital games can be incorporated into learning in small doses; students may be “digital natives” but they may need to learn how to use digital tools; digital tools may work best when they replicate familiar experiences; and remote rewards are still rewarding.
Linking to Learning
Three tools to enliven online learning
Among the many engaging online resources to help increase student engagement are three tools that are easy to use, good for any grade level and work well alongside and within Google Classroom. FlipGrid, Pear Deck and EdPuzzle can help teachers bring a jolt of excitement to their virtual classrooms.
Teacher to Teacher
Cameras, mics and rethinking classroom engagement
Much of what happens during remote learning is beyond our control. What is not beyond our control is our ability to think critically about what meaningful lessons look like in this landscape, what content students need at this unique moment and what philosophy shifts we can take with us to be more responsive educators when we all return to school buildings.
Building Your Career
Inside My Classroom
A safe space in her classroom
A 4th-grade teacher in the Bronx created a safe space in her classroom to let her children know that even though the world is different now, school is still a fun place to be.
New Teacher Articles
COVID-caused changes to certification, tenure
The UFT fought for amendments to some of the regulations that govern certification so educators are not penalized by the interruptions caused by the pandemic.
New Teacher Profiles
Learning can be a piece of cake
Long-time student Jillian Demery is now a second-year teacher, making the grade at the front of the classroom, teaching 5th-grade special ed students. Her accounting background, she says, has helped prepare her for remote learning. A self-described organizer, she makes numbers, spreadsheets and technology work for her.
Retired Teachers News
Retiree Social Services provides key COVID lifeline
Phone calls from UFT retirees are up 100% since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic as members seek information and support from the UFT Welfare Fund Retiree Social Services Department.
Christopher Chin, the department's director, reports a continuing surge of calls from retirees having a difficult time managing the challenges of the yearlong pandemic. Some retirees need practical, concrete assistance with problems such as food delivery, access to Meals on Wheels or referrals for home care, while others are feeling overwhelmed as the threat of the virus grows, making them feel vulnerable, anxious and isolated.
"Their fears are understandable given the scope and length of the pandemic," Chin said. "So we want to make sure retirees are aware of the ways this department is available to provide practical and…
Making hope & history rhyme
Those of us who worked to end the national nightmare of the last four years often called for a return to some sense of normal. Now we must figure out what that means. First, we need positive action to conquer the pandemic, And second, we need to fix the economy. My inclination is not to return to normalcy or normality but to join in a call for national purpose.
Protecting NYers through COVID tracing team
Retired science teacher Virginia Jackson had been off the job only a month before she was recruited in March 2020 to work in the COVID Test and Trace Corps of New York City.