Camille Ratteray-Vann has high hopes for mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, who won a decisive victory on Nov. 5. She’s an English and dance teacher at IS 126 in Long Island City and the chapter leader for Alternative Learning Centers in Queens for suspended students. De Blasio’s criticism of high-stakes testing resonated with her.

“I’m a proponent of portfolio assessment,” she said. “We’re not one thing. Testing is necessary, but now we teach to the test.”

Ratteray-Vann is just one of many UFT members who hopes de Blasio, the first Democrat to win the office in 20 years, lives up to his campaign promises on education and sets a different tone at City Hall, especially with regard to how children and educators are treated.

De Blasio, who received 74 percent of the vote on Election Day compared to 24 percent for Republican Joe Lhota, criticized the emphasis on high-stakes testing, called for a moratorium on closing schools and said he would consider charging rent to charter schools that co-locate in public school buildings. He vowed to review co-locations approved in the waning days of Bloomberg’s tenure in office. By pointing out the growing income inequality in the city, de Blasio gave voice to a segment of the city that was shut out of the economic revival that Bloomberg considers his legacy.

Lynette Azar, the chapter leader at PS/IS 180 in Borough Park, Brooklyn, said de Blasio’s proposal to tax wealthier individuals to fund universal prekindergarten and after-school programs would be a boon for her school.

“I have three prekindergarten classes in my school, and they are amazing,” Azar said. “The classes make a tremendous difference. Children have more social and academic skills, better hygiene, and parents are more involved.”

Expectations among UFT members are high that the union will have a better relationship with the city’s new mayor, and that it will bear fruit in a contract that reflects respect for the work they do. The most recent UFT contract expired in October 2009.

“I like that he is willing to work with us, and I’m hoping for a fair contract,” Azar said.

Chapter Leader Nilajah Reed, a teacher at MS 343 in the South Bronx, said she’s concerned about the new teacher evaluation system and the punitive way it is being rolled out. “How can we make it work for us?” she said. “Right now it’s more like a ‘gotcha’ moment.”

Reed echoed the sentiment of others about the need to support schools in low-income areas that face the most challenges. “I see schools closing so they can put in charter schools,” she said. “Give us some help.”

For Edgar Irizarry Jr., a paraprofessional at PS 226 in the Bronx and a District 10 parent coordinator, the new administration’s priority should be closing the gap between wages and the cost of living. “As paraprofessionals, we’re the hardest-hit financially,” he said.

Davin Aebisher, who teaches at the UFT Charter School in East New York, summed up the hopes of members: “De Blasio’s overall stance on education, compared to the regime in place today, is more respectful toward the profession. Things are bound to get better.”