In the wake of a recent lab accident at a Manhattan high school, UFT delegates overwhelmingly approved a resolution to call on the Department of Education to put a lab specialist in every secondary school and to ensure that every science teacher has safety training.

Lab specialists serve crucial roles by ensuring the safe operation of labs and science demonstrations as well as the proper storage of chemicals. And yet the number of lab specialists in city schools has gone down by more than half, from 250 in 1995 to 123 in 2013.

At Beacon HS, which does not have a lab specialist, an accident during a science demonstration in early January resulted in two students suffering burns. The school was subsequently cited for improper storage of chemicals and other violations.

“We want students to learn. We want them to explore,” said Sterling Roberson, the UFT vice president for career and technical education. “But we also want them to have a safe learning environment.”

Under the resolution, the UFT will call on the DOE to immediately use all lab specialists now in excess and to hire more in order that there be a lab specialist in every secondary school.

The Delegate Assembly also approved resolutions to:

• Work to win state approval for a city tax increase on wealthy individuals to fund universal full-day prekindergarten in the city; and
• Call on all UFT members to commit to strong participation in the effort to win a fair contract for the union’s DOE employees, including by joining the union’s rallies and signing up for email and text updates on contract negotiations.