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Miller Photography

Image

Miller Photography

Then he revealed the reasons why this year will be no different.

Perhaps the largest and most urgent challenge the UFT — and, in fact, all public sector unions — will face this year, he said, is the U.S. Supreme Court case being used by the right to financially cripple unions by abolishing agency fees for public-sector workers [see "Supreme battle"].

Mulgrew noted that both the State Education Department and the governor had formed commissions to review the Common Core standards.

He said the union would be lobbying for more appropriate standards for students with disabilities and English language learners.

“It’s wrong to make a child sit for a test based on his chronological age without considering the IEP,” he said. “And it’s wrong to have a child sit for a test in English when they don’t speak a word of English.”

On the subject of state growth scores for teachers, Mulgrew said the Board of Regents needs to amend current regulations to deal with teachers who teach students at both ends of the achievement spectrum because the growth in these cases “cannot be measured properly.”

He added that if the union and the city Department of Education cannot reach agreement by Nov. 15 on the new evaluation procedures passed last spring at the governor’s behest, they have the right to ask for a waiver.

“We continue to negotiate in good faith,” he said.

He reminded delegates that in October members were receiving the first lump-sum payment negotiated in the 2014 contract — despite the best efforts of the Bloomberg administration “to make sure there was no money left in the city surplus.”

“There were editorials saying the city couldn’t give us any retroactive pay,” Mulgrew said. “There has never been a retro package this size. But we were able to be creative and find a way to get it.”

Mulgrew reminded delegates that members should talk to a salary expert in their borough office if they had any questions or concerns about their lump-sum payment because “every person’s retro package is different.”

Mulgrew said the union is redoubling its efforts this year to offer support to new teachers. “We want the retention rate to be 80 percent in three years,” he said. “The folks who really want to do this job are going to need our help.”

As part of that broader outreach, the union is holding meet-and-greet events for new members in each borough office this fall.

And starting this school year, Mulgrew noted, chapter advocates, many of whom are former chapter leaders, are visiting schools to help chapters that need extra support.