At the first Delegate Assembly of the school year on Oct. 11, UFT President Michael Mulgrew stressed the importance of making sure all parts of the new DOE–UFT contract get implemented.

“That should be our main focus this year,” he told the delegates, who attended the meeting either virtually or in person at union headquarters in Manhattan.

Mulgrew said a September survey of elementary school chapter leaders found that most schools were abiding by the new contract provision that elementary teacher programs should have no more than three consecutive teaching assignments. But many chapter leaders reported that their schools, in violation of the new contract, were still requiring UFT-represented employees to help with dismissal duties beyond their instructional day.

“We have more work to do,” Mulgrew said. “Kids need to be on buses by the end of the actual workday. It’s not respectful to be forced to work an extra 15–20 minutes a day.”

Mulgrew also talked to the chapter leaders about two important new school committees in the contract.

School-based professional development committees need to be activated no later than Nov. 1, he said. Under the 2023 contract, each school will now have one committee to serve as an instructional leadership team that plans all school-based professional learning and all UFT members must receive professional learning that is directly related to the work they do.

Mulgrew also said the union fought hard to require that each school have a Special Education Committee that meets at least twice a year with the principal to discuss special education compliance issues, including teacher and paraprofessional programming, that are not student specific. [See VPerspective on page 12 for more details.]

He reminded chapter leaders to use the union’s new online form in the Chapter Leader Hub to share the results of their committee’s meeting with the principal 10 days after the meeting.

If principals say they can’t fix the issues raised by the Special Education Committee because they don’t have enough money in their budgets, Mulgrew said, “it will force the Department of Education to have a real discussion about funding.”

Mulgrew told the delegates that the UFT was working with its state affiliate, NYSUT, on a campaign to fix Tier 6 of the pension system, which was first created 11 years ago. He said the UFT had a long tradition of veteran members in older tiers stepping up to fight to improve the pension benefits of the less senior members.

“Back when we fixed Tier 4, Tier 1 members helped Tier 4 members,” he said. “This time, Tier 4 members must help Tier 6 members.”

Turning to class size, Mulgrew said 35% of city classes are currently in compliance with the state law to lower New York City class sizes.

Under the law, just 20% of classes citywide had to be in compliance this school year. But another 20% of classes citywide must come into compliance each year for the next four years of the five-year phase-in period.

He said the city had no excuse for not meeting those future benchmarks. He reminded the delegates that Gov. Kathy Hochul had committed to fully fund foundation aid this school year and next. The recent increases in state school aid, he said, “absolutely cover the cost of hiring additional teachers to lower class size.”

Mulgrew reminded the delegates that mayoral control sunsets at the end of this school year and that Mayor Eric Adams’ actions might have an effect on where the union stands on the issue.

“The mayor doesn’t believe in the class-size law and he has gutted capital funding for school construction,” Mulgrew said. “The city and federal government have provided record school funding, but the city has cut us when there was no reason to do so.”