The conference, at the New York Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan, showcased the great work being done by educators in New York City public schools, with a morning panel and workshops that gave prominent roles to educators who are engaged in the UFT’s Community Learning Schools and the new school-based initiatives that got underway this year.

]“It’s because of all that you have done that we are moving our school system forward,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew told an energized crowd of 1,400 people at the union’s annual Spring Education Conference on May 30.

There were surprise appearances by the mayor and the schools chancellor, who celebrated the contributions that teachers make.

“If we cherish our children, we need to respect educators,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. He praised educators as the strongest voice for reform because, he said, they want what’s best for children.

On a personal note, the mayor said his experience as a public school parent has had a profound effect on his life, as he saw how teachers molded his two children to become more caring and compassionate about the larger world.

Chancellor Carmen Fariña read from a poem by Marge Piercy: “The people I love the best jump into work head first … The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.”

Fariña said that there is no work that is more real than that of being a parent, teacher or principal.

In a year that has seen the union using social media to protect the schools, it was fitting that Mulgrew had attendees take part in an instant interactive poll done by texting, which revealed that among those in the audience, more than a third of the teachers said they spend more than $1,000 of their own money every year on classroom supplies.

“For 20 years this union was at war with City Hall and City Hall was at war with the school system,” Mulgrew said. That conflict harmed students, educators, parents and community members, he noted. Now, he said, New York City has the opportunity to move its public schools forward.

Mulgrew asked the audience to reach into the bag under each table. Out came T-shirts emblazoned with the words respect, passion and dignity. Educators held up or put on the shirts and cheered, reveling in the novelty of an administration that is working with educators for the betterment of students.

Now, Mulgrew said, “We can say that we bring passion to our schools every day, we respect our colleagues each and every day. Next year will be about celebrating the public school system of New York City.”

The other union leaders and elected officials who spoke at the luncheon were Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, AFT President Randi Weingarten and Public Advocate Letitia James.