UFT President Michael Mulgrew told about 800 chapter leaders at a citywide chapter leader meeting on Sept. 10 that a primary objective this new school year is to act on the rights granted to UFT members in the new contract with the Department of Education.

“The goal must be to implement our contract,” Mulgrew told the crowd assembled at UFT headquarters. “If we don’t implement it, it’s words on paper that mean nothing.”

Mulgrew reminded the chapter leaders that the UFT had to fight with former Mayor Bloomberg over his disastrous policies in the schools.

“Now it’s time to shift,” he said. “We now have to show

everyone what public education should be.”

Principals on their own aren’t going to be able to design the kind of professional development that teachers and other UFT members in the schools want, he said. To help schools make the best use of the new time for professional development on Mondays, he said the UFT had developed a new section of the website that will be a repository of ideas and tools designed by the UFT Teacher Center and other educators.

He encouraged chapter leaders and other members of the school-based professional development committees to share their best ideas on the website.

“Unlike in the past, this is professional development in which we have a say,” he said.

In addition to setting up school and citywide professional development committees, the contract also established

a joint UFT-DOE committee that has created some initial standards to reduce unnecessary paperwork, Mulgrew said.

“If you are told to generate any paperwork for a dog-and-pony show such as a quality review, that is wrong and you need to let us know about it,” he said.

Mulgrew also touched on the debate over the union’s participation in a march for unity and justice in response to the death of Eric Garner in an encounter with police in Staten Island over the summer. He said that by participating the UFT accomplished its goal of helping to end polarization between the public and the police over Garner’s death.

“The march was peaceful. It was supportive of the police,” he said. “I was proud of what we did.”

On the two lawsuits — since combined into one — against New York State’s tenure and seniority laws [see “UFT becomes defendant in tenure lawsuit” on page 6], Mulgrew said the legal actions are intended to distract the public from the real challenges facing public education.

“We need to fund education,” he said. “We need to do more for our children.”

But keeping tenure is critical for our students, he added. “Without tenure, teachers do not have the protection they need to stand up for children,” he said.

The meeting began with recognition of UFT members and staff who have helped to coordinate the UFT’s participation in the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. Last year, along with NYSUT members across the state, UFT members helped to raise more than $1 million for the American Cancer Society.

Those honored included District 4 Representative Servia Silva, the citywide coordinator; Sheralyn Bailey, Staten Island; Nick Cruz and Susan Perez, the Bronx; Greer Hansen-Velazquez, Queens; Theresa Samuels, Brooklyn; Myra Entenberg, Manhattan; Fran Miller, Long Island; and Louisa Johnston of the Retired Teachers Chapter office.