A 27.5 percent increase in funding for Teacher’s Choice, the UFT’s top budget priority, was secured for the 2016–17 fiscal year after an intense lobbying campaign by members on social media and by union leaders at Council meetings and hearings.

The budget allotment of $12.3 million is up from $9.65 million last year, thanks to the more than 1,000 UFT members who tweeted at Council members or told their stories of out-of-pocket spending on school supplies to their Council members in an email campaign. The exact amount that each educator will receive in Teacher’s Choice funds for the coming school year will be determined by the Department of Education during the summer, once it has a clearer sense of the total number of eligible educators.

Funding for the UFT’s Community Learning Schools Initiative — a network of 28 schools with community partnerships to integrate vital support services into schools — was also at the top of the UFT’s list of must-have resources. The new budget sets aside $475,000 for the initiative, maintaining its current level of funding.

Mulgrew thanked the Council for its support. “The Council’s tireless advocacy and support strengthen our ability to serve the children of this city,” he said. “These programs actually make a difference in the classroom and they are important to our members, who can do great things when they have the right tools.”

And he thanked UFT members for making their voices heard among the many groups vying for a piece of the budget pie. “We want our members to know how much their lobbying efforts have meant to us,” he said. “We thank everyone who shared a story or participated in any way in our campaign.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito shook hands on an $82.1 billion budget agreement on June 8, the earliest a deal has been reached since 2001. By law, the new city budget must be in place by July 1.

Teacher’s Choice, traditionally funded by the City Council, reimburses educators for some of their out-of-pocket costs for supplies and has a direct impact on what teachers can accomplish in the classroom. The average teacher spends more than $500 a year on his or her students, and many have expenditures that top $1,000. Teachers buy everything from crayons to glue sticks to telescopes to computer software.

“These are not extraneous expenditures,” Mulgrew said. “These are educational tools that make the classroom experience special and memorable.”

This school year, teachers received $122 in Teacher’s Choice funds (guidance counselors, school social workers and psychologists, school secretaries and lab specialists received smaller amounts). The union had urged the Council to restore the prerecession allotment. The UFT’s ultimate goal, Mulgrew has said, is to make Teacher’s Choice “a permanent item in the budget.”

The City Council declined to allocate funding for the Positive Learning Collaborative, a joint initiative of the union and the DOE that supports schools in creating a positive learning environment. The UFT is looking for other public and private funding sources for this needed program.