New York TeacherDecember 7, 2017
Volume LIX, Number 4
Cover Stories
The fight for paid parental leave
Luisa Ayala should have been thrilled to be pregnant with her second daughter in December 2016. But having given birth to her first child just over a year earlier, she found herself in a wrenching predicament.
The Department of Education’s current parental leave policy provides up to six weeks of leave, but new mothers must effectively pay for any days they take using the days in their Cumulative Absence Reserve (CAR). Because Ayala, a paraprofessional at Pelham Academy of Academics and Community Engagement in the Bronx, used up most of her CAR days after her first pregnancy and felt she couldn’t afford to go unpaid, she returned to work just 10 days after her second daughter’s birth.
Two days later, she was admitted to the hospital with a deep vein thrombosis in her left leg and a pulmonary emb…
WE DID IT!
New Yorkers had their say, and they said no — resoundingly — to a state constitutional convention on Nov. 8. “The Vote NO campaign was a case study in how engaged and informed union members can mobilize to protect their rights and benefits,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.
School duo among first responders to terror attack
A school nurse and her daughter, a substitute teacher, were thrust into the scene of the deadliest terror attack in New York City since 9/11.
Latest News
‘Every year, I learn more and more’
Strategies to help New York City’s public school children become socially and academically successful were the focus of the eighth annual UFT Parent Conferences held in each borough and the thousands who attended them in the fall.
U.S. Senate confirms union foe to head labor board
President Trump’s nominee for the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel, Peter Robb, received U.S. Senate confirmation on Nov. 8. Robb is a labor lawyer with a long history of backing management against unions and workers.
AFT helps Puerto Rico obtain clean water
Hurricane Maria left nearly one million Americans in Puerto Rico without clean drinking water, and the American Federation of Teachers is stepping up to help.
Gothamist and DNAinfo shut down for unionizing
New York local news staples Gothamist and DNAinfo were shut down by their billionaire owner, Joe Ricketts, on Nov. 3 — only a week after their workers voted to form a union.
Anti-voucher school board candidates win in Colorado
The school voucher program in Colorado’s Douglas County is on thin ice after voters on Nov. 7 ushered in an anti-voucher slate of candidates by huge margins.
More in News Stories
Feature Stories
Union Proud: Your rights
You can click on the headlines in the tree below to learn more about each right that you have as a UFT member.
The UFT-Department of Education contract empowers us and helps ensure we have the resources, support and structures in place we need to provide a quality education to New York City public school students. These are just a few of the many rights you have because you have a strong union that can bargain and work on your behalf. …
Rugby scores at Park Slope school
At Brooklyn middle school, academics is a team player in championship rugby program.
Noteworthy graduates: Harvey Araton, sportswriter
Harvey Araton had never seen The New York Times until a high school English teacher had his class read it each day. Now, after more than 25 years as a sportswriter and columnist there, Araton's writing has earned him a place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Member Spotlight
Chapter Leader Shoutout
Kudos to Bennett Fischer, PS 231 @ PS 54, Brooklyn
Bennett Fischer, the chapter leader at PS 231 @ PS 54 in Brooklyn, seized on the UFT’s new protocol to confront redundant and excessive paperwork to address three big paperwork issues at his District 75 K–8 school.
Around the UFT
Three M New Teacher Event
New members at three large high schools in Brooklyn had the opportunity to learn more about their union on Oct. 25 at Madison HS.
Human wave at Edward R. Murrow HS, Brooklyn
Staff and students at Edward R. Murrow HS, one of the most diverse high schools in New York State, took part in a great human wave to celebrate that diversity on Oct. 24.
Character Day Parade at PS 165, Brooklyn
It’s not often that Little Red Riding Hood gets together with Batman and Tinkerbell. But at the annual Character Day Parade at PS 165 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, anything can happen when students dress up as their favorite storybook characters on Halloween.
10th anniversary at PS/IS 295, Queens
Delissa Walker-Belfon, a kindergarten teacher at PS/IS 295 in Queens Village, remembers when the school opened its doors 10 years ago.
Welfare Fund Medical Learning Series
Herb and dietary supplement safety was the focus of the Nov. 9 UFT Welfare Fund Medical Learning Series.
Your Rights and Benefits
Know Your Rights
Paraprofessionals’ responsibilities
UFT paraprofessionals have challenging and rewarding jobs working as part of an educational team providing educational and support services to children. Here are some rights and responsibilities of paraprofessionals that paras should know.
Your Well-being
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Many people experience the “winter blues” in response to the change of seasons. Research over the past 30 years has identified this as a true medical condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.
You Should Know
Secure Your Future
TRS benefits that protect you and your family
The Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) provides benefits if you become disabled, die or leave service before retirement age. Some of the benefits depend on choices you make now.
Opinions
VPerspective
Educational excellence is unionism
Educators' pursuit of scholastic excellence for their students and themselves and the advancement of their profession through trade unionism as UFT members are not mutually exclusive.
President's Perspective
All our children
UFT members spend their days nurturing and supporting other people’s children, yet the Department of Education’s current parental leave policy forces them to choose between their newborns and earning a paycheck that is critical to the wellbeing of their families.
Opinion
Killing the news
Why would the owner of DNAinfo and Gothamist suddenly pull the plug on Nov. 2 on two news sites that were filling a huge void in local coverage?
Opinion
Beyond the con: Janus
The next challenge we face is the upcoming ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. In the coming months, we’ll need all hands on deck to get the message out about the importance of union membership and the critical difference it makes in our standard of living.
Editorial Cartoons
Teaching Resources
Learning Curve
A new approach to gifted education
Educators in the Bronx’s District 8 are embracing a new approach to gifted education. Known as the “schoolwide enrichment model,” it focuses not on classifying gifted individuals but rather on developing and nurturing gifted behaviors in all students.
Research shows
Teacher say in school decisions aids students
Students perform better in schools where teachers have input into key school decisions, according to new research funded by the Carnegie Corporation.
Teacher to Teacher
Parental involvement and special-needs students
When working on my doctoral degree in educational psychology, I embarked on a journey to explore the home-school connection for students with special needs, its challenges and the most effective ways to initiate it.
Building Your Career
Building Your Career
A growth mindset
My students came up with amazing ideas of what people with a growth mindset might say.
New Teacher Articles
You’ve made it to December! Now what?
Now that the newness of the school year has worn off, you may find yourself hunting for fresh strategies for motivating students to try out as the winter looms.
Retired Teachers News
SHIP 2018 Premium Notices
The Supplemental Health Insurance Program’s 2018 premium notices will be sent in early January to retirees who have not elected to pay premiums via automatic pension deduction.
Labor must show the way
Early in the last century, when icebergs threatened North Atlantic sea lanes, a London newspaper suggested placing two or three members of the same political party who had different points of view on the icebergs so the heat of their vicious arguments could melt away the frozen shipping hazards.