New York TeacherMay 5, 2016
Volume LVII, Number 9
Cover Stories
Teacher tenure victory in California
In a victory for unions nationwide, the California Court of Appeal on April 14 reversed a lower court decision that had thrown out tenure and seniority rights for the state’s public school teachers. The appeals court ruled that the state’s teacher tenure and seniority laws do not violate black and Latino students’ rights to an equal education under the state’s constitution.
“The plaintiffs’ attack on teacher due-process protections was and is a partisan political crusade masquerading as a court case,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. The appeal court’s decision is “a clear demonstration of the weakness of the Vergara case.”
A similar lawsuit was filed in New York in 2014 after plaintiffs in the California case won at the lower court level. The New York lawsuit, known as Davids/Wright, is now before the New York State Appellate Division. It charges that teacher tenure deprives New York children of a sound, basic education, as…
Smooth sailing
A clutch of students from PS 143 in Corona were hunting for microscopic creatures that inhabit the Hudson River, the river into which they will soon be launching their handmade, 10-foot rowboat.
3.5% salary increase comes on May 1
The salaries of UFT members employed by the Department of Education increased 3.5 percent on May 1 as part of the 2014 contract.
Latest News
Electronic prescriptions now mandatory in NYS
Electronic prescribing (“e-prescribing”) will improve medication safety, reduce errors (the pharmacy won’t have to interpret your doctor’s handwriting) and may help to reduce medical costs due to adverse drug interactions caused by the pharmacist giving the wrong drug. But the new process also will create challenges at first.
City schools get big state aid boost
This year’s push by parents and educators for additional state funding for public schools paid off when the governor and Albany lawmakers on April 1 finalized a new state budget that contained a $1.4 billion increase in state education funding, with $525 million going to New York City public schools.
Friedrichs ruling a win for unions
Public-sector unions nationwide survived a serious threat when the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked on March 29 over a challenge by conservatives to the fair-share fees that public-sector unions collect from workers who don’t become members.
Comprehensive health benefits … a reason to be union Loud and Proud
UFT members have health benefits that they can count on if serious illness strikes them or a close family member. Most Americans, without a union, are not so lucky.
Hillary wins; victory in key state Senate race
Hillary Clinton, endorsed by the UFT’s national affiliate the AFT, scored a decisive victory in the April 19 New York State Democratic presidential primary.
More in News Stories
Feature Stories
Have some ‘punch’
Femi Guri knows what it’s like to see things no child should see: He and his family fled Kosovo and came to the United States in 1999 by way of a refugee camp in Macedonia. “I learned how brutal this world could be — fires, bombing, people losing loved ones,” he says. “I sort of skipped part of childhood. I was getting in trouble at school, but boxing was a savior for me.”
Now 27 and a physical education teacher at PS 65 in the South Bronx, Guri believes boxing could be a savior for his students, too. PS 65 is located in one of the poorest Congressional districts in the country; of the 460 students in the pre-K–5 school, 42 percent live in shelters or doubled up with other family members or friends. Guri opened the after-school Boxing Academy in 2014, equipped with donations from people he had met a…
Recipe for success
Working together, 3rd- through 5th-grade chefs at the afternoon family cooking class at PS 37 in Springfield Gardens turned out delicious fish tacos, fluffy brown rice and a crunchy red cabbage salad that tasted as good as it looked.
The power of connections
Since becoming a UFT Community Learning School in 2014, PS 1 in Chinatown has been able to deepen its connections with community organizations and launch new ones, all in the name of supporting students and families inside and outside the classroom.
Member Spotlight
What I Do
What I Do: Althea Hunter, school secretary
Althea Hunter is the school secretary for the principal, payroll and procurement at Fordham Academy for Leadership and Technology. After 29 years working in schools, she still loves her job.
Around the UFT
UFT Players' one-act plays
A milestone and a loss. That could easily be the title of one of their original theater pieces: For the UFT Players, a group of retired educators who write and perform on stage annually, 2016 has brought both celebration and sorrow.
District 24 Scholarship Dinner Dance
Continuing a 20-year tradition, educators, administrators and students gathered at Russo’s on the Bay on April 12 for the annual District 24 Scholarship Dinner Dance.
Social workers’ full-day workshop
Nearly 400 social workers gathered at UFT headquarters in Manhattan on April 8 for a full-day workshop, “Collaboration and Inspiration: School Social Workers as Leaders, Advocates and Brokers for Change,” organized by the UFT and the Department of Education’s Office of Guidance and School Counseling.
Irish American Committee celebration
Marie Reilly, a musician and protocol officer at the Irish Consulate in New York City, performed traditional Irish tunes on the fiddle at the UFT’s annual Irish American Committee celebration on April 5.
District 26 Scholarship Dinner Dance
District 26 pulled off what District Representative Mary Vaccaro called “an evening of surprises” at its annual District 26 Scholarship Dinner Dance on March 31.
More in Around the UFT
Your Rights and Benefits
Know Your Rights
Injury in the Line of Duty
Pedagogues — teachers, guidance counselors, school secretaries, psychologists, social workers and lab specialists — injured or made sick on the job are covered by the Injury-in-the-Line-of-Duty provision of the UFT-Department of Education contract.
Your Well-being
Help for caregivers
It is easy for caregivers to become overwhelmed and discouraged. Here are some tips to help you prevent or manage caregiver stress.
You Should Know
You Should Know
NYC tests water in schools for lead
New York City began retesting water in all schools built before 1986 in the wake of the discovery of high levels of lead in the water in Flint, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey, schools.
You Should Know
How teacher ratings will be calculated this school year
Grades 3-8 English language arts and math state assessments will not be used as part of teachers’ evaluations this year and the next three school years. There is no change for high school teachers.
Secure Your Future
Understand your pension choices
When you retire, you have another important decision to make: “Should I take the Maximum Retirement Allowance or select an option that provides for beneficiaries but reduces my monthly pension check?”
Opinions
President's Perspective
We need real measures of learning
What’s a better way to judge how much someone has learned — hours of marking bubbles on a standardized test, or a semester-long project like building a robot, mastering a piece of music or a deep dive into a moment in history?
VPerspective
Removing barriers between policy & practice
When the complex, new state regulations governing English language learner instruction caused such turmoil in New York City public schools this fall, I set about immediately to create a working group of classroom teachers to examine the issues and offer solutions.
Opinion
Labor’s Fight for 15
The Fight for 15 movement scored milestone victories this March as both California and New York State passed legislation to phase in a $15-per-hour wage floor over the next six years.
Opinion
Gun fight
The idea of students bringing guns to school sets off alarm bells. But how about allowing educators to bring them?
Editorial Cartoons
Teaching Resources
Linking to Learning
Creating a student tech team
When you start working with technology in the classroom, it can be a huge undertaking. Successful integration means more than purchasing some fancy gear; the hard work really begins after the equipment is installed.
Research shows
Paras boost student achievement
Paraprofessionals who serve as teaching assistants significantly contribute to student achievement and improved student behavior, particularly in high-needs schools, according to a new study.
Teacher to Teacher
Verdict on mock trials: effective
Have you considered asking your high school students to re-enact famous trials of historical figures like Galileo or Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher or a literary character like Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird”?
Building Your Career
Building Your Career
An expansive classroom library
We created an expansive classroom library for our 2nd-graders that is rich in quantity and quality.
New Teacher Articles
Take care of your certification
With summer just around the corner, now is a good time to take stock of the progress you’re making toward your professional state certification.
Retired Teachers News
Retirees are campaign staples
One potato, two potato, three potato, four. Guess which major political party has advocated the following policies? The comments next to each make no claim to political objectivity. One potato: Abolish the Affordable Care Act, free pharmaceutical companies to compete in price gouging and voucherize Medicare. And if you believe the value of the proposed vouchers would in any way be enough to cover your medical costs, Mae West will sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.
Two potato: Privatize Social Security. Don’t worry about the likes of a 2008 recession; this proposal would boost the investment options of experienced individual stock market and bond gamblers and, of course, give a boost to hedge fund and corporate types who have…