New York TeacherJuly 6, 2017
Volume LVIII, Number 11
Cover Stories
Teacher’s Choice gets big boost in city budget
Teacher’s Choice received a 63.5 percent increase in the final city budget, passed on June 6, bringing funding for the City Council’s popular program that reimburses educators for out-of-pocket spending on classroom supplies back up to its pre-recession high of more than $20 million. The exact dollar amount for each eligible educator will be determined later by the Department of Education.
The boost for Teacher’s Choice was part of a wider investment in public education in the $85.2 billion budget.
“With this budget, the City Council protected all sectors of New York City and invested in our children, our communities and our families,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “In these trying political times, it is important for people to know that New York City’s elected officials are standing up for all of us.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced the handshake deal on June 2, nearly a month ahead of the deadline. It was…
Counting their chickens
They say a farmer’s work is never done, and no one knows this better than the students in the agriculture program at John Bowne HS in Flushing, Queens.
‘The best-kept secret’
High school students are sent to Brooklyn East Alternate Learning Center for instruction after they have committed an infraction that results in an out-of-school suspension. The school is serious about meeting their academic and social-emotional needs.
Latest News
181 reasons to be #PublicSchoolProud
There is reason for optimism about the future knowing it will be in the hands of the students who won Albert Shanker college scholarships presented at the awards ceremony on May 23.
Holding superintendents accountable gets results
A superintendent is working attentively with the UFT after the Department of Education took to heart the management issues that the union raised, UFT President Michael Mulgrew reported to the Delegate Assembly on June 14.
Paperwork process gets job done
The data proves it: The UFT’s new paperwork reduction reporting form gets results.
Obama-era protection for union organizing revoked
The Labor Department will reverse an Obama-era rule requiring companies to disclose their initial contacts with outside consultants advising them about how to combat union-organizing efforts.
More in News Stories
Feature Stories
Lord of the flies
When the students studying forensics at the Academy for Health Careers in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, gather in the school’s courtyard on a cool morning in May, they steel themselves before approaching the five small plastic food containers teacher Candice Flemming has placed outside.
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Inside those containers they won’t find anything remotely appetizing: They hold a swarm of maggots and flies feasting on a chunk of rotting beef kidney. The smell will send most of the students reeling back — before curiosity and the demands of classwork reel them back in. Shouts of disgust and “I’m not holding it” die down. That’s when the students don goggles or pick up noteb…
Revved up for robotics
The recently resurrected robotics team at John Adams HS in Ozone Park, Queens, goes to the 2017 FIRST Robotics Competition, learning how to work and play together and gaining valuable STEM skills along the way.
Noteworthy graduates: Jimmy Van Bramer, City Council member
Jimmy Van Bramer says his 10th-grade Global Studies teacher saved his life. She took a shy and withdrawn boy struggling with his sexuality and said: “You are smart, Jimmy. You have a voice. A voice is power. Use your voice."
Around the UFT
Pathways to Graduation outing
More than 1,000 students from around the city took part in a variety of outdoor events from rock climbing to Zumba at Pathways to Graduation’s third annual Field Day at Riverbank State Park in Manhattan on May 31.
UFT Family Child Care Providers Appreciation Educational Conference
Themed “Constructing Knowledge through Purposeful Play,” the Providers Appreciation Educational Conference featured workshops led by UFT Teacher Center instructors and free takeaway resources, including books, puppets, puzzles and science kits.
Hillcrest HS Spring Festival
The annual Hillcrest HS Spring Festival featured art, music, dance and a parade of elephants — all of them papier-mâché, created by teams of students, for a display called “The Elephant Walk.”
FirstBook giveaways at PS 105 in Brooklyn and PS 15 in Manhattan
Nicole Barone will be a first-year teacher at PS 748 this fall, but she got a jump on building her classroom library by going to the FirstBook event co-sponsored by the UFT at PS 105 in Borough Park, Brooklyn on June 10.
UFT Queens Parent Book Clubs’ year-end event
Parents from across Queens came together to celebrate the culmination of another successful year of school-based parent book clubs faciliated by the union.
More in Around the UFT
You Should Know
You Should Know
More coverage for opioid treatment drugs
Following a new state mandate, EmblemHealth and the other New York City employee health plans will now cover members for medicines used to treat substance-use disorders, including medicines usually prescribed for opioid addiction and dependence.
Secure Your Future
A century of financial security
This is a special year for the Teachers’ Retirement System. On Aug. 1, TRS marks its 100th anniversary.
Opinions
President's Perspective
We held fast, but more battles loom
Who would have thought in November that we would be where we are now? We celebrate the conclusion of a successful school year for public school educators, but it didn’t look so great just seven months ago.
VPerspective
Changing school climate
I was proud to speak at a recent budget testimony about a vital education program that the UFT supports: the Positive Learning Collaborative.
Opinion
Testing in perspective
State education officials have decided to shorten the state ELA and math tests that students in grades 3–8 once slogged through over six days.
Opinion
Steps toward diversity
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan for increasing school diversity, released on June 6, is a much-needed response to segregation in New York City public schools.
Editorial Cartoons
Teaching Resources
Linking to Learning
Gaming in education
There’s no doubt gaming plays a huge role in the lives of children today. Many teachers have been wondering if gaming can be used for educational purposes. Is there a way to harness the popularity of online and video games to teach students real-world skills?
Research shows
Skipping classes adds up
Absences due to skipping class add up. Most attendance statistics released to the public do not include time lost due to cutting classes, yet missing individual classes accounted for as many total missed days as full-day absences, according to new research in the journal AERA Open.
Teacher to Teacher
Use the summer to reflect
Regardless of what your summer plans are, please consider adding the 3Rs: rest, rejuvenation and reflection.
Building Your Career
Building Your Career
Putting tired words to rest
Our most over-used words are in these pockets, and writers can select a strip of synonyms to bring back to their seats.
New Teacher Diaries
Helping an ELL student at square one
Antonio was a genuine, square-one beginner when I met him in my English as a New Language class in September. He was on time, seated up straight in the front row, smiling. He had been in this country for just weeks and he was clearly ready to learn. But was I ready to teach him?
Retired Teachers News
Vote 'no' on constitutional convention
UFT members planning to retire this summer can rely on the three pillars of retirement security: Social Security, a pension and free employer-sponsored health insurance. Many UFT members also have a fourth pillar to bolster their retirement security: a Tax-Deferred Annuity.
However, UFT members’ pensions are among the many bene ts at risk if New Yorkers vote this fall to hold a constitutional convention. Vote “no” on Nov. 7. New York should not hold a state constitutional convention.
Write letters against constitutional convention
With the constitutional convention looming, now is the time for us to practice what we taught. It is vital that we get the message out about how important a NO vote is for retirees.
Termination pay for 2015, 2016
The New York City Department of Education will issue the last installment of termination pay for 2015 retirees and the second installment of termination pay for 2016 retirees.