New York TeacherMarch 2, 2017
Volume LVIII, Number 7
Cover Stories
The power of love
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Love was in the air this Valentine’s Day — love for public schools, that is. In the face of the threat to public education posed by the Trump administration and its new education secretary Betsy DeVos, educators, students and parents across the city demonstrated why they love their public schools.
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At many schools, hundreds of hearts covered the walls, decorated with students’ and teachers’ heartfelt odes to their schools. At PS 163 on the Upper West Side, a student wrote, “I love PS 163 because of all the kind, wonderful teachers that push you to reach your highest potential.” A teacher at Long Island City HS wrote, “As someone who was taught in public schools, whose parents taught in public schools and who went on to work in public schools, there is…
UFT delegates vote to endorse de Blasio for re-election
UFT delegates voted overwhelmingly to endorse the mayor’s re-election bid set for this coming November. “We are blessed that we have a mayor who will stand with every single public school teacher to defend our profession and the right to be unionists,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said.
UFT: Extend the tax on millionaires
UFT President Michael Mulgrew urged state lawmakers on Feb. 14 in Albany to fully fund the foundation aid that New York City schools need — and to extend and enhance the millionaire’s tax to help pay for it.
Latest News
DeVos squeaks in as education secretary
Betsy DeVos was narrowly approved as education secretary by the Senate following a bruising confirmation process and a deafening public outcry over her nomination.
Nominate Brown to TRS board
All UFT members are being urged by the union’s leadership to sign nominating petitions to re-elect Tom Brown to another three-year term as a trustee on the Teachers’ Retirement System board.
Upstate NY chemical plant workers end long strike
A strike at the Momentive chemical plant in upstate New York came to an end on Feb. 14 as workers voted to approve a new labor contract.
Opposition to Connecticut’s school aid redistribution plan
Connecticut Gov. Daniel Malloy’s proposal to redistribute state school funding from wealthier areas to struggling cities has sparked opposition from well-off towns that are concerned about footing more of the bill.
Unions seek to overturn Missouri’s right-to-work law
A bid to put Missouri’s new anti-union right-to-work law to a vote of the people was temporarily scuttled on Feb. 21 when the Republican state attorney general rejected the petition because parts of the proposal were not properly punctuated and underlined.
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Feature Stories
She has authenticity down to a science
In the spring of 2016, Bianca Brandon made a trip to ShopRite and purchased eight chickens. When a curious cashier wondered aloud why she was buying so much raw poultry, Brandon remembers with a laugh, she replied, “I don’t think you want to know.”
The chickens were victims of Brandon’s forensic science class at Staten Island Technical HS, where for the next eight weeks students would study the effects of external factors — like weather and insect activity — on body decomposition. Some of the chickens were buried in soil; others sat outside on the concrete in the sun. Students were curious about whether clothing would affect decomposition, so one of the chickens wore a tiny T-shirt.
“It really was stinky,” Brandon says matter-of-factly. “But in science, sometimes it smells bad and looks gross, and that’s just how it goes!”
For her innovative and dynamic technique in the classroom, Brandon was…
Give peace a chance
The students of PS 208 in East Flatbush marched around the city block, holding handmade signs bearing the words and symbols the children had chosen to communicate their hope for a loving world.
Noteworthy graduates: Vernon Turner, retired NFL football player
Vernon Turner endured an early life so rooted in poverty and degradation that at age 50 he remains shocked to be alive. He was saved by two miracle workers, his 2nd-grade teacher and his high school coach.
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Around the UFT
Bronx Community Learning Schools vision dinner
Sometimes it’s easier to solve problems when you collaborate. Four UFT community learning schools in the Bronx are doing just that.
Greater Metropolitan New York Social Studies Conference 2017
In a prescient pre-election decision, the annual Greater Metropolitan New York Social Studies Conference this year chose as its theme Media Literacy: Who Shapes the Narrative.
UFT African Heritage Committee annual awards dinner
Nearly 300 members and friends of the UFT African-American Heritage Committee gathered on Feb. 3 to kick off Black History Month at the committee’s 14th annual dinner dance.
UFT’s Black History film series
The UFT celebrated Black History Month by screening a series of three films that explored some of the American heroes and historical events marking that history.
Your Rights and Benefits
Know Your Benefits
Short-term disability plan
In-service UFT members have the protection of a short-term disability plan that can provide valuable income when personal illness renders them temporarily unable to work.
Your Well-being
Treating alcohol and substance abuse
Many kinds of support are available for those with substance-use issues and for their loved ones, including detox, rehab and intensive outpatient services.
You Should Know
You Should Know
Deduction increases for transit plans
If you use TransitChek, the MTA will be raising various transit fares effective March 19, including the 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard, which will increase from $116.50 to $121.
Secure Your Future
Why we must reject a constitutional convention
Every 20 years, New York State holds a referendum that asks voters if they want to hold a convention to revise or amend the state’s constitution. When the question appears on the ballot on Nov. 7, we are asking you to vote “no,” and here’s why.
Opinions
President's Perspective
Open the books on charter schools
When President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos held a meeting at the White House with the “education community” on Feb. 14, it showed the deep disconnect between his administration and the reality of education in the United States.
VPerspective
CTE power to the rescue
LIC HS's culinary arts program is an example of how Career and Technical Education programs keep students engaged and interested in school and prepare them for high-skill, high-wage careers and life after high school.
Opinion
Taxing millionaires
New York State levied a millionaire’s tax in 2009, just as the financial crisis and the ensuing recession hit. It brought in $4 billion annually to the state’s coffers just as tax receipts were drying up.
Opinion
On the right track
With the new administration in Washington, D.C., it’s more important than ever that our public schools and the students we teach have strong supporters.
Comments
Teaching Resources
Linking to Learning
Digital assessment tools
There are ways to measure learning that take advantage of technology — and make our lives as teachers easier.
Research shows
Teachers spend more than $500 on supplies
Teachers reported that they spent an average of $530 of their own money last year on basic supplies for their classrooms, according to a new national survey from education publishing company Scholastic.
Teacher to Teacher
Skill-building through the arts
I am a special education teacher who teaches performing arts in a theater program for children on the autism spectrum. I incorporate skill-building in my arts instruction — but these activities could just as easily be integrated into the rest of the classroom day.
Building Your Career
Building Your Career
The Chill Zone
The Chill Zone was created to influence peer interaction among our students with disabilities, giving them a fun yet safe way to make friends and socialize.
New Teacher Diaries
Don’t tell me my ELL students can’t achieve
Do not tell me my students cannot do math — and don’t let me tell myself that, either.
Retired Teachers News
A parting gift for her colleagues
Attendance is up, way up, in the bright, new teachers’ lounge at PS 205, a retirement gift from Lourdes Diaz-Austin to her former colleagues after 30 years as an ESL teacher at the school in the Belmont section of the Bronx. “It was a gift from my heart,” explained Diaz-Austin.
Attacks against us figure to grow
The Republican Party is more stridently opposed to unions and workers’ rights than when it last controlled both houses of Congress and a majority of state houses in 2006. It now controls Congress, the presidency and the majority of state houses, and is poised to dismantle the American labor movement. It began in Wisconsin when Gov. Scott Walker gutted the collective-bargaining rights of public-sector employees like us and now the threat looms in the federal government.