New York TeacherJune 7, 2018
Volume LX, Number 10
Cover Stories
‘Our destiny rests in our hands’
With the U.S. Supreme Court possibly days away from issuing a ruling in the Janus v. AFSCME case, UFT President Michael Mulgrew urged chapter leaders and delegates at the May 16 Delegate Assembly to make sure members in their chapters understand what is at stake for them in the case.
The organizations behind the lawsuit are trying, he said, to deprive workers of their ability to come together and have a voice in the political process and at the bargaining table.
“Once our members have the facts, they will make good decisions,” Mulgrew said.
Observers expect the Supreme Court to rule against unions and give government workers across all states the option of declining to pay union fees even though they benefit from that union‘s contract negotiations and services.
Mulgrew said the goal of the right-wing groups funding the case is to weaken unions economically and, as a result, politically so …
Joining the ‘maker movement’
PS 15 in Manhattan is one of a growing number of schools that are dedicating spaces for students to design, build, experiment and explore.
City’s ‘gender bias’ blocks paid parental leave
UFT President Michael Mulgrew on April 30 slammed the city’s reluctance to extend paid parental leave to UFT members as “clear gender bias.”
Latest News
Council members urged to back UFT programs
New York City Council members attending the UFT’s May 3 legislative breakfast heard why it’s important to continue supporting five of the UFT’s signature programs: Teacher’s Choice, the Community Learning Schools Initiative, the Positive Learning Collaborative, the BRAVE anti-bullying program and the Dial-a-Teacher homework helpline.
State government takes over special ed in Chicago
The Illinois state Board of Education on May 16 assumed far-reaching authority over special education in Chicago’s public schools.
DeVos bashes bans on tax dollars in religious schools
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos denounced state constitutional amendments preventing public funds from being spent on private religious schools in a May 16 speech to the Alfred E. Smith Foundation in New York City. These amendments are on the books in 37 states, including New York and DeVos’ home state of Michigan.
Missouri passes new restrictions on unions
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos denounced state constitutional amendments preventing public funds from being spent on private religious schools in a May 16 speech to the Alfred E. Smith Foundation in New York City. These amendments are on the books in 37 states, including New York and DeVos’ home state of Michigan.
North Carolina teachers stage one-day walkout
North Carolina experienced the largest organized political action by teachers in the state’s history on May 16 as tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job to rally in the state capital for higher wages and education funding. The event shut down public schools for more than 1 million students.
More in News Stories
Feature Stories
Ready for prom
Nearly 4,000 8th-graders and high school seniors will be decked out for end-of-year celebrations thanks to eight UFT prom events held throughout the city in April and May. [[nid:107106; float: left; styleName:article_x_half_auto]][[nid:107115; float: left; styleName:article_x_half_auto]]
“It’s awesome,” said Jasmine Dickson, a science teacher who accompanied students from MS 224 in Mott Haven to the prom event at the UFT’s Bronx borough office on May 4. “Some kids were apprehensive. They didn’t think they’d find something here, but they did.”
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Noteworthy graduate: Jon Favreau, actor and filmmaker
Jon Favreau says his four years at Bronx HS of Science are indelible for him. "Only now can I appreciate what a great life experience it was," he says. "I got a good working knowledge of many different cultures and as I travel or meet people throughout my life, I can draw upon that."
Easel does it
Visitors to the UFT’s Queens borough office in April were greeted by a curious sight: an artist with a tray full of oil paints standing before an easel in the 5th-floor waiting room.
Member Spotlight
Chapter Leader Shoutout
Kudos to Farrah Alexander, PS 64, Manhattan
There was no chapter leader at PS 64 in the East Village when teacher Farrah Alexander returned from maternity leave in September so she stepped up to the plate. “I know that complaining is not productive and that we should be working together, especially in a negotiating year and with so many anti-union threats facing us,” she said. “So I slowly raised my hand.”
Around the UFT
May Day rally
UFT members joined fellow unionized workers and immigrants to stand together as Partners in Power, the theme of the 2018 May Day rally in Washington Square Park.
In the Middle — UFT’s anti-bullying student conference
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Anthony Harmon, the UFT director of parent and community outreach, reminded about 300 middle schoolers and their teachers and counselors of that famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi as they prepared to head for workshops during the UFT’s anti-bullying conference, “In the Middle,” on May 10.
Mural gives students ‘voice’
There’s a new mural outside 751M in the East Village that staff members say captures the diversity, individuality and love of the nearly 60 students who created it.
Better Speech and Hearing Month Celebration 2018
An array of projects by speech teachers and their students earned a place in the spotlight at the union's 12th annual Better Speech and Hearing Month Celebration.
History of Motown performance at P 373, Brooklyn
High school students at P 373, a District 75 school at the Brooklyn Transition Center, brought the house down on May 15 with an original performance chronicling the beginning of the Temptations singing group and the history of Motown music from Diana Ross to Michael Jackson.
More in Around the UFT
Your Rights and Benefits
Know Your Rights
Per-session activities
Here are some of the rules that govern these per-session activities for teachers, school psychologists and social workers and paraprofessionals.
Your Well-being
Cultivating mental health
Mental illness is a health condition that changes a person’s thinking, feelings or behavior and causes that person distress and difficulty in functioning. It is a prevalent health condition that is treatable, even when chronic.
You Should Know
You Should Know
Your new UFT membership card and app
The UFT mailed a new membership card with a member ID number to every UFT member in May. The UFT app for members only is now available for download, too.
Secure Your Future
Your TDA options when you retire
The Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) and the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) have designed their TDA programs so you have choices in how to handle your money when you retire. Here are some things to consider about these three alternatives as you ponder what works best for you.
Opinions
VPerspective
CTE students put theory into practice
At the HERstory brunch in March at union headquarters, UFT members were able to relax while receiving massages and feel pampered while having their nails manicured and their makeup applied, all by career and technical education students from Queens Vocational HS in Long Island City. Those 25 cosmetology students were demonstrating how the CTE process works, applying the skills they mastered in school in a real-world setting.
President's Perspective
Testing students and teachers
Albany is finally devising a teacher evaluation system that does not hinge on how their students — or, in many cases, how students in their school whom they don’t even teach — perform on high-stakes state tests.
Opinion
Fighting back
It would be a frightening moment in the workplace for anyone: a person you are trying to help suddenly attacks.
Opinion
The right words
Words matter. When Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza uses the word “segregation,” he’s tackling head-on a critical issue in New York City public schools.
Editorial Cartoons
Teaching Resources
Research shows
Theater a better teacher than movies
Students who are taken to see a live theater production derive educational benefits that are not gotten from seeing a story told on film, according to new research in the journal Educational Researcher.
Teacher to Teacher
Helping students become self-aware learners
I started to research metacognition in young children because I wanted my students to be aware of their own learning and thinking and take ownership over their own successes.
Building Your Career
Building Your Career
Where languages are welcomed
We integrated the first languages of English language learners in our 7th-grade literacy unit on poetry in both integrated co-teaching and general education classes.
New Teacher Articles
Building resilience in students
Your students are dealing with challenges and complex emotions outside the classroom that can affect their learning. IIf you can think of these issues as opportunities to help your students build resilience, you can begin to establish a classroom environment that supports your students’ social and emotional needs as well as their academic ones.
Retired Teachers News
UFT to use new automated dues refund system for retirees working for the DOE
If you return to work for the Department of Education and continue to collect a pension, you will find that you are paying union dues both as a retiree (from your pension check) and as an employee (from your payroll check).
Doing the good nearest to us
Since many of us still live in an academic-year mindset, I thought this column should round out the semester.