
West Indian Day Parade 2018
Nearly 100 UFT members and parents accompanied a UFT float Sept. 3 at the 51st West Indian Day Parade, an annual celebration of Caribbean culture in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
How would you define vulnerability?
It’s a question Alhassan Susso recently posed to his new class of seniors, mostly recent immigrants, at the International Community HS in Mott Haven in the Bronx.
Their answers come rushing forth: Something that can easily break, lack of confidence, insecurity, someone who is easy to manipulate. Those responses lead to a class discussion about how vulnerable we are when we take risks, especially when we’re learning.
He reminds the class that “we’re here to help each other instead of making fun of each other.”
Susso wants his students to feel valued, to be self-aware about the choices they make every day, and to speak up without fear of being “wrong” or mocked. Covering his face with a jacket, he makes the students laugh — and uses body language to bridge any gap created by unfamiliar words — to mimic the masks people wear to hide their…
Because you have a union that fights for you, eligible members are entitled to be compensated for the two 4 percent raises that former Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave to members of some municipal unions in 2009 and 2010 but refused to give to public school educators at the time. UFT members currently on payroll who worked for the DOE between 2009 and 2018 will receive in October a lump-sum payment of 25 percent of the amount accrued to date.
Because your pension is one of the most important benefits you have as a UFT member, the union’s Pension Department is expanding its outreach to help today’s in-service members better understand their pensions and plan for retirement.
UFT-supported candidate Letitia “Tish” James won the Democratic nomination for state attorney general on Sept. 13, setting her up to make history as the first black woman to hold statewide office in New York should she win the general election in November.
More than 1,200 exuberant UFT members turned out in force to show union strength and pride at the city’s Labor Day Parade.
As the #MeToo movement gathers momentum, workers at McDonald’s deployed a potent tool from the labor movement to combat sexual harassment: a strike.
The drinking water at 57 Detroit schools has tested positive for high levels of lead and copper. This means more than half of the 106 schools in Michigan’s largest school district have water unsafe for consumption. T
Two longtime UFT legends stepped down as officers of the union and their replacements were voted in by the Executive Board on Sept. 24. Mel Aaronson, who served as treasurer of the union since 1998, will be replaced by pension trustee Debra Penny, while Mary Jo Ginese, until recently the leader of the Supervisors of Nurses and Therapists Chapter, will take over for Carmen Alvarez, who has been the vice president for special education since 1990.
Gloria Weiss has worked for 20 years at the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE), the workforce development arm of the New York City Central Labor Council.
Equilibrium has returned to MS 61, a well-respected Crown Heights school in with a strong gifted-and-talented program, after its relentless chapter leader took steps to get a bullying principal removed.
Nearly 100 UFT members and parents accompanied a UFT float Sept. 3 at the 51st West Indian Day Parade, an annual celebration of Caribbean culture in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Tell your students: If they need homework help, the UFT’s award-winning Dial-A-Teacher service is open for business. The help line, beginning its 38th year, assists students and parents struggling with homework assignments from 4 to 7 p.m. every Monday to Thursday when school is in session.
Paraprofessionals are core members of every school community, and this year is the kickoff of the 50th anniversary of the UFT’s Paraprofessionals Chapter. To recognize paras and this special anniversary, UFT members are encouraged to honor a paraprofessional who has made outstanding contributions to their school, community and union.
Are you covered by a New York City health benefits plan but also covered by the non-city health insurance plan of your parent, spouse or domestic partner, or through other employment?
A new procedure has been established for UFT members who visit UFT headquarters in Manhattan or one of the union’s borough offices.
Members of the Teachers’ Retirement System or the Board of Education Retirement System have a voluntary, supplemental savings plan, the Tax-Deferred Annuity, that can help ensure their retirement security.
How can we ensure that the middle school experience benefits and uplifts every New York City public school student, regardless of race and income level? The District 15 Diversity Plan, which the city approved on Sept. 20, is an important step toward that goal.
New York State has begun to undo the legacy of lost instruction and parental anger brought about by the testing craze championed by the school “reform” movement. But it still has a ways to go to create a genuine culture of support for the schools and teachers that our children need.
Reducing the use of fossil fuels that lead to carbon pollution is one of the most important strategies for rescuing the planet.
Teachers know that their students are more than just a set of grades. But the DOE’s standard single-page report card doesn’t give them the opportunity to demonstrate it. That’s why some elementary schools have turned to alternative progress reports.
In my pre-K classroom, I strive to strengthen my students’ nonverbal communication skills because understanding facial expressions and gestures allows for communication to be fluid, natural and meaningful. For English language learners, these skills are just as important as listening, speaking, reading and writing English when it comes to acquiring English language skills.
My students are the real champs! C- Cooperative, H- Honest, A- Accountable, M- Motivated, P- Polite!
I couldn’t sleep the night before school. As a third-year teacher and a career changer, I sometimes still can’t believe I’m a special education teacher at the same public high school my daughter once attended.
Legacy is a concept that resonates with retirees. We often reflect on our personal lives, our careers and, for many of us, the fate of our union. Today, across the country, we are struggling with an evaluation of our past in the context of where we are and where we go from here.
Monuments, grief and mourning have been in the forefront in the public forum lately as a result of the death of Sen. John McCain and the ongoing efforts in some states to remove or modify confederate statuary.
What’s it all about? We who are of a certain age are more familiar than most when it comes to losing friends, family and colleagues, and it engenders some questions:
Who should be remembered and how?
What should be remembered and why?
Winston Churchill once said that he would be remembered since he intended to write the history…