New York TeacherApril 4, 2019
Volume LX, Number 8
Cover Stories
How Long Island City HS got its groove back
Seven years ago, Long Island City HS in Queens was a struggling school that was a mainstay on state watch lists and the target of a shake-up plan by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Today, the school is in good standing with the state accountability standards for the first time ever. Student attendance is up, and graduation rates are rising.
The turnaround was the result of a set of strategies that included smaller class sizes and more individualized attention. But collaboration — between administrators and staff and among the teachers themselves — was the linchpin.
“It wasn’t top-down management,” said Laura Parker, a culinary arts teacher. “It allowed us to rise up.”
The Department of Education data attests to the school’s success. The school’s four-year graduation rate grew from 65 percent four years ago to 76 percent for the 2017–18 school year. The percentage of students who showed up for classes at least 90 percent of the time has cli…
Legacy of a ‘long, hard journey’
More than 1,000 UFT members and guests — including James Geigel, his immigrant grandparents Angelina and Modesto Hernandez and his mother Nitza Hernandez — all paras or paras who became teachers — packed the New York Hilton's Grand Ballroom to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the chapter.
Making a difference for their students
A substantial increase in state funding for New York City public schools topped the agenda for the more than a thousand UFT members and public school parents who traveled to Albany on March 18 to meet with their state representatives for the UFT’s annual Lobby Day.
Latest News
AFT unveils new endorsement process for 2020
The American Federation of Teachers is approaching the 2020 presidential primary with a new endorsement procedure. The union faced criticism for its early endorsement of Hillary Clinton in 2015, which left some of its members feeling left out of the selection process.
Judge blocks DeVos from delaying special ed rule
A federal judge ruled on March 7 that U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ effort to delay a statute requiring states to remedy a racial gap in special education was illegal.
Trump administration proposes education cuts again
The Trump administration’s budget proposal for 2020, released on March 11, includes a $7.1 billion cut to the U.S. Department of Education. This is the third time the White House has sought to slash education funding. Though Congress has largely ignored the administration’s previous attempts at deep cuts and is expected to rebuff these proposals as well, the document demonstrates the administration’s commitment to the privatization agenda of Betsy DeVos, its education secretary.
UFT chapter at Forest Hills HS votes ‘no confidence’ in principal
At Forest Hills HS in Queens, Chapter Leader Adam Bergstein and his members have passed a vote of no confidence against their principal.
Mulgrew slams education bureaucracy at city budget hearing
UFT President Michael Mulgrew made the case for more funding for school programs that directly aid students in budget testimony on March 20 before the City Council Education Committee. At the same time, he asked the Council members to make sure state funds are not derailed or swallowed up the city’s education bureaucracy.
Feature Stories
Putting a price on student voice
It’s not every day that high school students get to decide how to spend $500,000.
At a mid-March meeting of student government leaders at Gotham Professional Arts Academy, students talked about the options for spending this sum to improve the building they share with Acorn Community HS: Should they renovate the dance room, repair the gym floor or pave a section of the school parking lot to create a basketball court?
The two schools in Prospect Heights are one of two campuses in Brooklyn that are taking part in a pilot project in participatory budgeting in which students get to vote on spending priorities to meet building needs. The project, sponsored and funded by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, is part of a movement to promote greater community and student involvement in the local…
Member Spotlight
Kudos to Lucas Rule, Pathways College Preparatory School, Queens
Chapter Leader Lucas Rule knows he is fortunate to have a collaborative working relationship with his principal at Pathways College Preparatory School, a grades 6–12 school in St. Albans, Queens. But when one of his members struggled to resolve a workload issue with an assistant principal, Rule didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the new provision in the DOE-UFT contract that helps chapter leaders address violations of systemwide standards governing workplace issues.
What I Do: Melissa Toribio, speech therapist
Melissa Toribio, a bilingual speech language therapist at PS 531, PS 536 and PS 691 in the Bronx, works to ensure that all her students are able to express themselves and understand others in the classroom and in their daily lives.
Around the UFT
Irish American Committee’s heritage celebration
More than 70 people enjoyed Irish food and culture at the UFT Irish American Committee’s annual heritage celebration on March 21 at union headquarters in Manhattan.
Hellenic American Educators Association’s Greek Independence Day Celebration
The UFT’s Hellenic American Educators Association took a trip back in time at its Greek Independence Day Celebration on March 22 at UFT headquarters, where historical consultant and music composer Vassilios Chrissochos gave a video presentation titled “1821 — The Liberation of Greece.”
Lunar New Year Banquet
Members packed Delight 28 restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown on March 15 to celebrate the Year of the Pig at the UFT’s Asian American Heritage Committee’s annual Lunar New Year Banquet.
Men in Education symposium
The feeling that “we’re all in this together” was a big part of the fourth annual Men in Education symposium on March 2 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan.
‘We’re building whole children’
At the annual showcase designed to promote the accomplishments of the newly renamed UFT United Community Schools Initiative, the spotlight was on PS/IS 184 in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
Your Rights and Benefits
Know Your Benefits
Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ Compensation can provide valuable benefits if you are a paraprofessional, school nurse or occupational or physical therapist and have a work-related injury or occupational illness.
Know Your Rights
School chapters & chapter leaders
The union is ultimately only as strong as its individual chapters. Each chapter leader is tasked with building a strong and engaged chapter that has meaningful input in school-level decisions and participates in union campaigns to protect public schools and worker rights.
Your Well-being
Suicide prevention
Whatever the cause, suicide is a major public health concern and among the leading causes of death in the United States. As educators, our awareness of this issue is particularly important.
You Should Know
You Should Know
Make health plan changes in April
There will be a special health benefits transfer period for in-service New York City employees only during the full month of April 2019.
Secure Your Future
Understanding TRS’ Passport Funds
Learn how monthly unit values are calculated for variable return Passport Fund investments with the Teachers' Retirement System.
Opinions
VPerspective
Make a social-emotional connection
As early childhood educators, we know that social-emotional learning is just as crucial for our young students as number sense or early literacy skills.
President's Perspective
A better approach to student discipline
How do we change the overall climate in our schools to reduce the conflicts that interfere with student learning and make suspensions necessary? Addressing that challenge is the mission of the Positive Learning Collaborative.
Editorials
A model for success
The story of how Long Island City HS turned around bodes well for the Bronx Collaborative Schools Plan, a new program to support schools facing the greatest challenges.
Editorials
Stuy High and beyond
Seven. That’s how many African-American students are among the 895 students who have been offered admission next fall to Stuyvesant HS, one of the city’s most prestigious specialized high schools.
Editorial Cartoons
Comments
Teaching Resources
Learning Curve
The importance of having a school library
“Every student should have access to the library and the opportunity to go there,” says says Michael Dodes, a school librarian who now works as a library operations and instructional coordinator in the DOE’s Office of Library Services. “It’s all about creating a space where students can read, explore information and work with each other.”
Teacher to Teacher
The art of letter writing— and its rewards
To help my students grow as writers and community members, I teach the art of letter writing to my 2nd-graders.
Building Your Career
Building Your Career
Multiple entries for self-expression
It is so important to let our students express how they feel, though many do not know how.
New Teacher Profiles
She sees herself in her students
Maritza Vasquez, a teacher at the Academy for Language and Technology in the Bronx, sees a lot of herself in her 9th-grade immigrant students. She said she’s able to relate “to everything they are feeling” because at one time she felt the same way. “I tell them I was a newcomer myself.”
Retired Teachers News
UFT retirees still help select union officers
Union democracy is an essential characteristic of the American labor movement. New England town hall meetings based on Athenian democracy allow every citizen to gather and voice their concerns and then vote. Many unions operate on that simple and direct model.
But as the size of the body grows larger and larger, a point of diminishing returns can make it unwieldy. While town hall direct democracy is ideal for a chapter at a school, it does not work for the Retired Teachers Chapter with more than 66,000 retiree members.
That is why representative democracy was developed. Union members in their workplace sites elect someone from their group to present their concerns and vote on their behalf. Such elected representatives could be a chapter leader, shop steward or one or more delegates who become part of a representative body such as a Delegate Assembly or…