New York TeacherSeptember 5, 2019
Low pay pushing teachers out of the profession: Fifty percent of teachers say they’ve considered leaving the profession over low pay, stress and a lack of respect, according to an August report by PDK International, a professional association for educators. Another national poll released in August by the research journal Education Next found a record level of bipartisan support for increasing teachers’ salaries.
Latest News
Newark scraps teacher merit-pay scheme
The union representing Newark teachers announced a five-year deal with its school district on Aug. 13 that eliminates merit-based bonuses and allows low-rated teachers to earn pay increases. The changes overturn key elements of a controversial 2012 contract and represent a shift away from former Mayor Cory Booker’s education reform agenda, which sought to introduce corporate-style accountability and compensation practices into public education.
“All vestiges of corporate reform have been removed,” the union declared.
The agreement includes numerous provisions long sought by the Newark Teachers Union. In addition to the end of the merit pay scheme, the new contract will raise teachers’ salaries by about 3 percent per year. The deal gives teachers more planning time, a later return from summer break and more funds for classroom supplies and graduate courses. Teachers will also earn more for working after the school day or during the…
Low pay pushing teachers out of the profession
Fifty percent of teachers say they’ve considered leaving the profession over low pay, stress and a lack of respect.
Newark scraps teacher merit-pay scheme
The union representing Newark teachers announced a five-year deal with its school district on Aug. 13 that eliminates merit-based bonuses and allows low-rated teachers to earn pay increases. The changes overturn key elements of a controversial 2012 contract and represent a shift away from former Mayor Cory Booker’s education reform agenda, which sought to introduce corporate-style accountability and compensation practices into public education.
Feature Stories
Harlem tradition still going strong
Harlem Week is special for Charity Phalo-Davis. A teacher at the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice in Morrisania, she strolled through the yard at PS 175 in Harlem with her husband, Quincy, and their 2-year-old son during the event’s Children’s Festival on Aug. 18.
“We attend every year and find out more information about events in the neighborhood,” she said. It’s also a way, she said, for the children in her class to get free back-to-school supplies, courtesy of the UFT.
The union has partnered with Harlem Week for the past 25 years to make sure students and their families are armed with the tools they’ll need to succeed in the new school year. This year, the union gave away notebooks, rulers, pens, pencils and highlighters to educators, parents and…
Learning about ‘sacrifice and compromise’
Fourth-graders from Brooklyn’s PS 10 who took the “Sweatshop Workers” tour at the Tenement Museum on Manhattan’s Lower East Side were fascinated to learn about the immigrant children who had lived there.
Aug. 31, 2014: Nearly 4,000 jobs saved
When nearly 4,000 paraprofessionals were threatened with termination in the spring of 2009 for failing to meet certification requirements, the UFT went into high gear to save their jobs. The union held informational meetings in 940 schools and in each borough to help paraprofessionals understand what documentation or certification requirements they were missing and what they had to do.
Member Spotlight
UFT contract guru Lucille Swaim dies
Lucille Swaim, the coordinator of negotiations for every UFT contract from the first one in 1962 until her retirement in 2015, died on July 1 at the age of 87.
Her fingerprints are on every contractual improvement UFT members enjoy today.
“Lucille was a quiet hero,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “She put her heart, soul and intellect into helping generations of educators and UFT members. She helped build this union.”
Swaim came to the UFT in 1961 during efforts to organize city teachers, and she stayed to negotiate the first comprehensive collective bargaining agreement covering teachers anywhere in the nation.
“That contract,” she later said, “broke the ground for teachers to start organizing…
What I do: Christina Gavin, school librarian
Christina Gavin is the librarian at the Herbert H. Lehman HS Campus in the Bronx, where she serves 3,200 students and more than 300 staff members in the seven schools that share the building.
Kudos to Yvonne Reasen, Engineering and Technical Academy, Bronx
Bronx Engineering and Technical Academy Chapter Leader Yvonne Reasen used the new expedited resolution process for operational issues, negotiated as part of the 2018 DOE-UFT contract, to get the basic instructional supplies desperately needed by science teachers at her school.
Your Rights and Benefits
Know Your Rights
Class size and instructional materials
As we enter a new school year, teachers should be aware of their rights to reasonable class sizes and basic instructional materials.
Your Well-being
Setting yourself up for a great year
Maybe it’s your first year of teaching, maybe it’s your 21st, but there are always ways to set yourself up for a great school year ahead.
You Should Know
Grants, Awards & Freebies
Grants, Awards & Freebies
See our list of current opportunities for educators to receive funds and recognition for their hard work and dedication.
Q&A on the Issues
Teachers and the observation process
The UFT seized the opportunity presented by the 2018 contract negotiations with the city Department of Education to revise the teacher evaluation system to focus on quality of observations rather than quantity and to incorporate meaningful professional development as part of the process. Here’s what you can expect for the 2019–20 school year.
Secure Your Future
Pension benefits in a nutshell
With the start of a new school year, we know you’re busy with new students. But while you’re busy thinking about others, the start of the school year is also an excellent time to think about securing your own future.
You Should Know
Grievance filed over training $$
The UFT filed a union-initiated grievance over the rate of pay for members who participated in curriculum training this summer for enVisionmath.
You Should Know
3 functional chapters elect new leaders
Three of the UFT's functional chapters recently elected new chapter leaders.
You Should Know
City kids’ state test scores go up again
New York City public school students improved their performance on state math and English tests for grades 3 through 8 for the sixth year in a row, according to 2019 test scores released by the state Education Department on Aug. 22.
You Should Know
Teacher’s Choice amounts set
UFT-represented educators are eligible for reimbursement for some of their out-of-pocket classroom expenses through Teacher's Choice.
Opinions
President's Perspective
Building on our strengths
Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed a restful summer break and you’re re-energized for the year ahead. As always, we’re here to help you meet the challenges and opportunities that present themselves every September. Please extend yourself to the new teachers who are finding their footing in the classroom this year. We’ve all been there, and it can be daunting.
VPerspective
Welcome to your new union family
This September, 3,000 new teachers have joined the city Department of Education’s ranks. Their interests and backgrounds are as diverse as New York City itself. But whether they teach 3-year-olds on Staten Island or high school biology in Brooklyn, they all have one thing in common: They belong to our United Federation of Teachers family.
Editorials
Figueroa's legacy
Hector Figueroa, the president of 32BJ Service Employees International Union who died on July 11, was an exemplary partner in the critical fight for social and economic justice.
Editorials
Keep G&T
In pursuit of equity, the city’s School Diversity Advisory group has proposed getting rid of the gifted and talented program in the public schools. It’s a bad idea.
Editorial Cartoons
Teaching Resources
Linking to Learning
Grants can fund your technology projects
The start of a school year is a good time to plan how to integrate technology in your classroom. Many teachers have great ideas but do not have access to the hardware or software they need to run with them. Other than asking your principal to purchase equipment on a tight budget, education grants can provide needed funds for technology projects.
Teaching
UFT welcomes new teachers
The UFT welcomed thousands of new members into the union at the DOE’s New Teacher Week on Aug. 19 - 21.
Teacher to Teacher
Your students can be graphic novelists
By reading graphic novels and going through the graphic narrative process with the students, I shared an important interest of theirs and saw them take intense ownership of their learning.
Building Your Career
New Teacher Profiles
That's 'LYFE'
Patricia Belluscio left a career in the fashion industry to work with infants and toddlers in the LYFE program.
Inside My Classroom
How to pick a book
It was my goal last school year to encourage my students to pick books to read for fun.
New Teacher Articles
How to start the new year off right
Welcome to a new school year! The first few weeks may feel like a whirlwind, and you probably have a lot on your mind. Here are just a few tips to help you launch a great year.
Retired Teachers News
Stepping out
After 31 years in the classroom as a life science teacher, Kim McCarthy has traded in her microscopes and lesson plans for the Wobble, the Cupid Shuffle and Booty Call.
Like so many UFT retirees, she has found her life’s “second act” and is “having a blast.”
Right after retirement in 2013, McCarthy signed up for salsa and belly dancing classes at the Bronx Si Beagle Center, but was always on the lookout for an urban line dancing class. When she didn’t find one, she created one that has grown into two Si Beagle classes.
Now, there’s a waiting list every semester to get into her Rhythm and Blues Line Dancing classes for beginners and advanced terpsichoreans.
Although McCarthy knew most of the popular line dances, she felt she wasn’t quite ready to teach a class so she checked the internet, found the latest dances, learned them, practiced them and now she stays one step ahead of her students with the…
Stepping out
After 31 years in the classroom as a life science teacher, Kim McCarthy has traded in her microscopes and lesson plans for the Wobble, the Cupid Shuffle and Booty Call. McCarthy signed up for salsa and belly dancing classes at the Bronx Si Beagle Center, but was always on the lookout for an urban line dancing class. When she didn’t find one, she created one that has grown into two Si Beagle classes.
Automatic COLA increase
In 2000, after several frustrating years, the UFT, NYSUT and the rest of the state’s labor movement convinced New York State to provide an annual, permanent cost-of-living adjustment to retiree pensions.