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UFT Resolutions

Resolution on observing a moment of silence in NYC public schools in commemoration of 9/11 on the anniversary or the first school day afterwards

UFT Resolutions

WHEREAS, Sept.11, 2021, has fallen on a Saturday and Sept. 11, 2022, shall fall on a Sunday; and,

WHEREAS, the New York State Education Law, which was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on September 9, 2019, and which went into effect immediately thereafter; the law that requires the ongoing observance of a moment of silence at the beginning of the school day on 9/11 of each school year; this law makes no mention of this same required observance of a moment of silence during those calendar-years when 9/11 falls on either a Saturday, a Sunday, or a public holiday during which all NYC public schools are closed; and,

WHEREAS, the New York City Department of Education has not issued any directives to NYC public school principals, directing them to observe a schoolwide moment of silence on the first school day immediately following Sept. 11, 2021 (i.e. on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021); and,

WHEREAS, in this current calendar year 2021, there are very few NYC public school students who were born on or before Sept. 11,2001; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that our union shall urge the DOE and the NYC Mayor's Office to put forth and effectuate new Regulations of the Chancellor and new NYC Local Laws which, within their lawful means, shall require all NYC public school principals to implement the schoolwide observance of the legally required moment of silence commemorating the heroes and the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022 (since Sept. 11, 2022, falls on a Sunday); and be it further

RESOLVED, that our union shall urge the DOE and the NYC Mayor's Office to put forth and effectuate new Regulations of the Chancellor and new NYC Local Laws which, within their lawful means, shall require all NYC public school teachers to procure and present to our students a developmentally appropriate and instructionally sound social studies/history/community learning curriculum that shall teach all of New York City's students about what happened in our city — their city — on Sept. 11, 2001, the historically significant events that led up to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and how our world was irrevocably changed thereafter; and be it finally

RESOLVED, that the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, are a part of our nation's history that we, New York City's educators, shall never allow to be forgotten by the future generations of New Yorkers who will pass through our classrooms, our offices and our school buildings.