Among the many meaningful rights and professional protections that your contract provides is time carved out each day for teachers to do professional work. Teachers are generally entitled to five prep periods per week. Prep periods are self-directed; teachers determine what to do during their prep periods.

The multiple layers of protection against COVID-19, including the vaccination of all staff and eligible students, are serving our school communities well. 

All students suspected of having a disability should be identified, located and evaluated. Referral for special education evaluation should not, however, be the first response to pandemic-related learning loss or readjustment issues.

The theory behind integrated co-teaching classrooms, in which one special education teacher and one general education teacher work as partners, is simple: Children with disabilities are supported with specially designed instruction and services that meet their needs in a classroom alongside their typically developing peers. 

The stringent safety policies in areas such as testing, ventilation and social distancing that the union ensured were in place in September have kept the percentage of staff and students who test positive for COVID-19 within New York City public schools low all year.

Here's what the school day looks like for paraprofessionals and how their responsibilities have changed during blended learning. The new position of para classroom manager will also help meet the demands of teaching during COVID-19