Before the end of June and by the opening of school in September, your chapter committee should meet with your principal to discuss and have input into the school’s budget. This contractual provision also requires the principal to share school...

School Leadership Teams must be established in each school. There are three mandatory members: the principal, the Parents Association president and the UFT chapter leader or their designee. The committee should have at least 10 members but no more...

The widespread popularity of social media have created a new generation of problems and potential liabilities for educators. Teachers may be held responsible for content posted about them and by them on social networking sites. For those who have a...

If you travel to work by public transportation, you can save money by taking part in the City of New York Commuter Benefits Program, which covers New York City and the tri-state area. This city benefit enables UFT members to pay for allowable...

The city whistleblower law prohibits any “adverse personnel action” (dismissal, suspension, discipline, “U” rating, denial of assignment without justification) against you in retaliation for you making a report about the conduct of a DOE officer or...

There are two parts to UFT members’ health coverage. As an employee with a regular assignment in the Department of Education, you are entitled to a choice of several health plans offered by the City of New York. Your choice will provide you and your...

Occasionally a Department of Education employee is sued (for example, by a parent) because of something he or she allegedly did at work. When the New York City Corporation Counsel finds that the employee broke no rules or laws in carrying out their...

If the police should arrest you in school for any reason, work-related or not, you or your chapter leader should immediately contact your district representative, who will contact the UFT's central office for assistance. You should give the UFT...

Every UFT member has an official school file. There is only one official school file. No material derogatory to your conduct, service, character or personality should be placed in the file unless you have an opportunity to read the material. You will...

An incident, which has not been reduced to writing within three months of occurrence, excluding summer vacation, may not be added to the file later on. No material derogatory to a teacher’s conduct, service, character or personality shall be placed...

Counseling memos are not disciplinary. A counseling memo may only be written to an employee to make him/her aware of a rule, policy, procedure, practice or expectation. A counseling memo cannot include any disciplinary action or threat of...

If you are a first-year teacher who has not had prior teaching experience, you are entitled to one-to-one mentoring throughout your first year. The mentor assigned to you is an experienced colleague who has been trained extensively in ways to best...

Throughout the school year, teachers apply for “per-session” activities that are done either before or after school, on the weekend or holidays, or during the summer. If you apply for and are accepted for such an activity, you are paid at the per...

UFT members have specific rights regarding program preferences and professional activities. Here’s what you should know before you make your requests. Program preferences Each spring, teachers complete a program preference sheet where they indicate...

Elementary Schools Teachers are programmed for a school day that has either seven or eight periods per day. In seven-period schools, teachers are programmed for 25 teaching periods, a daily 50-minute duty-free lunch period and five 45-minute...

In order to assure fairness, our contract requires that classes, sessions and annex assignments be rotated among those who are qualified. This assures that if you are qualified, you will have an opportunity to get an assignment you want within a...

Middle school teachers, high school teachers and elementary teachers in eight-period schools are programmed for professional activity period(s). During the program preference process, teachers select three activities from the professional activity...

If you are assaulted, threatened, cursed at or verbally harassed on school grounds by anyone — a student, a parent, an intruder or anyone else — you should immediately notify your principal and UFT chapter leader. This applies whether or not you...

Safety is a basic prerequisite of quality education. To ensure a safe environment, your principal — in consultation with the UFT chapter — is required to develop and annually update two documents: a safety plan (routine procedures for ensuring school...

If you are the victim of a crime or are injured by a student or intruder, the UFT‘s Victim Support Program (212-598-6853) will help you on a confidential, one-to-one basis. The program offers advice, counseling and assistance with the police, the...

If a student in your class is very disruptive, you have the right to have that child removed for a single period, a single day or up to four days. The removal process is spelled out in Chancellor’s Regulation A-443 (Student Disciplinary Procedures)...

Although you are responsible for school and student property under your supervision, you are not responsible for the loss of such property if the loss is not your fault. However, if your personal property (including your car, but excluding cash) is...

All teacher salary schedules can be found in the contract or on the UFT website. Check that you have been given credit for all the educational credits you’ve earned and all the experience you have. Note that you may be able to get salary credit for...

A school-based option ("SBO") allows UFT members at a school the ability to collaboratively modify contractual articles or to create positions not automatically allowed under the DOE-UFT contract. Members can use the SBO process to change their...

Compensatory time (comp time) positions create nonteaching assignments for teachers. These assignments are in lieu of teaching, may be full-time or part-time, and are subject to the school budget. Some compensatory time positions can be created...

This term refers to teachers in elementary schools who are not assigned to the same class of students for the entire day; they usually teach classes in music, art, science, physical education or any other subject that the chapter committee and the...

Schools should have a professional development team that at a minimum includes a literacy coach and a math coach. These coaches are colleagues, deemed to have classroom expertise, who are eager to share their knowledge. They show teachers how to...

Each school year, the DOE determines the license areas where there is a citywide shortage of teachers. If your school has a vacancy in one of those license areas, and you possess that particular license and have at least three years of experience...

It is your principal’s obligation to provide basic instructional supplies and books (including textbooks, paper and testing supplies) so you can provide an effective educational program to your students. Under the 2023 contract, the DOE is now...

With the 2023 contract in place, the DOE will issue an annual reminder that schools should identify space for all staff, including paraprofessionals, for lunch in buildings where there is no dedicated staff room or lounge. And, at the beginning of...

Gaining tenure is an important milestone. Tenure is a status that appointed pedagogues achieve after completing a probationary period with satisfactory service. Having tenure means you can’t be terminated without due process and you’re entitled to a...

If you are appointed under a new license, state law requires that you serve a probationary period of four years and a day. Each time you change your license and are reappointed, you must serve a new probationary period. As of the 2023 contract, the...

There will be one or two periods of time during the school year, based on a school's Measures of Student Learning selections, that will be designated as " MOSL windows" for the entire school district by the Department of Education. These periods will...

Under the negotiated contract language which applies to all UFT-represented employees, the Department of Education is required to maintain an environment that is “free of harassment, intimidation, retaliation and discrimination.” If you are...

The operational issues resolution process in the DOE-UFT contract gives UFT-represented educators more voice at the school level to tackle workplace issues. Chapter leaders can bring issues to their principals in a one-on-one meeting, a consultation...

The DOE is obligated to provide educators in core subjects with a curriculum. Curriculum is defined as: 1) a list of content and topics; 2) scope and sequence; and 3) a list of what students are expected both to know and be able to do after studying...