As continuing research confirms that skilled teachers are key to children’s academic success, school districts across the country, often working with their unionized staffs, are scrambling to recruit, reward and retain the most effective educators.

Just like a union, a professional organization represents the interests of its members. Banding together, members may be able to provide products and services to those who join — perhaps magazine subscriptions or professional development or insurance...

Lately the media have been overrun by charges that the teachers union is the 800-pound gorilla in the room whenever education policy is discussed in the halls of power — and it’s not meant as a compliment!

From the earliest days of the UFT, presidents Charles Cogen and Al Shanker knew that educators could be a powerful tool for reform. Educators knew first-hand the problems that their students faced, and they encouraged educators to come up with...

A faltering national economy. Huge budget gaps in Albany and New York City. Unemployment at a peak. Homelessness on the rise. Wall Street losses. Threats of massive layoffs and service cuts. Transit and tuition increases. Demands for concessions from...

A basic tenet of the UFT has always been that organized labor and progressive elected officials are essential to promoting the interests of its members. Indeed, the backing of the labor movement and political allies was instrumental in the UFT’s...

Despite its name, the United Federation of Teachers is a union of 200,000 working people who are committed to improving the lives of New Yorkers in many different ways. Most, but not all, provide education, child care or health services for adults...

The current school-budget crisis is no surprise to many veteran city public school educators. Fiscal turmoil seems to assault our schools every 15 or 20 years. Typically, teachers are called upon to save the day and, for the sake of the children...

As the UFT’s fourth president, serving from 1998 to 2009, Randi Weingarten led the union through a period of economic instability, two contentious city administrations and mounting attacks on the labor movement and public education. She relished...

Not far from the UFT’s Park Avenue South headquarters, Al Shanker sits stiffly in the study of his apartment. Physically, he’s not himself.

This award-winning series of articles by Jack Schierenbeck originally appeared in the New York Teacher in 1996 and 1997.

UFT members joined students, family members and other educators on Oct. 13 to participate in the United Way’s March United for Public Schools, a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to demonstrate the importance of public education and raise money for the United Way’s long-term public education programs. The walk led marchers to the “Future Festival,” a children’s learning fair at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

The United Federation of Teachers, as part of its national union’s presidential endorsement process, will host Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden at the UFT’s annual Teacher Union Day on Oct. 20 in New York City.

No, all negative materials in your file that are more than three years old should be removed if they have not been used in connection with disciplinary charges. You can request to see your file to verify that this has occurred promptly. Talk to your...

The “file” is your personnel file that travels with you if you change schools. Supervisors may put into it observation reports and other materials about your performance within three months of occurrence, excluding the summer, but you must be given...

The School Construction Authority (SCA) is supposed to conduct construction and renovation projects after the regular school day. The DOE Division of School Facilities (DSF) may conduct repairs and maintenance as well as small construction and...

CAR days can be used for an employee’s personal medical condition; 3 of the 10 self- treated sick days each year can be used for personal business or to care for a sick family member.

See your payroll secretary in your school, who can advise you as to how many days you have remaining in your sick bank. Your paycheck/pay stub also contains that information, which can be found on the DOE payroll portal ( https://payrollportal.nycboe...

Birth parents, partners of birth parents, adoptive parents and foster parents may be eligible for a UFT parental leave. You must be in a title represented by the UFT, be on the Department of Education payroll for a minimum of 12 calendar months and...

You should apply at least 15 days prior to the anticipated due or covered event date, but no later than 10 days after delivery to ensure timely payment of the benefit from the UFT. If your baby arrives much later than the due date, you can revise...

1. It is recommended that you apply using the DOE's self-service online leave application system ( SOLAS) at least 15 days in advance of the anticipated date of birth or adoption. You’ll be asked if you intend to use your CAR day balance if you are...

Cumulative Absence Reserve (CAR) is the formal name for UFT-represented pedagogical DOE employees’ “sick bank" of days. All titles earn one CAR day per month after serving 16 days on payroll. The day is added to the members CAR bank on the 30th of...

Thank you to those of you who attended our meetings for NYC child care providers. Here are the forms and resources we promised you regarding comprehensive background clearance requirements.

Members shouldn’t refuse a principal’s directive because they may be charged with insubordination. Members may file a grievance if discussion of concerns with administration (and with the chapter leader’s support) can’t solve the situation otherwise.

Mentors are experienced classroom teachers, instructional coaches or lead teachers who have been trained extensively in ways to best support new teachers (including doing demonstration lessons, co-teaching, offering suggestions about classroom...

There are two different types of delegates: Delegate to the delegate assembly – These delegates are elected at their school or work site or can be elected by the members of a functional chapter. Each chapter is entitled to one delegate for each sixty...

Active status is defined as being on any one of the following: on payroll, using CAR days or sick time, on an annual leave, on a paid leave, on Parental Leave on an unpaid leave for a pregnancy-related condition on an unpaid leave due to a medically...

For non-birth parents, your UFT parental leave will start the next day, but still will end no later than six calendar weeks (eight weeks for a C-section) starting on the day of the event. For birth parents, parental leave will start after the use of...

Members are eligible for an additional UFT parental leave if they have been an eligible employee in active status for 10 calendar months following the initial covered event, exclusive of time on an unpaid leave other than parental leave.

Multiple births from one pregnancy are considered to be a single covered event, so you will get the same six calendar weeks (eight weeks for a C-section). Read more about UFT parental leaves »

Fifth-graders from PS 194 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, repeated the cries that once echoed around the busy port of New York as they raised the sail on an 1885 cargo ship during a class trip to Manhattan’s South Street Seaport Museum on Oct. 7.

No. Individuals who work F-status are not eligible to take UFT parental leaves. Time worked F-status will also not count towards eligibility to take parental leave.

No. Days when DOE employees do not work (such as a holiday, a school break or a weekend) during your parental leave will not extend its six-week duration. However, if you are a birth parent who uses your CAR days for six or eight weeks after the...

Your parental leave application also serves as an official notice to your school or work office of your intentions of how long you plan to be out so that they can prepare for your absence. You are encouraged to directly discuss your plans with your...

Unless there are special circumstances, you will not be eligible for a parental leave if you do not submit an application within 10 days of the birth. Late applications will be accepted and subject to review for valid special circumstances, which...

As chapter leader, your responsibilities include the following: Holding at least six regularly scheduled chapter meetings each year. Forming a chapter consultation committee,meeting monthly with the committee and the principal, and reporting the...