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Who serves on a School Leadership Team (SLT)? How do members get chosen/selected?

School Leadership Teams are established in each school. The principal, chapter leader, and Parents Association (PTA) president must serve on the committee. SLTs must include other parents and staff (pedagogic and/or non-pedagogic) from the school...

What are the responsibilities of a School Leadership Team (SLT)?

School Leadership Teams meet at least once a month during the school year at a time convenient for the parent members of the team. SLTs establish many of their own bylaws and procedures, so each school may have different policies in place for the...

What is LearnUFT and how can it help me earn CTLE credits?

As a state-approved provider of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) hours, the UFT's LearnUFT program offers professional learning opportunities specifically designed to meet our members’ needs. State regulations now require all teachers...

Can you explain the categories of salary differentials so I know which one I qualify for?

See this helpful chart » Anyone seeking to qualify for any differential should consult DOE circulars and regulations to make sure any courses you take are acceptable for accreditation before enrolling.

How can I verify my pay information, pay stub, payroll deductions?

Pay stubs with deduction information can be found by logging in to the DOE Payroll Portal: https://payrollportal.nycboe.net.

I don't understand the payroll codes used on my pay stub. How can I make sure my pay rate is correct?

Here is a chart with payroll codes used by the DOE: Differentials: MA – C1 NA – C1 with PD PA – C2 QA – C2 with ID RA – C2 with PD SA – C2 with ID TA – C6 UA – C6 with PD Longevity Codes: A or B – under 5 years V or W – 5 years but less than 10 years...

What is the Dial-A-Teacher program?

The UFT's Dial-a-Teacher program is a free, homework help/tutoring line for K-12 students attending New York City public schools. The program operates from 4pm-7pm, Monday through Thursday, on days when school is in session. The program is now fully...

Does the UFT provide any tutoring/homework help for students?

The UFT operates the Dial-A-Teacher program, which is a free, after-school homework help/tutoring service for K-12 students in New York City public schools. It is staffed by experienced classroom teachers who can provide help in all subject areas...

What is the current per-session rate?

Current per-session rates for different positions, as well as coverage and training rates, can be found here.

I am a paraprofessional working in a pre-K center/classroom. What responsibilities do I have to assist students with toileting/diapering/going to the bathroom?

Paraprofessionals are responsible for providing hands-on assistance to remove student clothing, change soiled diapers, clean students' bodies after toileting, and assisting students with getting dressed and putting on a clean set of clothes/underwear...

I am a pre-K teacher. What responsibilities do I have regarding the toileting/diapering/bathroom needs of my students?

While paraprofessionals must be available to change soiled diapers or clothes promptly, teachers are responsible for the health and safety of the classroom environment and should take any steps necessary to maintain a safe and clean environment, such...

What equipment/materials are needed in pre-K classrooms/centers to assist students with toileting needs?

Classrooms should have the following materials available: supply of diapers/pull-ups wipes extra clothes (at least 1 full set of clean clothes, including underwear, per child) plastic bags (to send soiled clothes home) paper for changing table to...

What health & safety precautions should be taken for staff who handle student toileting accidents & diapering needs?

In accordance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration's (OSHA) Blood-Borne Pathogens Standard, the NYCDOE requires District Schools and Pre-K Centers to institute the Exposure Control Plan (ECP) as an effort to minimize employees' risk...

What supervision/assistance is required when accompanying 3-K or pre-K students to the bathroom/toileting?

Students who have shown the ability to use the bathroom independently should be encouraged to do so. However, line of sight supervision of students must be maintained during toileting and handwashing. Staff should provide closer, more helpful...

DOE guidance on school counselors assignments

In the Sept. 24, 2019 issue of the Principal's Weekly, the DOE offered the following guidance to principals regarding work assignments for school counselors.

You Should Know

Important information for members from New York Teacher columns: For Your Information, Know Your Rights, Know Your Benefits, Q&A on the Issues, Secure Your Future, Your Well-Being and Grants, Awards & Freebies

Community celebrates school-based health and vision center in the Bronx

Parents, students, teachers and local office-holders and community members came together to celebrate the official opening of a school-based health and vision center at PS 18 in the South Bronx.

Save our climate

New York City public school students were among millions who took to the streets in more than 150 countries on Sept. 20 for a climate strike, led by young people leaving their classrooms to demand action on the climate crisis that threatens their futures. UFT members met up with the students marching from Foley Square at an after-school rally in Battery Park, where 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the crowd. “The UFT is proud to stand with the activists, including our members, who are fighting to protect our climate from harmful and short-sighted political decisions,” said UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds.

Citywide Chapter Leader Meeting 2019

Chapter leaders from across the city gathered at UFT headquarters on Sept. 20 to learn more about their responsibilities and the issues facing New York City public schools as the new school year begins.

UFT and the civil rights movement

Sensing in the civil rights movement a natural ally with shared goals and values, the early leaders of the UFT and its predecessor, the Teachers Guild, threw their support behind the movement and its objectives of racial equality and individual dignity, and forged a strong alliance with black leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Phillip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. UFT President Al Shanker encouraged New York City schoolteachers to attend the 1964 March for Jobs and Freedom co-organized by Rustin, and the union subsidized travel to the march for participating UFT members.

All photos courtesy: UFT Photo Collection, Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University

Julie Beatrice and Pat Prusak

As we wrap up another school year and begin also to plan for the upcoming one, school social workers across the nation, and certainly within New York State, cannot avoid addressing the recent developments in the nation’s "war on terrorism." The death...

Lori Caiazzo

I am sending this in on behalf of my son, Danny. Danny was 23 years old when he worked on the 55th floor of 2 World Trade Center when the first plane hit. He has suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since then. He struggled to go right back...

Katie Pantaleo

The Greatest City in the World Was Today attacked, bruised, and scorned

Maura Mulligan

As a teacher of English as a second language, I listened as teenagers asked questions about the tragedy as it unfolded before them — and I struggled to provide them with answers. This is my story.

Phil Smith

deep inside the darkest moment there is a sudden burst of light movement that illuminates ignorance beyond disbelief at the same time the sky breaks its promise to heaven and falls the black sun tries to re-ignite when out of the blue the weather...

Tom Murphy

It was a clear morning of possibilities, a primary election day. The day itself was one of those brilliant pre-autumnal gifts that late summer offers in the weeks following Labor Day, meant to make people feel good as they went about their ordinary...

Alan Braverman

I woke up at 6 a.m. on this late summer morning, listening to Curtis and Kuby, a talk show on 770 AM radio. I forced myself up out of bed to walk the dog. My wife, Susan, was already awake getting her daily consumption of public radio while...

Arnie Warmbrand

oh, what did you see on the news today, dear little friends of mine? I saw there are people, oh, so mean. Doing things I’d never seen. Ending lives… murdering. A world grey and dark — ’stead of blue and green. That’s what I saw on the news today. Yes...

Diane Savattieri

I was working as a school secretary in PS 104. Our principal, Ms. Marie DiBella, became the captain of the ship. She put all of us in specific locations with specific jobs. I was amazed how everyone in the school came together to help each other. The...

Ed Prisinzano

PS 79 is a five-story school one block from the Grand Concourse on East 181st Street. The building towers over the surrounding structures and has a clear view into Manhattan.

Elana Amity

On the morning of September 11th, I was teaching my freshman art class at LaGuardia HS of Music & Art and Performing Arts. When I arrived at school, everything seemed normal — a beautiful day and a class of adorable, enthusiastic young people. A...

Elizabeth Victor

I am a guidance counselor at a high school in Brooklyn. I had a student whose mother was also at the WTC when it was attacked in 1993. He said that he begged her to quit then, and was both scared and angry on 9/11. The entire day he was with me...

Frank Carucci

I was rushing that morning to get out of the house, jump in my car to drive to NY Transit Tech High School for a school visit. I would have driven down the West Side Highway to the Battery Tunnel and pass the World Trade Center. When I first heard...

Frank Lombardo

I was the UFT rep at JHS 185Q when I was summoned to the principal's office and informed that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought at first that it was a small, private plane when the principal explained that it was a commercial...