Since 1990, Article 8 of the DOE-UFT contract has affirmed that the organization, format, notation and other physical aspects of the lesson plans are within a teacher’s discretion. Nevertheless, many supervisors continued to require specific...

If you are required to maintain classroom or hall bulletin boards, their format is up to you. Per Article 21A of the contract, your principal cannot dictate how they look or discipline you for their format. While school supervisors cannot require a...

As someone who is committed to public education and who sees up-close the condition in which our students learn and live, you are in a unique position to help influence public policy. Over the years, the UFT has often called upon its members to speak...

You are entitled to have adequate supplies in the teacher washrooms in your school (toilet paper, paper towels, soap, etc.). Your school must also make available to all teachers a pay telephone for their personal use. If your school does not have...

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...

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...

Many schools 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...

This term refers to teachers in elementary schools who are not assigned to the same group 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 often have “compensatory time positions,” which are non-teaching assignments like lunchroom supervisor, dean, programmer or grade adviser. These assignments are done in lieu of teaching periods and, in effect, reduce the amount of time the...

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...