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 management and helping plan lessons). Mentors provide a minimum of two periods a week of non-evaluative and nonjudgmental support for new teachers. Discussions are confidential and the mentor does not report back to your principal. 

If there is additional compensation offered (ie, for mentoring outside of regular school hours), the principal must post the position just as they would any other per session posting. Regular rules apply for any missed preps.

There are two different types of delegates: 

1. 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 (60) members, or major fraction thereof. This means that they are entitled to a second delegate with 91 members and so on.
2. Delegates to national conventions such as the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), and the National Association of Education (NEA) – these delegates are elected once every three (3) years and serve as representatives of members of the UFT to each convention listed.

Additionally, the delegate assembly meets once a month to discuss union policy at the UFT. It is comprised of chapter leaders and delegates from around the city.

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-disputed Line of Duty Injury (LODI) for up to three months
• on a leave pursuant to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), FLMA, or other statutory leave

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 any CAR/sick days towards a recovery period. 

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 »

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 birth and prior to starting UFT parental leave, you will not be charged for a CAR day on a day when DOE employees are off.

Read more about UFT parental leave »

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 supervisor as well. You are able to amend your application and leave plans later if your intentions change. 

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 could relate to, but is not limited to, one of the following: a medical condition of the employee or the employee's family member, a premature birth, a death in the family, or reasonable travel necessary to adopt a child. 

For delivering parents, failure to submit during the proper time frame may result in being placed into a limited version of Traditional Maternity Leave WITHOUT the right to borrow days or to use a grace period.