Newly hired teachers and school clinicians in certain shortage areas in select districts may be eligible for the Department of Education Loan Forgiveness Program for their student loans. Your DOE hire date must be between Sept. 3 and Nov. 15 of the current school year. Eligible loans include Perkins and Stafford loans. After six years of satisfactory service, you can be awarded as much as $24,000. Applications for this year are due by Nov. 15, 2019.

For more information, such as subject area eligibility, district restrictions, and other requirements, see the DOE's Loan Forgiveness Handout. Use this online form to apply. If you have any questions, email uftdoeloanforgiveness@uft.org.

Teachers who have completed three years of teaching and are striving to further their growth may want to consider working toward National Board Certification — a designation that not only would bring them to the city’s second salary differential, but also would put them among the nation’s most accomplished teachers. This certification is evidence that you have reached a level of excellence in your field based on rigorous standards.
 

The UFT Teacher Center offers a pre-candidacy course to help participants prepare for this rigorous process, as well as ongoing support throughout the program. Visit the UFT Teacher Center's dedicated page to learn more about the support offered for members pursuing National Board Certification. 

Members should access their online Annual Benefit Statement from the TRS website at https://trsnyc.org/.  Once a member sets up a TRS account, they can access these items and find a record of their total service history.

Members can purchase service credit for certain employment they had before being employed by the NYCDOE. For your service to be eligible, the work had to have been rendered while you were in public employment in New York City or New York State. Generally, any New York City or New York State service rendered prior to your membership date may count as pensionable service. 
 

Members should contact TRS as soon as they are appointed to buy back any prior NYC or NYS service. 

Yes. If after an investigation, the allegations against the paraprofessional are found to be unsubstantiated, within 30 days the paraprofessional will receive back pay for the amount of time of the suspension without pay.

Call the UFT Course Program at 212-475-3737. Your registration and payment will be verified. Depending on UFT departmental guidelines, it will be determined whether a refund can be issued.

Refunds for "T" courses will only be issued if a course is cancelled.

The UFT Course Program allows members to request in writing to switch from one course/section to another. If there is seat availability, UFT members will be transferred into their requested course.

For "E" courses, you must contact NYSUT directly at 1-800-528-6208.

Call the UFT Course Program at 212-475-3737. This process is completed internally. If the location you desire is available, the Registrant Course Transfer will be initiated.

Course registration and credit card processing is completed immediately. The time it takes for the charge to show up on your credit card is generally 1-3 days, dependent on the policies of your credit card/merchant bank.

Each college has different procedures for tuition payment. The procedures will be sent directly to you from each collaborating college after you register.

The UFT Course Program notifies the computer system once the course is cancelled. This ensures the online content reflects the change and no longer accepts online registration.

Then, the UFT Course Program notifies registered members and offers course transfers if available. If no transfer can be made, refund requests will be generated.

UFT Accounting will issue refunds in checks only; credit card refunds are not available. The refund process may take up to six weeks.

UFT Course Programs and NYSUT/ELT registration procedures are separate. Unfortunately, you cannot exchange course registration from one program to the other.

Other content related to the differences between E and T courses is provided in the NYSUT Education and Learning Trust site.