This Week's Focus

New contract strengthens voice for consultation committee

Your school consultation committee, which meets monthly with the principal, is a great organizing tool that empowers chapters by creating a venue to discuss and attempt to resolve issues at the school level. If an operational issue (paperwork, professional development, curriculum, basic instructional supplies, workload or space) or an issue involving a violation of the safety standards is first addressed in a consultation committee meeting, the principal has five days to resolve the issue. When an issue cannot be resolved by the consultation committee, you should reach out to your district representative. After each consultation committee meeting, you should fill out the UFT’s online Consultation Summary Form (you must be logged in to the UFT website to access it). This new online form resides in the Chapter Leader section under Consultation. This report will inform your district representative about issues raised at your school, any need for assistance or your request to escalate an issue to the District Consultation Committee or District Paperwork and Operational Committee. Find out more about the role and responsibilities of the UFT consultation committee. Principals are required to meet with their school’s consultation committee once a month, according to the DOE-UFT contract. Contact your district representative if you need help forming a consultation committee or if you are encountering any problems with consultation, including setting an agenda, resolving issues or confronting your principal’s refusal to meet with your committee.

New class-size reduction procedure kicks in for schools with a semiannual schedule

If you teach in a school that reorganizes for the spring term, do your part to keep class sizes within proper limits by using the new resolution process for class size in the new DOE-UFT contract. Report any classes that exceed contractual and other mandated class-size limits to your district representative this coming Wednesday, Feb. 6 (Day 6). Subsequent key reporting dates are Day 10 on Tuesday, Feb. 12, and Day 14 on Monday, Feb. 25. Chapter leaders should work with school administrators during the first 10 days to eliminate all oversize classes. On Day 10, the central labor-management committee will meet to discuss “chronically out-of-compliance” schools (those that have had oversize classes for four of the past six years). If these can’t get resolved, they go immediately to arbitration and the arbitrator can order a remedy. Between Days 11 (Feb. 26) and 19 (March 4), the UFT district rep and district superintendent will meet to try to resolve oversize classes in the rest of the schools in the district. On the 21st day, all oversize classes not resolved by district reps and superintendents go to the labor-management committee for review. Only if the labor-management committee can’t resolve the issue does it then go to arbitration. All arbitrations must take place between the 20th and 34th school days of the term. Once heard, the arbitrator’s remedy will be implemented within 10 days of the hearing. Any schools with oversize classes after the first 10 days will now have on their record a year of history of violating the contract regardless of the remedy later negotiated by union and school officials or ordered by an arbitrator.

UFT dues can only be deducted from state taxes now

Under the new federal tax law, union dues and other miscellaneous itemized deductions are no longer permitted. But as a result of state legislation passed in April 2017 thanks to union lobbying, union members in New York State may deduct their union dues from their state income taxes if they itemize deductions on their state taxes. Find out what you paid in UFT dues in 2018. If you are an eligible educator, you can still deduct from your federal income taxes up to $250 of any unreimbursed expenses in 2018 for books, supplies, computer equipment (including related software and services), other equipment and supplementary materials you use in the classroom, according to the IRS. If you are married, filing jointly and both spouses are educators, you can deduct up to $500, but not more than $250 each. For courses in health and physical education, expenses for supplies are qualified expenses only if they are related to athletics. The educator expense is an “adjustment to gross income” so you can use it if you use the standard deduction or itemize on your tax return. In the past, teachers also were permitted to deduct more than the $250 by deducting unreimbursed employee expenses on Schedule A — the amount that exceeds 2 percent of your adjusted gross income. Besides union dues, those expenses could also include travel and anything related to the job that was paid out of pocket and not reimbursed by the school. President Trump’s tax overhaul did away with those miscellaneous deductions as well. You should keep documentation, such as receipts or canceled checks, for any deduction you take. For all income tax questions, see IRS Publication 529 for miscellaneous deductions and IRS Publication 17.

Sign up for training on resolution writing and parliamentary procedure

Wish you understood the rules governing the Delegate Assembly better? Want to write your own resolution for the body to consider? Delegates at the January Delegate Assembly passed a resolution to provide training to chapter leaders and delegates in how to write union resolutions and use Robert’s Rules of Order, the parliamentary procedure the UFT uses at the Delegate Assembly. This training, which is open to chapter leaders and delegates, will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 27, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, 19th floor, room B. Register online. Space is limited so sign up ASAP. You can read the resolution that brought out this training session on the UFT website.

Register now for our 15th annual School Counselors Conference

School counselors are encouraged to join their fellow members at the UFT’s 15th annual School Counselors Conference on Saturday, March 9, at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s an opportunity to hone your skills, hear about the new state regulations governing school counseling, visit exhibits and network with your fellow counselors across the city. The theme of this year’s event is “School Counselors Are the Heart of the School.” Carol Dahir, a professor and chair of the School Counseling Department at New York Institute of Technology, will deliver the keynote address, “What to Expect from the New NYS School Counseling Regulations: How Do They Affect You?” Participants may attend two 75-minute workshops on topics including bullying, writing letters of recommendation, the pitfalls of social media and supporting LGBT students. UFT President Michael Mulgrew and School Counselors Chapter Leader Rosemarie Thompson will give welcome greetings. The registration fee is $30, which includes breakfast and lunch. The deadline to register is Wednesday, March 6. Register online. For more information, including a full list of workshops, see the School Counselors Conference brochure.

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Your Chapter Leader Checklist

• NewFinal DOE-UFT contract ratified: Occupational and physical therapists, school nurses and supervisors of nurses and therapists voted on Jan. 31 to ratify their new contract. Nearly 60 percent of the 2,176 UFT members who cast ballots voted “yes.” The contract passed by a majority of each of the three UFT chapters in the bargaining unit. Thank you for helping to spread the word to school nurses and therapists in your building about the importance of voting.

• Use the new process under the contract to resolve workplace issues quickly: The DOE and the UFT have finalized the system-wide standards covering the operational issues of paperwork, curriculum, professional development, basic instructional supplies, workload and space. Use this new process at your disposal to quickly resolve workplace issues; it’s not a tool to harass principals. You should submit an online paperwork and operational issues report (you must be logged in to the UFT website to access it) the day you attempt to resolve the issue with your principal through a one-on-one conversation, an email or your UFT consultation committee. From that day, your principal will have five days to rectify the issue. If the issue has not been resolved in that time, the issue may be escalated to the District Paperwork and Operational Committee. If it is not resolved at the district level, the central committee will review the complaint. At that point, the UFT can take any unresolved issues concerning paperwork, curriculum, professional development and basic instructional supplies to arbitration. Unresolved workload and space issues affecting functional chapter members can be escalated to the UFT president and the schools chancellor, or their designees. Please contact your district representative if you have any questions.

• New issue-resolution process can also be used for school safety issues: New System-wide Standards for Safety that incorporate existing rules and regulations on school safety have been finalized. You are encouraged to use these standards to develop and improve the awareness and understanding of existing laws, regulations and resources that address matters concerning school safety, culture and climate. It is the expectation that issues around these matters can be addressed and resolved at the school level. You can submit an online paperwork and operational issues report (you must be logged in to the UFT website to access it) the day you attempt to resolve the violation of any of these safety standards with your principal through a one-on-one conversation, an email or your UFT consultation committee. Like with paperwork and operational issues, your principal will have five days to rectify the issue. If the issue has not been resolved in that time, the issue may be escalated to the borough-based Safety Committee. If it is not resolved at the borough level, the central committee will review the complaint. At that point, the UFT can take any unresolved safety issues to the UFT president and the schools chancellor, or their designees. Please contact your district representative if you have any questions. Here’s the School Safety Meeting Summary template.

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Share with Your Members

NewUFT’s Black History Month Film Series flier

2019 UFT Election Notice

Men in Education Symposium flier

MSK Talking with Children about Cancer flier

Sign Up for UFT Text Messages flier

Early Childhood Conference flier

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You Should Know

Health and Safety

Support for families struggling with mental illness and addiction: Beginning this March, the UFT Member Assistance Program will offer a new support group called Families Weathering the Storm. It’s for families struggling with mental illness and/or addiction. Participants will share coping strategies and practical information. All Member Assistance Program support groups are led by a trained mental health professional and are held in a safe and confidential space. Each of the six-week sessions of this group will meet on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. The first meeting will take place on March 13, at the UFT’s Member Assistance Program office at 50 Broadway, 9th floor. Register online.

Opportunities

NewApply for a sustainability mini-grant: The New York City Department of Sanitation and Citizens Committee for New York City invite all K–12 schools to apply for Green Team mini-grants of up to $1,000 for expenses such as recycling and garden projects, T-shirts/uniforms, school sustainability events and eco-friendly giveaways. Participating schools are encouraged to attend an informational session in the Bronx or Manhattan in February prior to submitting a grant application. The spring deadline is Friday, March 15. Schools that won in the fall of 2018 are not eligible for spring 2019 grants. For more information and to apply online, see the Zero Waste Schools website. Email schools [at] dsny [dot] nyc [dot] gov (schools[at]dsny[dot]nyc[dot]gov) if you have any questions.

NewUFT Shanker scholarship deadline extended to Feb. 11: The application deadline for the $5,000 Albert Shanker college scholarship has been extended to Monday, Feb. 11. Please reach out to your school’s college advisers and school counselors to make sure that eligible seniors apply for these scholarships. If you do not work in a high school, please reach out to family, friends and community members who may qualify for this award. Students selected for the scholarship must be accepted in a full-time, matriculated, degree-granting program at an accredited college or university. You can get more information on the scholarship and application materials on the UFT Scholarship Fund page of the UFT website.

Political Action

UFT elections this spring: The UFT is holding elections for president and other officers, executive board members and convention delegates. All the positions are three-year terms, effective July 1, 2019. The nominating petition deadline is Feb. 15. Balloting will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association. The ballots will be mailed on Monday, March 25. If you are interested in running for one of the positions, please read the 2019 UFT Election Notice for details. You can find the candidate statement form and the nominating petitions in the UFT Elections 2019 section of the UFT website.

Salary and Personnel

NewGuidance on evaluation for ATR pool teachers: Some ATR pool teachers have been told by their principals that they will be evaluated under the Advance system. The contract is clear: Teachers should not be rated under Advance unless they teach — and are the teacher of record — for six months and for at least 40 percent of a full program. The UFT is working with the DOE to resolve this issue. To find out if you are rated for evaluation under Advance, log onto the Advance page of the DOE website.

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This Week in Education and Labor News

West Virginian Republicans strike back at teachers: The West Virginia Senate has introduced a comprehensive education bill that takes aim at unions and public education, according to the News and Sentinel. The bill would deny pay to teachers during a work stoppage, require teachers’ unions to seek annual approval from teachers before deducting union dues from their paychecks, increase elementary-school class sizes from 25 to 28 and create education savings accounts for parents to pay for private-school and home-school expenses. The bill also creates the state’s first public charter school system, which allows for virtual schools. Dale Lee, the president of the West Virginia Education Association, said it was unfair to tie a 5 percent teacher pay raise to anti-teacher and anti-union provisions.

Laid-off BuzzFeed employees scramble for better severance: HuffPost and BuzzFeed have announced sweeping layoffs, reports FastCompany.com. About 220 BuzzFeed employees, including 43 journalists, lost their jobs. More than 400 of BuzzFeed’s nonunionized employees petitioned the company for better severance after it refused to pay the laid-off workers for earned time off and management eventually relented. While multiple media companies have unionized their newsrooms over the last couple years, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti successfully quashed any attempt at his own company.

Teachers’ union suspicious of new Koch education plan: Officials at the conservative Koch network on Jan. 28 announced a K–12 education strategy they hope educators and teachers unions will support, according to the Washington Post. The initiative will focus on curriculum, technology and uniting a broad coalition including outreach to teachers. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said the union welcomes genuine interest in public education but is skeptical of the new program because of Koch’s past support for anti-union efforts. “Only time will tell whether the paradigm shift in favor of public schooling is forcing the Kochs to pivot — to work with those they have tried to destroy — or whether this is simply a PR stunt,” Weingarten said.

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Events Calendar

Featured

Saturday, March 2: The 4th annual Men in Education Symposium will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway. Former New York City Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew will facilitate the morning plenary session and Bronx teacher Alhassan Susso, the New York State Teacher of the Year, will deliver the keynote speech. Workshops will be offered on mentoring, fatherhood and empowerment. Breakfast and lunch provided. Register online. For more information, see the Men in Education Symposium flier. This is a free event.

Saturday, March 9: The 15th annual School Counselors Conference will be held at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Register online. See the item in This Week’s Focus.

Saturday, March 16: The UFT’s 12th annual Early Childhood Conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway. The conference will feature a plenary greeting from UFT President Michael Mulgrew and a welcome address from UFT Vice President for Elementary Schools Karen Alford. For fee breakdown and to register, see the online form. For a full listing of workshops, see the Early Childhood Conference flier. The registration deadline is Friday, March 8.

This Week

Monday, Feb. 4: Brooklyn parents are invited to the parent outreach committee meeting to discuss issues in our schools. This meeting will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the UFT Brooklyn borough office, 335 Adams St., 24th floor. Dinner will be provided. Register online. For more information, see the Brooklyn Parent Outreach Committee flier.

Wednesday, Feb. 6: The School Secretaries Chapter executive board meeting will take place at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, 19th floor. This is an all-day event.

Wednesday, Feb. 6: REGISTRATION CLOSED — Bronx-based members will attend Money Moves: Financial Wellness Workshop for UFT Members. This event will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the UFT Bronx borough office, 2500 Halsey St.

Wednesday, Feb. 6: CANCELED — Asian-American Heritage Committee meeting.

Wednesday, Feb. 6: Staten Island-based members are invited to a paid parental leave information meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. at the UFT Staten Island borough office, 4456 Amboy Road. You must register online. For more information, see the flier.

Wednesday, Feb. 6: Brooklyn-based members are invited to a paid parental leave information meeting from 4:15 to 5:45 p.m. at the UFT Brooklyn borough office, 335 Adams St., 25th floor, rooms E/F. You must register online. For more information, see the flier.

Wednesday, Feb. 6: The speech general membership and executive board meeting will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, 19th floor, room G.

Thursday, Feb. 7: REGISTRATION CLOSED — Bronx-based members will attend Money Moves: Financial Wellness Workshop for UFT Members. This event will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the UFT Bronx borough office, 2500 Halsey St.

Thursday, Feb. 7: The UFT’s Staten Island borough office is hosting new member check-in, a gathering for new members, at Rinconcito Paisa, located at 1976 Forest Ave., Staten Island. New members can enjoy refreshments, check in with union representatives and chat with colleagues. New members who have worked in any UFT title with three years or less service are invited to attend. Please register online for this event.

Thursday, Feb. 7: Queens-based members may attend a maternity and child care leave workshop for people in their 3rd trimester from 4 to 6 p.m. at the UFT’s Queens borough office, 97-77 Queens Blvd., 5th floor, Rego Park. Participants will learn about their rights concerning paid parental, maternity, childcare and FMLA leaves. For more information and to register, see the flier.

Thursday, Feb. 7: Manhattan-based members are invited to a sabbatical workshop from 4 to 6 p.m. at the UFT Manhattan borough office, 52 Broadway, 10th floor. Participants will learn about sabbatical guidelines. Light refreshments will be served. Seating is limited. Register online. For more information, see the Manhattan Sabbatical Workshop flier.

Friday, Feb. 8: Career and Technical Education teachers will honor their colleagues at the 2019 CTE Awards Recognition Ceremony at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, 2nd floor, 4 p.m. See the CTE Awards Recognition Ceremony flier for more information. Register online.

Tuesday, Feb. 12: Staten Island-based members are invited to a sabbatical workshop from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the UFT Staten Island borough office, 4456 Amboy Road. Participants will learn about sabbatical guidelines. Light refreshments will be served. Seating is limited. Register online.

Save the Date

Saturday, March 23: The UFT’s 38th annual Paraprofessional Festival and Awards Luncheon celebrating the 50th anniversary of the UFT Paraprofessionals Chapter will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the New York Hilton Midtown at 1335 Sixth Ave. This year’s theme is Uplifting Hearts and Minds: Pathways to Social Emotional Learning. The registration fee is $25. For a full list of workshops and to register, go to the online form.

Saturday, March 30: The UFT’s 6th annual Middle School Conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway. View the Middle School Sixth Annual Conference flier.

Upcoming LearnUFT workshops

LearnUFT, the UFT’s professional development institute, offers an array of affordable workshops and professional learning opportunities for UFT members. The cost to register, unless otherwise indicated, is $30 for teachers seeking CTLE hours and $15 without CTLE hours. The cost for all paraprofessionals is $15. Participants will earn two CTLE hours for each workshop, unless otherwise specified.

These workshops will take place at UFT borough offices, unless otherwise indicated:

See LearnUFT courses in the Bronx »
See LearnUFT courses in Brooklyn »
See LearnUFT courses in Manhattan »
See LearnUFT courses in Queens »
See Learn UFT courses on Staten Island »

For a full listing of upcoming LearnUFT workshops, see the LearnUFT page on the UFT website.

For more events, go to uft.org/calendar.

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In Case You Missed It

Photo Gallery: Member meet and greet in Manhattan

Photo Gallery: Social Workers and Psychologists Clinician Appreciation Day 2019

Chapter News: National School Counseling Week is Feb. 4-8

Team High School Newsletter, February 2019

Editorial Cartoon: The impact of the government shutdown

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Professional Committees

UFT Professional Committees offer a wide range of workshops, presentations and exchanges, enabling all members to take an active part in their professional growth. Unless indicated, meetings are at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, Manhattan. Check in the lobby for exact locations. For further information, contact us at 212-598-7772 or visit us online.

Science Committee

• Friday, Feb. 8, 7:15pm, “The Cosmic Multiverse: Science or Fantasy?” For more information, see the Cosmic Multiverse: Science or Fantasy flier.

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Editor: Peter O’Donnell

Executive Editor: Bernadette Weeks

Contributors include: Karen Alford, George Altomare, Amy Arundell, LeRoy Barr, Jackie Bennett, Jeffery Bernstein, Hannah Brown, Joseph Colletti, Evelyn DeJesus, Crystal Deoraj, Paul Egan, Christina Gavin, Alison Gendar, MaryJo Ginese, Kathleen Guilbert, Anthony Harmon, Sarah Herman, Janella Hinds, Katherine Kurjakovic, Junior Linton, Joe LoVerde, Samantha Mark, Deidre McFadyen, Michael Murphy, Gabriel Nott, Suzanne Popadin, Debra Poulos, Jeffrey Povalitis, Tina Puccio, Briget Rein, Nadine Reis, Sterling Roberson, Michael Sill, Anne Silverstein, Dermot Smyth, Geofrey Sorkin, Rosemarie Thompson, Miriam Vega, Vanesia Wilson and Shelvy Young-Abrams.