Lawmakers hear our “no more charter schools” message

We showed the power of our union when more than 900 UFT members and parents traveled to Albany for UFT Lobby Day on March 13. Members met face to face with their state representatives and told them why the governor’s plan to expand charter schools in New York City would hurt our public schools. Our efforts made a difference: The next day, leaders in the State Senate and State Assembly formally rejected the governor’s proposal to allow more charter schools to open in New York City. The battle is not over until the governor and the Legislature finalize the state budget, which is due by April 1, but it is a significant step. UFT members also asked lawmakers to increase state school aid and support the rest of the UFT’s 2023 legislative priorities, including state funding for UFT Teacher Centers, the Positive Learning Collaborative and United Community Schools, reform of Tier 6 of the retirement system and more career and technical education programs. Check out our Instagram story and see our Lobby Day photo gallery.

Organize a grade-in at your school on March 30 

t was great to see all of you who attended a contract campaign session on March 7 or 14 about mobilizing this month around our need for more respect and autonomy in the workplace. Now it’s time to organize your chapter’s participation in our next citywide Day of Action. On Thursday, March 30, schools across the city will bring their grading, paperwork and planning work to a public area such as a cafe or a park or in front of their school to illustrate the total amount of work they have to do outside the instructional day. Here is a grade-in checklist to help you plan a successful action and here are signs that you can print and use. Don’t forget to fill out this online form to let us know about your grade-in or other actions your chapter is planning. It will be helpful for us when assigning UFT photographers and reporters. If March 30 doesn’t work for your school, pick another day that week for the grade-in. Here is a menu of other school-based actions you can organize in March to drum up community awareness about our need for a fair contract.

See the full mobilization toolkit

New SBO section in Chapter Leader Hub

Beginning on March 20, there will be a new section in the Chapter Leader Hub where you can see a record of the school-based options (SBOs) that your school chapter approved for the 2022-23 school year. It was the top request from chapter leaders on our survey following the launch of the Chapter Leader Hub in 2022, so we made this enhancement a priority. Now you can see the ballot and the results of your SBO votes for this school year. The link to that report will be at the top of the Chapter Leader Hub, next to your school’s reports for grievances and COPE. Moving forward, all approved SBOs will be stored in the Chapter Leader Hub so it will become a valuable historical record, too, over time. See the item below in the Contract Empowerment and Enforcement section on beginning the discussion about SBOs for the upcoming school year.

UFT calls for more school funding in city budget 

UFT President Michael Mulgrew said the mayor’s proposed cuts to education funding in the city’s preliminary budget are uncalled for given that New York State has increased its school aid, almost $600 million in federal COVID relief funds remain unspent and the City Council estimates that the city will receive $5.2 billion more in tax revenue than the Mayor’s Office projects. “With such an infusion of funding available to our city’s schools, why are we considering an executive budget that would make $500 million in cuts to schools?” he asked. Those cuts, he said, “will compromise our ability to meet our school communities’ needs in coming years.” Mulgrew said the city budget must include more education aid to implement the new class-size law;  pay for the hiring of more school social workers, psychologists and counselors; support migrant students and other newcomers to our school communities; and expand career and technical education.

Read the testimony

Send us photos of your celebration of the UFT’s 63rd anniversary

Sixty-three years ago today — on March 16, 1960 — the UFT was founded. It’s an important moment to reflect on where we came from, how the union’s founders bravely fought for the rights we have today, and how we are part of a historical continuum of struggle for dignity and respect in the workplace. If you brought a cake, organized a group activity or made a card to mark this milestone in the union’s history, please send a photo to uftphotos@gmail.com.