Required special education training for chapter leaders and principals

The new contract requires all school staff to receive training on special education rules and regulations each fall before or on Election Day. Chapter leaders and principals are strongly encouraged to attend a live, interactive 90-minute webinar next Monday, Oct. 23, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., presented jointly by UFT and DOE representatives. This webinar will demonstrate how to present the joint special education training at schools. Participants will have the chance to ask clarifying questions before presenting the information to their respective schools. Chapter leaders will be released from their regular duties to participate in this webinar. If you are not released, contact your UFT district representative for assistance. Here is the Microsoft Teams Live link to join the training session that day.

Principals and chapter leaders who are not able to attend the webinar on Oct. 23 will receive a recording of the webinar with the expectation that they will view it before the school-based training. The webinar will also be made available to principals and chapter leaders as a resource. Schools that have dedicated professional development time prior to Election Day must hold the training in person on Monday, Oct. 30, or Monday, Nov. 6. Schools that do not must conduct the staff training remotely on Election Day. A self-paced training video will be available to individual staff members who were not present for the joint training for their school. Here is the item in the Principal’s Weekly on special education staff training.

Educate your members about the importance of COPE

Members’ voluntary contributions to our Committee on Political Education, COPE — not union dues — fund the union’s political work with members, communities and elected officials. By contributing to COPE each month, UFT members ensure that their voices are heard by lawmakers and policy makers on the issues that matter to them. For instance, we are lobbying state lawmakers to fix Tier 6 of the pension system, a lobbying campaign paid for with COPE dollars. Please ask members in your school to sign up for COPE or increase their contributions. COPE’s recent impact can be seen when state lawmakers passed a law to reduce class sizes in New York City and a law ensuring paraprofessionals are automatically enrolled in the Teachers’ Retirement System. Members can enroll in COPE using this online enrollment form or filling out a paper COPE card. You can bring a printed copy of this political action flier to your next in-person chapter meeting, and members can scan the QR code to go to the online form. Want to know who in your chapter contributes to COPE and who doesn’t yet? You can view the COPE report for your school in the Chapter Leader Hub. Please reach out to Melody Rondinelli, our COPE coordinator, at 212-598-6850, if you would prefer a hard copy of the COPE report for your school that also includes information on voter registration. If you need more paper COPE cards, reach out to Melody or your district rep.

Election Day PD is fully remote

Professional development on Election Day will be remote for all school-based staff this school year. Principals cannot require staff to report to schools on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Please notify your UFT district representative if your principal is requiring staff to come in or offering in-person professional development as an option.