Jan. 23, 2025

Get training on how to support your undocumented students and families

This week, the Trump administration rescinded a longstanding federal policy that made schools, hospitals and other sensitive locations off-limits with respect to immigration enforcement. The DOE instructed principals that its directive remains the same: "The DOE does not consent to non-local law enforcement accessing school facilities in any circumstances, and principals and other school personnel may not give consent." We have compiled a resources page to keep members informed about immigrant rights, the threat of deportation and how educators can support our immigrant students and their families. We will regularly update this page as new information becomes available. We are offering a one-hour online workshop for members to learn ways they can support students and families who are facing the threat of deportation. They will gain tools and resources to use in the classroom, to share with families and to include in a schoolwide plan. Members can take this workshop, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., on one of three dates: Tuesday, Jan. 28; Tuesday, Feb. 4; or Thursday, Feb. 6.

Register now

Does your school have a shortage of substitutes? Push your principal to develop a plan

Your consultation committee summaries show that many schools are regularly pulling ICT teachers or English as a New Language teachers to do coverages when teachers call in sick. It’s clear that many schools have not assembled an adequate pool of substitute teachers they can call on — and calling DOE’s SubCentral is not the answer. If the lack of substitute teachers is an ongoing problem at your school, we advise you to raise the issue at your next UFT consultation committee and/or special education committee meeting and prod your principal to develop a plan. Report the outcome in your next consultation committee summary. Many schools have done a good job of developing a pool of substitutes they can call on, which proves it can be done. If we don’t make the substitute shortage an issue, the DOE will continue to say substitutes just aren’t available, which is unacceptable.

Work with your para rep to welcome and enroll paraprofessionals in the union

The first focus of our RESPECT campaign is to build the power of paraprofessionals through union enrollment. The DOE stepped up its hiring after we spotlighted the paraprofessional staffing shortage using the results of the chapter leader survey. Thanks to the union’s help navigating the DOE’s complicated hiring process, some 1,600 new substitute paraprofessionals have been cleared and are available to work in our schools. Please welcome them! Substitute paraprofessionals deserve the rights and protections of union membership for the important work they do. We are offering a new telemedicine benefit for substitute paraprofessionals who join the union since they do not have city health benefits. Check your school’s member report in the Chapter Leader Hub to determine which paraprofessionals in your school are not yet UFT members and share that information with your paraprofessional rep. We have prepared a tool kit (including a flyer about the telehealth benefit) to better equip you, your paraprofessional representative and members of your school’s chapter action team to have conversations with paraprofessionals and sub paraprofessionals about the benefits available to them if they enroll in the UFT. Increasing the number of paraprofessionals in our union builds our strength for the fight ahead to win the rights and compensation that paraprofessionals deserve.

ACTION YOU CAN TAKE: Coordinating with your school's paraprofessional rep, you should reach out to nonmember paraprofessionals in your school and invite them to join the UFT so they can access the union benefits they deserve.

BERS members should attend an info session before transferring to TRS

Thanks to a years-long fight by the union, a new state law gives UFT members enrolled in the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) the choice to transfer to the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). The UFT Pension Department is holding in-person information sessions in all five boroughs to guide school nurses, occupational and physical therapists, and other BERS members through the decision-making and transfer process. We strongly advise all BERS members not to take any action until they have attended a UFT information session and understand how a transfer may affect them. BERS members have until Dec. 11 to request a transfer.

ACTION YOU SHOULD TAKE: At your next membership meeting, please advise school nurses, occupational and physical therapists and any other BERS members at your school to attend a UFT Pension Department information session before requesting a transfer to TRS.

Celebrate the Success Via Apprenticeship program at this year’s UFT CTE Awards

UFT educators in career and technical education programs and schools are invited to attend this year’s UFT CTE Awards Ceremony, which will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. This year's ceremony will be extra special as we commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Success Via Apprenticeship (SVA) program, which combines college courses with apprenticeships in classrooms and in each student’s chosen industry to prepare them to teach in CTE programs. The doors will open at 4 p.m., with a networking reception beginning at 5 p.m. The awards reception will start immediately afterward.

Register now