March 27, 2025

Stand with your paraprofessionals on April 2

Wednesday, April 2, is national Paraprofessional Appreciation Day, and we are turning it into a citywide Day of Action! We need the City Council to pass legislation that will give paraprofessionals an annual $10,000 RESPECT check. To show our solidarity with paraprofessionals in their fight for more pay, we are organizing coordinated actions in our schools and coming together from across the city for a rally at City Hall. The more we post on social media and the larger the crowd we have at the rally, the more support we can get in the City Council for this critical legislation. Let's get this done!

TEACH accounts slow to show attendance at required workshop

Reassure your members who are mandated reporters that there is no need to contact the UFT or take any other action if their state TEACH account does not yet reflect their recent attendance at an updated workshop on reporting child abuse and neglect. Anyone who received a certificate of completion from the UFT Teacher Center or took the state's self-directed online course is in compliance. The New York State Education Department encountered a technical issue with uploading the names of educators who have taken the updated workshop, but state officials have reassured us that each person who has taken the workshop will receive the credit.

The state requires that all DOE employees who are mandated reporters, including all classroom teachers and paraprofessionals, take this updated two-hour workshop. If you have members in your school who have not yet taken the class, the UFT Teacher Center is holding free online workshops on Saturday, March 29, and Tuesday, April 1. Another option is the self-directed online course from the state Education Department. If a UFT member was required to take a child abuse workshop originally to get certified, they must take the updated version of the workshop. If not, they will put their certification at risk.

Collect signatures to reelect Victoria Lee as TRS trustee

The UFT Delegate Assembly on March 19 voted overwhelmingly to endorse UFT Treasurer Victoria Lee for reelection as a teacher-member on the TRS board. Our three union representatives on the retirement board are extremely important. Lee, an experienced UFT pension representative, will continue to be a fierce guardian of our pension benefits and a strong supporter of fixing Tier 6. Lee began her public school teaching career in 1997 at PS 143 in Corona, Queens. Two years later, she moved to nearby PS 16 and was elected the school's chapter leader in 2009. The following year, Lee trained to become a pension consultant for the UFT's Queens borough office, even as she continued teaching. She became a UFT pension representative in 2016 and soon began running pension clinics and workshops for the union throughout the city. Lee became a UFT teacher-member on the TRS board on Feb. 1, 2023, and the union's treasurer the following year.

Summer school application process opens  

The DOE is accepting applications for its Summer Rising 2025 program. The program is open to all students in grades K-12 who wish to attend. Teachers will receive mandated pre-service training on June 30 and July 1. Instruction for K-8 students, which is Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon each day, begins on July 2. Summer school for high school students begins on July 7. You can see the Summer Rising calendar and individual postings for further schedule details. Once you have reviewed the job posting for your job title, you can apply via the DOE's Summer Rising online application system. All Summer Rising applicants must re-register on the website as a new user. Retention rights must be claimed and will be honored for all positions. The deadline to apply for a summer school position is April 28.

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Encourage your school leadership team to host a table at our Spring Education Conference on May 17

Organize a group of members from your school to attend this year's Spring Education Conference, our premier annual event that celebrates, supports and empowers our work as public school educators. We'll gather at the New York Hilton Midtown on Saturday, May 17, from 7:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Online registration will open soon, but in the meantime you can work together with your school leadership team to buy a table for your members by using this school purchase order. The purchase order deadline is April 30. This year's conference theme is "We Teach This City!" Our workshops will have a New York City focus: a social studies workshop on bringing the city's history to life in the classroom; a MindUP workshop titled "A NYC State of Mind: Finding Wonder in Our City"; an ELA workshop titled "Stories in the Skyline: Unlocking Students' Writing Potential"; an ELA workshop that explores poems about the five boroughs; and a math workshop on the power of visuals. Buy a table and bring your New York City spirit for a day of inspiration, professional learning and camaraderie.