Chapter Leader UpdateNov. 7, 2024

Make sure your principal applies for class size funding if there's space

As chapter leader, you have a pivotal role to play in ensuring your principal creates a plan and applies for funding if your school has the space but needs the staff to lower class size. Make sure your principal is aware that this funding is in addition to any funding your school now gets and will be recurring. As we work to get 60% of classrooms citywide in compliance with the new limits by September 2025, we know hundreds of schools have the space to lower class sizes now. The application process is live. Your principal has until Dec. 20 to apply for the funding your school needs to execute its plan. See more information in our FAQ. We know the webinar and Nov. 4 live Q&A — both jointly organized by the DOE, the principals' union and the UFT — left chapter leaders with many unanswered questions. That's why we are holding our own online information-and-organizing session for chapter leaders next Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 4:30 p.m. At this session, we will give you more targeted information, support and direction and answer your questions. Since your principal may not act unless your school community mobilizes, we encourage you to invite your Chapter Action Team members to join you at this meeting.

ACTIONS YOU NEED TO TAKE:
Register for our information-and-organizing session on Nov. 12. Then work with your principal and school leadership team to figure out how much available space your school has and help your principal create a plan to bring as many classes as possible into compliance with the class size law in the 2025-26 school year.

Staying focused on our mission after election results

The voters have spoken. Recognizing the results of a free and fair election is a cornerstone of our democracy. Under the new administration, we will continue to focus on our core mission: fighting for what our members, our students and our communities need. What lies ahead for public school educators will no doubt be difficult, but we will protect our core values, our union, our profession and one another. We want to thank all of the UFT political action volunteers who participated in phone banking, labor walks and trips to Pennsylvania to door-knock this fall. Between NYSUT and the UFT, our in-service and retired members made more than 29,200 phone calls to fellow educators and union members in New York and Pennsylvania. We didn't get the result we wanted in many cases, but we put our best effort into fighting for the candidates who stood up for our values and priorities.

New DOE guidance ends 3‑K/pre‑K teachers' use of own devices to document progress

In consultation meetings at the chancellor's level, the union repeatedly called out the DOE for telling 3-K and pre-K teachers and paraprofessionals to document their students' progress with photos as part of the new curriculum's assessment cycle while not supplying school-issued iPads or other electronic devices to fulfill that requirement. As a result, these teachers and paraprofessionals were using their personal cell phones to document student learning and then uploading these photos to the GOLD portal. In the Oct. 22 issue of the Principals Digest, the DOE issued the following new guidance to building leaders in response to the union's intervention:

• Paraprofessionals/teaching assistants are not required to upload observation data in GOLD. If paraprofessionals and teaching assistants choose to engage in this process, they have their own unique login credentials to access GOLD.
• Teachers are not required to use their personal mobile/electronic devices to document children's engagement and learning.
• The Teaching Strategies Teacher App allows for uploading of documentation that goes directly to children's profiles; however, there is no requirement to use this app.

Improved disability and enteral formula benefits

In-service UFT Welfare Fund members recently gained two benefit improvements: an increase in the weekly short-term disability benefit and more coverage of a special nutritional formula for people, including newborns, with digestive issues. These two benefits are vital for the members they affect, and we have been working to enhance them for some time. Effective this Nov. 1, the disability benefit increased $100 per week, bringing weekly short-term disability payments to $575 for teachers and $475 for paraprofessionals and others in the same income band. The benefit kicks in after a member has exhausted their Cumulative Absence Reserve and is on an authorized medical leave of absence without pay. UFT Welfare Fund annual coverage of enteral formula has tripled, from a maximum of $2,500 per calendar year to a new maximum of $7,500 per year. The benefit is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024. Enteral formula is a liquid or powder product that is medically formulated to assist with nutrient-intake deficiencies. If you or one of your members have any questions or concerns, you can call a UFT Welfare Fund health benefit representative at 212-529-0500 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

A new tool to navigate UFT parental leave

In 2018, thanks to a public campaign led by thousands of UFT members, our union became the first public-sector union in the history of New York City to negotiate paid parental leave for the employees it represents. Since then, we have heard from members that it can be challenging to determine exactly what the benefit offers given their specific circumstances. Our new interactive tool helps members navigate UFT parental leave. Whether they are expecting, adopting, fostering or using a surrogate, this simple online tool will walk the member through this hard-fought benefit as it applies to them and their specific situation. You can access the new paid parental leave tool only through the UFT Member Hub. Please encourage your colleagues who are expecting or planning to welcome a child into their family to take a look.

Log in to the Member Hub

Our solidarity and resolve on view at Teacher Union Day

Some 1,400 UFT members came out for Teacher Union Day this past Sunday to recognize their colleagues' dedication to the union and to unite in solidarity to confront the challenges ahead. Former Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy, who received the Charles Cogen Award, the union's highest honor, spoke passionately about organizing at the school level and mobilizing members, both in service and retired, for political action. Collective Action Awards were given to five school chapters — Midwood HS, Performing Arts and Technology HS in East New York, MS 51 in Park Slope, PS 157 in the Bronx and East New York Family Academy — that mobilized and exerted their power at the school level. We want to give a special shoutout to the 75 school chapters that received Ely Trachtenberg Awards. See photos from the event as well as the videos featuring many of the honorees.