April 3, 2015: Union wins paperwork ruling
The union defined standards for paperwork reduction in it's 2014 DOE-UFT contract, and when a principal at John Dewey HS in Brooklyn ignored those standards in 2015, the contract enabled the union to hold the principal accountable.
Learning by doing
Following the philosophy that “students learn by doing,” an award-winning high school STEAM teacher in Brooklyn has gotten great results.
Spotlighting ‘Hope’ amid pandemic
More than 30,000 lights, spelling out the word “HOPE,” shined a spotlight on the number of New York City lives lost to COVID-19 in an initiative of the Urban Assembly School of Emergency Management in Manhattan from March 12 to March 14.
Tales from a unique school year
The 2020–21 school year is demanding ingenuity, flexibility and patience from New York City public school educators in all job titles. Both in-person and remote functional chapter members are grappling with the unique challenges of serving their...
A tale from Ina Friedman, school secretary
A city DOE employee since 1986, Friedman says she now works 24/7. “My phone is always with me. Teachers who work in the building call or text me if they're going to be out and then I have to get a sub. That’s been much harder this year.” She misses...
A tale from Andrea Kasowitz, teacher of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing
The pandemic has created unique challenges for Kasowitz and other teachers like her, “but we're not letting them get us down,” she says. Social distancing affects seating arrangements and masks make it hard to see facial expressions. “I have taught...
A tale from Lori Perry, social worker for school-based support programs
“Before I was always visible,” says Perry. “That's gone now. You take on different roles because there are fewer staff and fewer children in the building.” Perry says students’ families are overwhelmed by remote learning and the process for setting...
A tale from Robin Kaplan, speech teacher
“There’s nothing that compares to in-person learning,” Kaplan says, “but I'm putting the same amount of energy and love into every session I create, whether in-person or remote.” In a challenging year, Kaplan points to rewards: speaking to parents...
Noteworthy Graduate: Jeff Orlowski, Filmmaker
Jeff Orlowski, who attended PS 42 and IS 7 on Staten Island, is a filmmaker who specializes in movies about existential threats such as climate change and social media. As a senior at Stuyvesant HS in Manhattan, he was editor-in-chief of the school...
A tale from Ponzella Johnson, school nurse
“My greatest challenge,” says Johnson, “has been making sure my school community was able to keep safe. I knew it was essential for classroom teachers and support staff to have easy access to first aid items because they had to remain contained...