Educators report that, on average, 35% of their day is spent on tasks that don’t benefit students. Three out of four educators report they do not have enough time during the workday to properly plan to meet their students’ needs. And 87% of educators say administrative tasks get in the way of their students’ learning.

Those were some of the telling results from the UFT’s new contract survey of its school-based members.

Before and after school the week of April 24–28, as the union’s fight for a fair contract began to focus on working conditions, UFT members across the five boroughs handed out an informational leaflet with the results of the survey. The poll showed that Department of Education mandates and a lack of educator autonomy create hurdles that get in the way of effective teaching and learning.

“UFT educators demand and deserve a fair contract,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew, who helped kick off the Week of Action by distributing fliers with members outside neighboring PS 114 and PS 527 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. “We were celebrated by City Hall as essential workers during the height of the pandemic. Now, despite record levels of budget reserves, there is a reluctance to do the right thing for the people who are lifelines for our city’s children and families.”

Bernadette Weeks

Pedro Rodriguez, the parent of a 5th-grader at PS 527 in Manhattan, shows off the flier he received when he dropped his child off for school on April 24.

UFT members have been working under an expired contract since Sept. 13, and the union is fighting for changes to the current contract that will free up time for them to better serve their students.

“Parents I spoke to definitely want us to be spending our time helping their children and not doing testing and paperwork that’s not necessary,” said Gloria Nicodemi, the chapter leader at East-West School of International Studies in Queens.

Nicodemi was joined by about 30 other members from her school and co-located IS 237 who distributed the fliers early on April 24 as parents dropped off their children before classes.

“I actually was surprised that 35% of the teachers say they spend their days off task because I thought that number would actually be higher,” said Nikki Zernone, the chapter leader at West End Secondary School in Manhattan.

Zernone wasn’t surprised that more than half of educators say assessments get in the way of student learning.

As an example, she recalled the administration of online MAP assessments done twice this year to gauge students’ growth in ELA and math.

“Our students were losing 12 periods of English and 12 periods of math just to take this standardized test that basically no one really finds useful,” she said.

The vast majority of UFT members reported that administrative tasks also get in the way of other, more important work.

“I teach high school, and my co-teacher and I don’t always have time to sit down and plan ways we can help the students who need the additional support,” Nicodemi said. “It would be nice to have some more self-directed time instead of being forced to attend a meeting or do mandated paperwork.”

Pedro Rodriguez, the parent of a 5th-grader at PS 527 in Manhattan, said, “Just reading the leaflets blew my mind. All of it was very concerning.”

The leaflets urged community members to stand alongside educators in their contract campaign by texting the word CONTRACT to 86366.

Sharada Greene, a math teacher and union delegate at Edward R. Murrow HS in Brooklyn, said she appreciated getting the chance to bring the members’ cause directly to parents and the community.

“Face to face is always the best,” Greene said. “People are supportive of us. Because of the pandemic, they had the experience of assisting their children at home for a long stretch of time. I think they can now appreciate the work and effort that goes into teaching.”

Zernone said it came down to respecting and trusting educators to do what they know best.

“We always are forced to approach education as if there’s one solution that’s going to meet everybody’s needs rather than default to the teachers as the experts,” Zernone said. “We’re often unable to do what we feel our students need because of different mandates.”

Murrow HS speech teacher Charlene Tuff, a 20-year veteran, said the campaign is all about making students the priority.

“We have so much computer work, it takes away from our time with kids,” Tuff said.

Cara Metz and Bernadette Weeks contributed to this story.