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New York TeacherSeptember 5, 2024

Volume LXVI, Number 1

Some 1,500 new teachers proudly sign up to become members of the UFT on the opening day of the DOE’s New Teacher Week. The UFT rolled out the welcome wagon, informing new educators of all the benefits and support union membership confers.

Cover Story

New Teachers Join UFT's Rank

New teachers join UFT’s ranks

About 1,500 new teachers became proud new members of the UFT at the opening day of the Department of Education's annual New Teacher Week.

"This one-on-one connection is where it starts," said UFT Vice President Karen Alford, the head of the union's new member initiative. "We tell our members who we are, how we can support them and how they can be part of something bigger than themselves."

New teachers began lining up at 7 a.m. on Aug. 27 to enter either Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan or the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus across the…

Latest News

City & State education summit
News Stories

UFT presses state for fair funding

The UFT is pushing New York State to update the formula it uses to allocate Foundation Aid to better reflect the actual cost of education and the particular needs of each school district’s students.
UFT Member Hub
News Stories

UFT launches new app

The UFT has launched a new mobile app for fast and convenient access to union resources and information. The UFT Member Hub app replaces UFT-Mobile, the union's old app. The new ap is available through the Apple store for iPhone users and soon will be available in Google Play for Android devices. 


Feature Stories

A real class act

A real class act

For Shenelle Ali, walking into MS 137 every morning to teach social studies is “like coming home.” Something about the Ozone Park, Queens, middle school feels familial and comforting, said Ali, and she’s not alone. She’s one of nine current faculty members — seven teachers and two paraprofessionals — who graduated from the school.

“I chose to come back because of that sense of community,” said Ali, who enthusiastically applied for an opening at MS 137 and chose it over another offer at a different school.

What makes MS 137 so special that former students want to return as educators? Vishal Ramnanan, an algebra teacher…

Planting seeds of knowledge

Planting seeds of knowledge

Harlem 4th-grade teachers Melody Naccarato and Pura Luna let their students get their hands dirty as they learned about plants and biodiversity during a class trip to the historic Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in the Bronx.
High Schools teachers win Fulbright awards

High school teachers win Fulbright award

High school teachers Lisa-Erika James and Marc Martorana, the only two New York City public school teachers to receive the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program award for the 2023-2024 academic year, say they are eager to bring a global perspective to their classrooms this school year.

Member Spotlight

Leah Lin
Chapter Leader Shoutout

Kudos to Leah Lin, PS 85, Queens

Leah Lin, chapter leader at PS 85 in Queens, keeps her fellow educators informed and engaged about union and contract matters with the short, fun and easy-to-follow Morning Rush videos she posts regularly on her Instagram account.

Christina Setkoski
What I Do

Christina Setkoski, physical therapist

For the past 18 years, Christina Setkoski has diagnosed, evaluated and treated students with mobility challenges at PS 138, a District 75 elementary school in Manhattan.


Around the UFT

Staten Island Back to School BBQ

Staten Island Back-to-School BBQ 2024

Hundreds of families packed the schoolyard at PS 21 on Staten Island for the UFT's third annual back-to-school backpack giveaway, where children received needed backpacks and school supplies, served alongside food and fun.
Harlem week

Harlem Week 2024

UFT members and parent volunteers handed out back packs and other school supplies to more than 1,000 students during this year's Harlem Week festivities.

Your Rights and Benefits

Know Your Benefits
Child care leave

Extended child care leave

Many UFT-represented members have a unique and valuable benefit: the ability to take an extended child care leave and return to their job afterward. This benefit is for those who want to take more time off than paid parental leave or an FMLA benefit will allow.

Know Your Rights
parent-teacher conference

Parent engagement

Increasing member autonomy was a priority in the negotiations leading up to the 2023 DOE-UFT contract. That’s why in all single-session schools as well as District 75 schools that choose to use the default workday in the contract, teachers and paraprofessionals now have 55 minutes of weekly parent engagement time that is self-directed and can be conducted remotely. 

Your Well-being
Career Ladder - Generic

Set goals for success

The start of a new school year is a perfect opportunity to organize your time for maximum effectiveness. Here are some tips on how set SMART goals (goals that are specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-based) to make the best use of your time this year.

You Should Know

Grants, Awards & Freebies
A teacher with young students

Grants, Awards & Freebies

See our list of current opportunities for educators to receive funds and recognition for their hard work and dedication. 

Q&A on the Issues
MOSL

The rules regarding teacher evaluations

The following Q&A answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the teacher evaluation system for the 2024-25 school year.
Secure Your Future
Generic Female pensioner using laptop

UFT pension services

The UFT Pension Department offers an array of services to inform members of their retirement benefits and help them prepare for retirement.


Opinions

President's Perspective
CSI HS for International Studies, Staten Island

Inviting our members to a seat at the table

Oftentimes the leaders of this union are the faces in the media, but we know the real work happens when our members drive the change. This school year, we will again be joining together to form citywide union committees to tackle some of the most significant issues on the horizon.

VPerspective
Janella Hinds

Share your truths to gain students’ trust

UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds writes that we can guide our students to more fully examine who they are and where their passions lie but doing so requires us to bring our truest selves to the classroom.

Editorials
#StartStrong graphic

Pre-K, 3-K still a fight

Our #StartStrong campaign continues. The city and the DOE must do more to put our city’s youngsters on the path to educational success.
Editorials
Kamala Harris

Harris for president

Democrat Kamala Harris has earned our parent union’s endorsement because she is pro-public education and pro-union, as is her running mate Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor and a former teacher. 

Editorial Cartoons
Cartoon Sept. 2024

Biden's shades

Looking through President Biden's sunglasses, the future's so bright.

Teaching Resources

Learning Curve
Students take an exam and are blocked off from viewing each other's answers by union folders.

Teaching civics in every classroom

New York City’s Civics for All initiative, started in 2018, provides project-based and culturally responsive civics programs that prepare students to participate in democracy and become positive forces for change. 


Linking to Learning
A diagram of an online word web to assist students in improving vocabulary.

Build vocabulary with tech tools

Helping students expand their vocabulary is crucial. Technology tools can offer powerful support for vocabulary development by providing multiple methods to encounter, practice and learn new words.

Teacher to Teacher
Helping students become analytical readers

Helping students become analytical readers

Strategies such as journaling, reader’s notes and social-emotional prompts can help students make the leap to making inferences from the fiction and non-fiction they read.

Building Your Career

Inside My Classroom
Inside my classroom

Request a selfie

Kindergarten teacher Samantha Shekian created a “request a selfie” station to give students the chance to request a photo of themselves and the work of which they are proud. Then she sends the photo to their parents.

New Teacher Articles
Generic Teacher Center conference professional development

Union membership has its privileges

Membership in the UFT means never having to figure it out all alone, with union support and resources across the spectrum of financial, physical and mental wellness. Here is a list of resources available to UFT members.
New Teacher Profiles
Creating a ladder of learning

Creating a ladder of learning

New special education teacher Emily Hang Duong, who teaches math and science at IS 234 in Brooklyn, motivates her students by never letting them forget that they have every opportunity to grow. 

Retired Teachers News

From RTC Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer
RTC Chapter Leader Column

Welcome to the new RTC

Though I’ve been retired for several years, the school calendar still shapes the rhythm and pace of my life. Jan. 1? In my mind, that’s the end of the winter break. The day after Labor Day? That’s the real start of the new year. No matter what I’m up to, no matter where I am, I feel the school calendar in my bones, from the arrival of the students on Day 1 to the last day of summer vacation.

Speaking of summer vacation, the new RTC officers and I spent much of ours meeting the UFT personnel who run the programs and services that UFT retirees depend on. Everyone has been wonderfully collaborative, and we are grateful for their help.

Our chapter’s voice is more powerful than it’s ever been, and the RTC is poised to be more active and engaged than ever before. Longtime retirees’ wisdom and experience combined with newer members’ energy and ideas is a…

iPad with discounts
RTC Service

Save money with UFT member discounts

UFT membership entitles retirees to discounts on everything from clothing, restaurants and Broadway shows to travel, financial services and sports clubs.
UFT abandons Medicare Advantage
RTC Information

UFT abandons Medicare Advantage

In late June, the UFT withdrew its support for the city’s proposed Medicare Advantage plan for New York City’s Medicare-eligible retirees.