New York TeacherDecember 19, 2024

Volume LXVI, Number 3

A special issue showcasing the expertise and contributions of school related professionals.

Cover Story

‘Enough is enough’

The UFT Paraprofessionals Chapter launched a new RESPECT campaign at its Nov. 21 paraprofessional representatives meeting to demand that the Department of Education pay paraprofessionals more, value their work and uphold their rights.

“Enough is enough,” said Paraprofessionals Chapter Chairperson Priscilla Castro. “Paraprofessionals are the backbone of the school system, yet we can’t pay our bills on our salary and the DOE routinely violates our rights in schools.”

Castro said that improving working conditions for paraprofessionals will improve the learning conditions of their students. “We love our jobs, and we love our students,” she said. “We are ready to stand up and use our voice, not just for ourselves but for our students.”

The campaign will focus on the elements that spell out the letters in RESPECT: rights, empowerment, support, protection,…

Latest News

News Stories

Special education gets the shaft

UFT President Michael Mulgrew is calling on the city to fill vacant school-related professional positions in order to fulfill the special education requirements of at least 9,000 students across the city.

News Stories

Schools apply for class size funding

As the Dec. 20 deadline approached, several hundred New York City public schools were working on their applications for funding to reduce class size next school year. In late October, principals were invited to create a plan and apply for funds, which will be recurring, if their school had the available space but needed to hire more staff to lower class size to the new limits in state law. 

Feature Stories

A safe Nest for autistic students

A 5th-grade class at PS 682 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn is learning about earthquakes. They start by watching a video, with captions on, about an earthquake in Japan. One student walks to the front of the room and plops onto the floor to watch at closer range. Many train their eyes on the screen while their hands fiddle with fidget toys at their desks. A boy sits in a bean bag chair in the corner, quietly explaining to a speech therapist that he’s feeling overwhelmed.

After the video, a discussion ensues about earthquakes and the teachers move on to related vocabulary words. The student who was overwhelmed is, by now, listening intently from the bean bag chair. By the time the class has transitioned to a reading activity, he’s back at…

Educational support team key to District 75 hydroponics lab

The hydroponics lab at P141K at IS 71, a District 75 site that serves students with profound learning challenges, allows students to participate in gardening activities year-round. The students have the opportunity to witness the plant life cycle from seed to fruit.

Making the leap — together

This school year, PS 133 in Harlem has three newly minted teachers who were employed as paraprofessionals at the school the previous year. The three, who have fashioned a mini support group for one another, are grateful for the help of the union and the UFT Teacher Center in facilitating their climb up the career ladder. 

Member Spotlight

What I Do

Oksana Parfilko, lab specialist

Oksana Parfilko maintains the laboratory rooms and plans and leads lab activities for science students at New Dorp HS on Staten Island. 

Chapter Leader Shoutout

Kudos to Michelle Lowe-Calixte, IS 392, Brooklyn

Michelle Lowe-Calixte has been an exemplary chapter leader the last three years — all while also serving as the District 23 paraprofessional coordinator.

Around the UFT

Awards & Honors

Teacher Union Day

The UFT honored the organizing efforts and successes of members thoughout the city as some 1,500 members, friends and families gathered at the New York Hilton Midtown on Nov. 3 to commemorate Teacher Union Day.

Pension Expo

The UFT's first-ever Pension Expo on Oct. 26 gave 400 UFT members the information and tools they needed to plan for retirement. “We provided members a place where in one day they could take care of all these things they were concerned about and never found the time to get answers,” said UFT Treasurer Victoria Lee.

UFT college and career fairs

Educators from schools across the city exposed their students to a variety of career and college pathways at three fairs hosted this fall by the UFT's Academic High School Division. The Future in Focus event highlighted careers in which the workers typically belong to unions.

Santa Claus arrives to a kazoo-driven rendition of “Jingle Bells" at the UFT/Coalition for the Homeless holiday toy drive and celebration on Dec. 7, 2024.

UFT holiday party and toy drive

UFT volunteers transformed Shanker Hall at union headquarters into a wonderland of candy-cane balloons, games and crafts for the union's annual holiday party and toy drive for students in need. Organized by the UFT Elementary School Division, the party welcomed nearly 100 children from six city shelters in partnership with the Coalition for the Homeless.

Students pose for a photo at the UFT Middle School Division Anti-Bullying Conference on Oct. 24, 2024.

UFT Middle School Division’s Anti-Bullying Conference

About 500 middle schoolers from 31 schools throughout the city learned ways to combat bullying during the UFT's annual anti-bullying conference led by BRAVE, the union's anti-bullying initiative.

Your Rights and Benefits

Know Your Benefits

Workers’ compensation

Workers’ compensation is insurance paid for by the employer. It covers medical costs associated with an on-the-job injury or illness, and it pays a portion of lost salary if you miss work. Full- or part-time paraprofessionals, occupational and physical therapists, school nurses and administrative employees are all eligible for it if they are injured on the job.

Know Your Rights

Paraprofessionals’ rights and responsibilities

Paraprofessionals play an instrumental role in schools as part of a team providing educational and support services to children. Here are some of the rights and responsibilities that paraprofessionals should know about. 

Your Well-being

New year, new you

If you want your mental health resolutions for the new year to last, focus on self-care and get specific. Experts have identified eight dimensions of wellness, which provide a great framework for creating achievable resolutions.

You Should Know

Grants, Awards & Freebies

Grants, Awards & Freebies

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

Secure Your Future

Paraprofessional pensions

Paraprofessionals have the security of knowing they will receive a pension check every month for the rest of their lives after they retire as members of the Teachers' Retirement System. Learn all you need to know about this key benefit.

Secure Your Future

TDA contribution limits for 2025

The IRS has announced how much employees can contribute to their tax-deferred annuity account in the 2025 calendar year.

For Your Information

The FAQs on SRPs

School-related professionals playan essential role in supporting the varied needs of students. This issue of the New York Teacher is dedicated to these UFT members. They number more than 46,000 in total in the New York City public school system and belong to 23 DOE titles.

Q&A on the Issues

Career advancement opportunities for paraprofessionals

By accumulating college credits, paraprofessionals can significantly increase their pay. Whether your career path as a paraprofessional leads you to earn a bachelor’s degree or to earn a master’s degree and become a certified teacher, several UFT-backed programs provide professional and financial support. Read our FAQ to learn more about these career advancement opportunities.

Opinions

President's Perspective

A group photo at a press conference for special education concerns.

The DOE fails students with special needs

The DOE’s failure to adequately staff our schools is unacceptable. We have long known that our related service providers were stretched thin, but the numbers from the survey show how untenable the DOE has let the situation become.

VPerspective

Cutting the ribbon on the new Teacher Center at CS 300 in the Bronx

UFT Teacher Centers are friends indeed

UFT Vice President Mary Vaccaro writes that Teacher Center specialists with extensive teaching and coaching expertise in New York City public schools offer support, professional development, collegial advice and access to resources and materials that promote pedagogical excellence and students’ academic achievement. 

Editorials

Errors in math

As the DOE's mandated Algebra I math curriculum has expanded from a few hundred high schools last year to citywide this school year, so have teachers’ concerns that it is a mismatch for city schools and is hampering their students’ academic progress.

Editorials

A student looks through a book in class.

NYC Reads reset

This school year, as outside consultants took over most of the training, teachers grew increasingly frustrated with their lack of voice and the lack of support. So we headed to the bargaining table to demand changes. The revised curriculum policy that the DOE announced in early December is a step in the right direction. 

Editorial Cartoons

A cartoon of a related service provider drowning in paperwork.

Help!

A related service provider drowns in paperwork.

Comments

Teaching Resources

Teacher to Teacher

Ways to build SEL skills in the classroom

As a school counselor, I recommend that classroom teachers do these four things to support students in their social-emotional growth.  

Learning Curve

Therapists’ strategies that teachers can use

Incorporating strategies used by occupational, physical and speech therapists into classroom teaching can not only greatly benefit students with disabilities, but can also improve learning for all students. And the more teachers normalize using these strategies, the more special needs students will feel included and supported.

Linking to Learning

Tools to aid speaking and listening

There are excellent online audio and visual resources that speech improvement teachers and classroom teachers alike can use to help students develop their listening and speaking skills. These media-rich resources provide ways to listen to language and isolate specific sounds and words that may need attention.

Building Your Career

Inside My Classroom

My therapy room

Nagella Al-Balushi, an occupational therapist at PS 340 in the Bronx uses the equipment in her therapy room to work on a variety of motor skills with students in a typical 30-minute session.

New Teacher Articles

A clip art graphic of three individuals working together seated at a table

Working with related service providers

For the new classroom teacher, the sheer volume of related service providers in a school can be a little bewildering. But it’s important to get to know these colleagues and the services they provide to students with disabilities.

New Teacher Profiles

Celebrating students’ every victory

Chanisse Wade, a second-year social worker at Bronx Legacy HS in Mott Haven, strives to create a "culture of celebration" at her school. She publicly celebrates all student achievements, large or small — from high grades to good attendance to improvements in peer-to-peer behavior.

Retired Teachers News

RTC Service

Lifelong learners chart new courses in Si Beagle classes

Since she began taking Si Beagle Learning Center classes two years ago, retired paraprofessional Lisa Donlon has taken courses and seminars on a wide range of topics including healthy eating, decluttering, doo-wop and meditation.

She particularly likes the online book club she recently joined. “I look forward every week to this book club because I have read books that I never thought in a million years that I would read and fallen in love with them,” said Donlon, who retired in 2020 from PS 329 in Coney Island and still substitutes there.

There are three Si Beagle sessions each year: September through November (fall), January and February (intersession), and March through May (spring). Retirees can take classes, seminars or trips in the New York metropolitan area, Florida or…

RTC Chapter Leader Column

Stick together to stay strong

UFT retirees will support our school-related professionals now more than ever. How can we do that? By keeping our union strong.

RTC Information

Hotline to a helping hand

More than a year into its operation, the Retired Paraprofessional Support line has proved more successful than anticipated — both for those calling in and for those answering the phones.  