The UFT began an expedited process of contract arbitration to resolve oversize classes in five chronically overcrowded high schools as the class-size reduction provisions in the new DOE-UFT contract took effect.

Fifty schools in the Bronx, East New York, Brownsville and Far Rockaway will join the Bronx Collaborative Schools Plan, an initiative that empowers educators at these schools to drive school improvement.

The salaries of UFT-represented employees covered by ratified Department of Education-UFT contracts will increase by 2 percent on Feb. 14.

As a chapter leader I always wanted better tools to resolve those kinds of issues without escalating them to a grievance, if possible. Now we have them.

The operational issues resolution process in the DOE-UFT contract gives UFT-represented educators more voice at the school level to tackle workplace issues.

UFT members overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with the city Department of Education that gives members a compounded 7.7 percent pay raise over 43 months, UFT President Michael Mulgrew announced at Teacher Union Day on Nov. 4.

At the heart of this contract is the belief that if you want to achieve something significant, you have to empower the people who do the work.

The tentative DOE-UFT contract announced on Oct. 11 features important improvements for paraprofessionals, including job protections like due process rights similar to those of teachers.

It worked well to reduce paperwork. So the UFT and the Department of Education agreed in the proposed contract to expand the process to resolve other school-based disputes.

In the proposed contract announced on Oct. 11, the UFT has negotiated an expedited process to bring relief to teachers facing oversize classes sooner and to address unresolved violations that must go to arbitration faster.