All schools are trained every September on General Response Protocols (GRP). In addition, consult with your chapter leader about the school's safety plan.

You can find more information about those protocols and school safety plans in the UFT's School Safety Manual: https://www.uft.org/sites/default/files/attachments/school-safety-info-manual.pdf. 

First, seek medical attention if needed and file a Comprehensive Injury Report and a UFT incident report. 

Then, reach out to the union's Victim Support Program. The Victim Support Program provides support and practical assistance for staff members who are victims of workplace violence. After receiving an incident report, they will follow up with a phone call and go over DOE procedures, forms and requirements as well as procedures of the criminal justice system. We can also provide staff to accompany members to the DOE’s Medical Bureau and to the courts.

The program also offers victim outreach, psychological counseling and crisis intervention. All services are free and completely confidential. For further information, call the Victim Support Program hotline at 212-598-6853. You can also read more about the Victim Support Program on the UFT website. 

You should report any online bullying to both your administrator and the UFT via a Safety report. You can file a UFT incident report online at: https://www.uft.org/your-rights/safety-health/incident-reporting/uft-incident-report. 

You should file reports both at school and with the union.

It is important to file safety/incident reports with the union because it lets us know what is taking place inside of your building.  If you do not report incidents to the union, most likely we will not be notified. Reporting incidents helps the union keep their finger on the pulse of your school. You can use the union's online incident report to file one.

All incidents must be reported as per Chancellor's Regulations.  All incidents should be reported to an administrator and then be reported onto the DOE's Online Occurrence Reporting System (OORS).

Your prep period can only be taken away in an emergency, such as a coverage for a teacher absence. You can lose multiple preps over the course of a semester due to an emergency need, but you will be paid for all lost preps at the current contractual rate of pay except one per term. So, you must do one emergency coverage per semester without being compensated, but you will be paid for all future coverages during the same semester. 

To learn more about the policies regarding prep periods and coverages, visit the UFT website: https://www.uft.org/your-rights/know-your-rights/class-coverage.

For all subjects for which the student's IEP does not recommend special education services, the student must receive instruction in a general education class with their peers who do not have disabilities. The number of nondisabled students should be more than or equal to the number of students with disabilities in the class in order to ensure an appropriate level of integration. An important consideration in determining the number of students with disabilities and nondisabled students in a nominally “general education” class is that the ratio must not result in a de facto special education class.

Please send your information about the event to New_York_Teacher@uft.org as early in advance of the event as possible. Please be sure to include the contact information where you can be reached. 

Elections for UFT chapter leaders happen every 3 years. The last election period was in 2021. Prior to the next election, your chapter leader will inform you about important deadlines and new information will be posted on the UFT website. 

It is so important that someone in your school steps up and takes this important role. If your chapter is not organized, there won't be the necessary checks and balances on administration and UFT members will not have the same voice at the school level. Maybe it can be a topic for discussion at the next UFT member meeting at your school.  Please reach out to your borough office or District Representative for further support within this process.

The main exams required for state certification are the EAS (Educating All Students) and the CST (Content Specialty Test). If the person is applying for a bilingual or special education certificate, additional exams are also required. As of April 27, 2022, candidates who apply for state certification will no longer need to complete the edTPA exam. See additional information about this change »