• If you physically gave birth to a child, you have the option to use your available CAR/sick day balance immediately after your child's birth, up to a maximum of six calendar weeks (eight weeks for a C-section) before taking paid parental leave.
• If you did not give birth to a child, you are eligible for up to six weeks of paid parental leave beginning on the date of the covered event.
• If both parents work for the DOE, as of the 2023 contract, they receive a combined total of 12 weeks of paid parental leave (six weeks each). 

Most leaves are applied for on the DOE website through SOLAS, the Self-Service Online Leave Application System (https://apps.schools.nyc/solas). Absences of one day or more, but less than 10, and intermittent FMLA leaves are not applied for online; pedagogues should talk to their school Payroll Secretary in these instances.

A leave may be denied because of incomplete medical documentation, not meeting eligibility requirements, not providing timely notice of the need for a leave, the health condition is not sufficiently serious, or a leave is determined not to be medically necessary. If there is missing information required from your leave application, you should receive notice in writing and you will have an opportunity to provide the necessary documentation.

You may take time following the death of a family member without loss of CAR days. If your parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, spouse or domestic partner, or parent of spouse or domestic partner or any other relative or step-relative of your immediate household should die, you are granted the day of death plus the next three calendar days (excluding weekends and holidays). Under the 2023 contract, members may delay taking all or part of their bereavement leave to any point within three months of the death if the delay is in connection with a funeral or a memorial service that is scheduled later. The superintendent may grant additional time with appropriate documentation.

See more about bereavement. 

Appointed pedagogues are entitled to a “calendar month” grace period, which pays you for all weekends and holidays for the calendar month following the exhaustion of the days in your sick bank and/or your borrowed days. Work days are deducted from your pay. The advantage of borrowing days and using the grace period is that since you remain on payroll, those days count toward your pension, seniority and pro-rata summer vacation pay, and it also keeps your health benefits intact.

If UFT represented DOE employees want to take additional time off following maternity or paid parental leave to care for their child, they may take an unpaid childcare leave until the September following the baby’s 4th birthday.

Most appointed pedagogues (lab specialists, school counselors, secretaries, social workers and psychologists and teachers) are eligible for a one year study sabbatical after 14 years of service. In addition, middle school, junior high or high school teachers/classroom pedagogues with at least 7 years of service are also eligible to apply for a 6 month study sabbatical for the spring semester only.

See the main UFT page on sabbaticals for more information. 

If you are excessively absent or late, you may receive a letter for your official file. If you are tenured, the DOE has the right, with sufficient notice, to file disciplinary charges against you. There is a special, expedited procedure when the DOE seeks to discipline a tenured teacher because of time and attendance issues, but in these cases, the hearing officer cannot terminate you, but rather levy penalties less than termination.

Measures of Student Learning (MOSL) is one of the two components of your rating (the other is your observations). MOSLs are based on assessments given in your class and/or throughout the school. MOSLs provide insight into student progress in a particular subject.

The committee selects assessments from a citywide menu of options. There are two steps:

• Step One: The MOSL committee makes assessment selections from a menu for each grade and subject/course (not individual teachers). They also select how the results on the final assessment will be measured (growth models and goal setting).
• Step Two: Then, the committee applies the selections to individual teachers based on what they teach.