Members will receive reimbursement for classroom expenditures made within the annual spending period at the amount allocated for their job title. Then, they must submit an accountability form with receipts to the school to show the entire amount has been spent.  

You do not need to sign up for Teacher’s Choice; inclusion in the program is automatic for those who are eligible. Those who do not wish to participate in the program must submit a Request for Non-Participation (Opt Out Form). 

Members receive their Teacher's Choice funds in their last November or first December paychecks, but you should start purchasing and saving receipts sooner than this date, usually between August and January. Items purchased under Teacher's Choice must be appropriate for educational use in the classroom or for other professional assignments.

If you receive the Teacher's Choice funds in your paycheck and do not file an accountability form with required receipts by the deadline, you will be obligated to refund the money to the DOE.

See the UFT's Teachers Choice page for more information about the program. 

Items purchased under Teacher’s Choice must be appropriate for educational use in the classroom or for other professional assignments, such as art materials, special paper, learning aids, musical instruments and more. If supplies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, such as masks and hand sanitizer, have not been provided by your school, they can be purchased with Teacher’s Choice funds.

See the UFT's Teachers Choice page for more information about the program. 

For teachers and paraprofessionals, the first two workdays before students return are both 6 hours and 50 minutes long. For other titles, Tuesday follows regular work hours and Wednesday is six hours and 50 minutes.

Teachers must be given sufficient time to prepare their classrooms, which is usually at least half a day.

Make sure you can receive UFT.org email messages. Receiving and opening an email message from UFT.org is an important part of the sign-up and password-reset processes.

If you're not receiving emails from us, it's possible that your email host is blocking UFT.org email messages or marking them as spam. Check your junk and spam mailboxes or make sure you whitelist UFT.org in your email settings. Once you have unblocked UFT.org mail, try finalizing the sign-up process or resetting your password again.

If you are having trouble logging in to the Chapter Leader hub, please call the Chapter Leader hub hotline at 212-331-6331.

Here are help pages from some popular email hosts explaining how to unblock or un-spam legitimate email messages:

• AOL
• Gmail
• Optimum
• Yahoo!
• NetZero

If you have a Gmail account

1. Go to Gmail
2. Go to the left column where it says Inbox, Starred, Drafts, etc. scroll down and find "More" (in the dropdown menu)
3. Under More, you'll find the Spam folder
4. Right click on any "@unitedfederationofteachers.org" or "@uft.org" email address and mark as "NOT SPAM"
5. Go back to UFT.org and ask for another password reset link (as they expire after 30 minutes)

Forgot your UFT.org password?

1. Click the login link at the top of the page and click on Forgot Password. An email will be sent to you with a link.
2. Login into your personal email account (i.e., Gmail, Yahoo, etc.)
3. Click the link to reset your password
4. If you don’t receive an email right away, you may want to check your Spam folder to reset your password. The link may need to be resent as it only lasts for 30 minutes.

You may also want to:

• Sign up again to make sure you registered with the correct email address.

Students who have shown the ability to use the bathroom independently should be encouraged to do so. However, line of sight supervision of students must be maintained during toileting and handwashing. 

Staff should provide closer, more helpful supervision if students do not complete the toileting procedures (including handwashing) correctly and responsibly. 

Students who request privacy when using the bathroom should be given permission to do so, however staff should ensure that doors are left unlocked, toilet paper is being used, toilets are flushed, and hands are washed. Also be mindful that the toilet area is being used appropriately (not playing games in the bathroom, etc.). 

A student should never be allowed to leave the classroom alone or be left unsupervised at any time, even if the student can follow the proper toileting procedures. 

If a staff member leaves the classroom to take a student to the bathroom, the remaining staff members must be able to adequately supervise the remaining students in the classroom. Staff should not have their back to students and should position themselves to maintain line of sight supervision at all times. 

In accordance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration's (OSHA) Blood-Borne Pathogens Standard, the NYCDOE requires District Schools and Pre-K Centers to institute the Exposure Control Plan (ECP) as an effort to minimize employees' risk from blood borne pathogens. The following sanitary practices must be followed when assisting students with toileting and diapering to facilitate proper hygiene and to protect the health and safety of all staff and students:

• Utilize appropriate supplies (disposable gloves, non-scented/non-allergenic wipes, mild soap, etc.)
• Wear disposable gloves when changing students' clothes or diapers and wash hands after cleaning up
• Utilize mild soap and water or non-scented wipes to clean the student
• Use an EPA-approved disinfectant or a bleach/water solution to disinfect soiled surfaces

All teachers and paraprofessionals must receive the NYCDOE Blood Borne Pathogens Training and be offered the opportunity to receive the Hepatitis B vaccine. If a staff member does not intend to receive the vaccine, you must complete a vaccination declination form. For more information on receiving training and the Hepatitis B vaccine, please see the NYCDOE Occupational Safety & Health (OSHA) website (requires you to sign in with your NYCDOE email account information).

Classrooms should have the following materials available: 

• supply of diapers/pull-ups
• wipes
• extra clothes (at least 1 full set of clean clothes, including underwear, per child)
• plastic bags (to send soiled clothes home)
• paper for changing table to cover the surface
• latex gloves
• sanitizing spray & towels to disinfect surfaces

Families may be asked to provide items for their child (extra clothes, diapers, etc.) but programs are responsible for supplying these items if not provided by families and should have extra supplies on hand at all times. 

In addition, pre-K classrooms should have the following equipment: 

• A toddler changing table that provides a sanitary surface and does not require physically lifting a student off the floor
• A source of running water near the changing area
• A lined trash receptacle with a closed lid 
• Safe step aids and modified toilet seats in the bathroom
• A portable sink is recommended in classrooms that doe not have a sink installed

While paraprofessionals must be available to change soiled diapers or clothes promptly, teachers are responsible for the health and safety of the classroom environment and should take any steps necessary to maintain a safe and clean environment, such as setting up a designated changing area in the classroom and incorporating routines for toileting into the daily schedule. 

Pre-K students are developing bladder and bowel control and cannot wait long periods of time before using the bathroom, and may need prompts and reminders to master toileting routines. Staff should routinely offer students the opportunity to visit the bathroom individually or in small groups.