The primary difference between tenure and completion of probation is that a permanent or professional NYS teaching certificate matching the NYCDOE license must be issued. 

In some cases, members will still be working under an initial or provisional certificate when they have completed the required probationary period, receive the required recommendation by the principal and approval by the superintendent. This person has completed probation but does not have tenure until the professional or permanent certificate has been issued. 

After completion of probation, the member cannot be disciplined or terminated without due process for reasons other than failure to complete the requirements for their professional certificate.

See more information about tenure and members' probationary period. 

When you are appointed in a new license you begin a new probationary period of up to four years under the new license. Your probationary period can be reduced if you were previously granted tenure with the DOE in another license area or were previously appointed under the license but did not receive tenure. 

If there is an excessing situation in your school while you are still within your probationary period under your new license, you will be considered junior to other employees in the same license who have already completed their probation, regardless of your seniority with the DOE. 

There are exceptions to this rule in light of recent Memorandums of Agreement that have been negotiated: 

• If you are reappointed under one of the following licenses, but have not completed probation, you will receive credit for the years under the previous license: SWD, ENL, Bilingual, Library and Theatre. 
• If you are tenured in a non-shortage area and reappointed under one of the following licenses, you will be eligible for completion of probation after one year and a day: SWD, ENL or Bilingual. 

Please note: Your longevity with the DOE does not change when you are appointed under a new license. 

Always speak to the educational liaison in your borough before switching your license to understand how this will affect you and that you are following the best procedure.

See more information about tenure »

If you are not eligible for parental leave because you have not been employed by the DOE for 12 months and in active service for 12 months prior to your child's birth, you are able to take a traditional maternity leave. There is no minimum service requirement to be eligible for maternity leave. 

Maternity leave begins the day your child is born. You can use up to six weeks of your accumulated CAR days (sick days) for a non-cesarean delivery or eight weeks for a cesarean delivery. If you don't have enough CAR days in your bank, you may submit a request to borrow up to 20 additional sick days or, in some cases, use a grace period. 

You will continue to be paid and maintain your health benefits during your leave as long your absences are covered by CAR days, borrowed days or a grace period. Please note that members will not be paid beyond the six to eight weeks after giving birth. 

Your payroll secretary can tell you how many CAR days you have accumulated or your pay stub also contains that information, which can be found on the DOE payroll portal.  You would apply for a maternity leave online through SOLAS. 

If you have been working for the DOE for more than 12 months, but were not in active status in the past year, you would also be eligible for an unpaid child care leave at the conclusion of your maternity leave. 

Please contact a UFT leaves specialist before applying to discuss your options at 212-331-6311. 

See a comparison between maternity and parental leaves for additional guidance. 

No, and here’s why: 

Virtual learning is described in the 2023 MOA with the goal of becoming “the first major public-school system to develop, implement and expand high-quality virtual instruction and related services, for all students who choose this option.”

The Department of Education defines credit recovery as “intensive instruction in a student’s identified area(s) of deficiency only. In credit recovery, students do not retake the full course. They instead work with a NYCDOE subject-certified teacher to relearn and master the areas in which they need support.”

Virtual learning classes should be full courses and not credit recovery. To be credit bearing, virtual classes bearing must address NYSED commencement-level learning standards and provide the opportunity for 54 hours of instructional time per credit under the supervision of a NYCDOE subject-certified teacher, who determines student competency of learning outcomes for the course.

The General Rules for Virtual Learning outlined in the 2023 MOA specify that:

-All virtual assignments shall be posted. No staff will be involuntarily assigned to teach a virtual class.

-Virtual instructional periods may combine synchronous, asynchronous and small group instruction.

-All students participating in virtual learning will be part of a class and a school.

-All participating staff will be provided with pre-assignment and on-going training.

-All virtual classes and related service sessions shall be compliant with current SED regulations, IEP mandates and Board Academic policy.

-Article 15 of the Teachers’ Contract and the 8/23/16 “Pro Rata Teaching Assignment” agreement shall apply to virtual assignments.

-Teachers will only be assigned to virtual learning assignments for students that have opted to participate in virtual classes.  

The Federation of Nurses have started using texting as a method to send important updates to our members. 

To sign up, Use this link while on your mobile device (you’ll be asked to grant access to your text messaging app) or text "FON" to #86366. You'll need to provide the email address where you received this UFT email to verify your information.

Please note that this is a one-way form of communication and we are unable to respond individually to texts sent in response to our messages. 

To reach the Federation of Nurses, contact the office directly at 212-420-7981 or by email at nurses [at] uft [dot] org (nurses[at]uft[dot]org). 

Enteral formulas are liquid food products that are specially formulated and designed to increase the amount of various food elements and nutrients that will maintain proper physiological function of the body process. They may also be used to correct an existing deficiency.  

New York State law regarding coverage of enteral formulas is not applicable to the Welfare Fund. However, we will cover specific formulas for our in-service members providing the following guidelines are met: 

1. Members requesting access to these formulas will be subject to the Fund's prior approval process. 

2. The formulas are for oral home use and have been prescribed by a physician or other legally authorized health care provider. These formulas are distinguished from nutritional supplements taken electively. They are not covered if they are administered via nasogastric tube, via feeding gastrostomy or via needle-catheter jejunostomy since the patient's health insurance plan usually covers it with prior authorization. The patient should contact their health plan. 

3. The patient's provider must send a letter of medical necessity to the Welfare Fund's Pharmacy program that states that the enteral formula is clearly medically necessary. This means that the formula has been proven effective as a disease-specific treatment regimen for those individuals who are or will become malnourished or suffer from disorders, which if left untreated, cause chronic disability, mental retardation, or death. 

4. The formulas must be the patient's sole source of nutrition and for specific diseases, which include, but are not limited to: 

• inherited diseases of amino-acid or organic acid metabolism; 
• Crohn's disease; Phenylketonuria Disease (PKU)
• gastroesophageal reflux with failure to thrive; 
• disorders of gastrointestinal motility such as chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction;
• multiple severe food allergies. 

5. Coverage for a calendar year for any covered individual shall not exceed seven thousand, five hundred dollars ($7,500.00).

6. Quantities are limited to 30-day supplies per dispensing and are considered non-preferred brand (Tier 3) for co-payment purposes (see more information about prescription drug tiers). 

The New York City Council created Teacher’s Choice decades ago after intense lobbying by the UFT. Teacher’s Choice is not guaranteed from year to year; the UFT has to lobby for funding for the program in every year’s city budget. Teacher’s Choice is not part of the DOE-UFT contract.

Classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, school counselors, social workers and psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, school nurses, school secretaries, lab specialists, reading coaches and single shepherds all receive funds through Teacher’s Choice at varying amounts per job title. Recipients must be in active service as of Nov. 1 to receive funding that same school year. 

Teacher’s Choice will not reimburse purchases of furniture, fees for trips or performances, gifts for students, computer accessories for home use, power tools, appliances or equipment that requires special wiring or installation, among others.

Also see what types of purchases are allowed »

Members receive their Teacher’s Choice allotment as part of their regular paycheck, not as a supplemental check, usually in mid-to-late November each year. Since Teacher’s Choice is treated as a post-net payroll adjustment, the funds are nontaxable.