Testimony before the New York City Council Committee on Education

My name is Michael Mulgrew and I serve as the president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). On behalf of the union’s more than 190,000 members, I would like to thank Chair Mark Treyger and all the members of the New York City Council’s Committee on Education for holding today’s oversight hearing on the preliminary budget for fiscal year 2022 and the preliminary capital commitment plan for fiscal years 2021-2025. I would also like to thank Speaker Corey Johnson, Finance Committee Chair Daniel Dromm and Capital Budget Subcommittee Chair Helen Rosenthal for their leadership during this year’s budget process.

I will start by sharing with you a five-point plan the UFT has developed. I am confident the plan will properly provide our city public schools with the mental health and academic supports they need. I will also share with you an update on five signature programs that have, over the years, continuously had the City Council’s support, for which we are very grateful, and I will ask you to restore funding for Teacher’s Choice and support the Broadway Bridges program. I will conclude by sharing ideas on ways we can use our capital commitment plan to reduce class size and close the digital divide. among other issues. 

UFT five-point plan for mental health and academic supports

On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, UFT members and I urged that $1 billion-plus in federal COVID-19 relief aid be used for mental health and academic supports for city public schools. We recommend a school pandemic recovery program made up of five points: intervention teams for every school; dramatically reduced class size in neediest schools; extended summer learning; special initiatives for high school seniors; and increased professional development for educators.

Mental health/academic intervention teams

Under the first initiative, we recommend that teams of academic intervention specialists and social workers/psychologists be created for each of the 1,800 city public schools. The teams would work directly with students suffering academic losses and psychological effects due to the pandemic.

The initiative would include pull-out programs for children needing additional instruction, professional collaboration with teachers on instruction and coping strategies, and individual and group therapy for students.

To provide services of the necessary depth, the average New York City public school would need three to four teams with a total of six to eight professionals — roughly one team for every 200 students, though larger schools would need more personnel. The teams would include guidance counselors and/or social workers and academic intervention specialists.

The estimated cost for this initiative — reflecting the cost of hiring up to 10,000 new professionals — would be approximately $1 billion for New York City, or $1,000 per student per year, or $100 per student per month. This is not an unreasonable request given New York City has been allocated a combined $3 billion from the first two relief packages on top of the expected $5 billion from the American Rescue Plan recently signed by the Biden administration.  

Smaller classes

We also call for the city to create a pilot program of smaller class sizes in 100 of the city’s neediest schools to serve as a blueprint for implementing smaller class sizes in all city schools.

To expand equitably would require updated and accurate space assessments for each school building and an aggressive space acquisition program by the city. The existing surplus of office rental space is an unprecedented opportunity. The administration, the School Construction Authority (SCA) and the city Department of Education (DOE) would need to coordinate acquisition in a way they have not done before. We think a good place to start would be to review the Planning to Learn – The School Building Challenge, a report published by this legislative body in March 2018.

Current New York City class sizes — limited by the UFT contract to 18 students in pre-K to 34 students in academic high school subject classes— are among the highest in the metropolitan area, and class-size reduction is an important goal for many parents.

Because many experts on the subject believe class-size reduction is most effective when dramatic rather than piecemeal, the program would reduce class sizes in the affected schools by one-third: Pre-K classes would be capped at 12, classes that currently have 25 students would be reduced to 17, classes with 30 students would see a drop to 20, and 34-student classes would be reduced to 23.

Such reductions, while not matching the class-size levels of exclusive New York City private schools, would make city schools more competitive with schools in the suburbs in regard to class size.

The UFT estimates that a 600-student pre-K to 5th-grade school would need six to eight new teachers and classrooms. Where space is unavailable, the system should create a new assistant teacher program that would not only help students but could create a pipeline for new teachers for the system.

The estimated cost for this initiative — including the hiring of 1,500 or more teachers — would be approximately $150 million a year.

Extended summer learning programs

In order to increase the effectiveness of the summer learning program this year, the DOE should plan to provide as much in-person, rather than remote, instruction as possible. All current COVID-19 safety and testing protocols must remain in place for any in-person summer programs.

Referrals for both remediation and enrichment programs should be made by teachers and principals, but we urge the DOE to plan for the number of students needing summer instruction to surpass the 188,000 who enrolled in the 2020 summer program. To properly accommodate our students and staff, we must ensure that every classroom we use is outfitted with air conditioning, a program that began several years before the pandemic.

Target help for current high school students

Even though high school graduation rates have not fallen, applications to the State University of New York (SUNY) and the City University of New York (CUNY) — the colleges most of our graduates attend — have dropped significantly.

High school seniors need more help navigating the convoluted pathways into college during the pandemic when so much of the labor-intensive work has to be done remotely. Meanwhile, incoming 9th-graders have had almost no opportunity to adapt to normal high school structures.

As part of the reopening process, high schools should dedicate time during the first week of return to identify students in crisis, college and career readiness/post-secondary planning for seniors, and social-emotional and counseling needs.

Afterschool and/or Saturday academies should be created to allow potential graduating students the opportunity to complete missing work. The school system needs to provide extended school access so students can attend specialty classes and receive guidance services, such as help completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the opportunity to participate in mock college and career interviews.

UFT training program for teachers

The UFT this spring will begin its own professional development program designed to help teachers assess and respond to their own stress and their students’ stress.

It is designed to help teachers make the connections between trauma, stress, self-awareness, classroom environment and student behavior, and will recommend classroom practices to deal with students’ stress and to identify students in need of additional support.

The program — developed using the union’s own funds — will include live lectures and demonstrations and the creation of post-training support groups teachers can attend.

UFT programs fill the gap

I want to turn the focus now to the amazing work of five of our signature programs, which are made possible by your support. They are the UFT Teacher Center, the United Community Schools, the Positive Learning Collaborative, Dial-a-Teacher and BRAVE.

UFT Teacher Center

I want to thank you all for your continued support of the UFT Teacher Center program, but share with you that I am very concerned about the FY22 Executive Budget’s proposal to completely defund Teacher Centers.

As you know, the UFT Teacher Center program is our professional development program for educators provided by educators. With 115 school-based sites across the five boroughs, the UFT Teacher Center provided more than121,000 hours of professional learning to more than 234,000 participants during the 2019-2020 school year. A survey conducted showed that 96% of participating educators reported significant gains in effectiveness.

Last year, the UFT Teacher Center stepped up to the challenge when we began full remote instruction on March 15. The program set up a tech hotline to support educators across the city with their technology issues, and devices at school sites were distributed to students and educators to alleviate the shortage we experienced.

Since then, the UFT Teacher Center has provided many professional learning institutes over the summer and fall and continues to do so. Our classes fill up as fast as we open them. For example, classes on “All About G-Suite” and “English Language Acquisition” each registered more than 1,000 participants in just two days. We are also collaborating with Apple so teachers can enhance the technology skills they need for teaching and learning.  

In addition to providing support for educators, in December 2020 , our UFT Teacher Center  staff launched a three-part series of free Saturday Academies that served as  engaging remote enrichment for students from preschool to high school.   Five thousand families registered for activities, held on consecutive Saturday mornings, such as virtual field trips to see holiday celebrations around the world and opportunities to virtually explore career choices linked to students’ interests and dreams. We plan to have additional sessions this spring. 

For 2021-22, we are requesting a grant of $9M in order to ensure this work can be sustained and expanded. In the coming year, the UFT Teacher Center would use City Council funding to provide high-quality supports in three urgently needed areas: 1) to ensure that educators are prepared to help all students with learning loss to complete unfinished learning from the past two school years, 2) to ensure that educators are prepared to provide the social and emotional supports their students need to address the trauma they have experienced in these unprecedented times, and 3) to support educators in aligning past and future blended and remote instruction with the return of in-person learning.

United Community Schools

Our United Community Schools (UCS) program could not have been better equipped to manage the difficulties created by the public health and economic crises. Operating out of 32 schools in New York City and one school in the Albany school district, our UCS schools serve more than 20,000 students. They have fed 6,000 families this year and have conducted 1,500 virtual counseling and wellness check-ins with students and caregivers.

UCS school staff are experienced in overcoming poverty and other barriers to learning so low-income students, English language learners, student with special needs, and students living in temporary housing and their families can flourish.

As a lifeline for students and their families during this difficult time, UCS continues to provide academic supports and programs, food to families in need, vital mental health and medical services for students, and job training and employment opportunities for families and community members.

Since the start of the pandemic, UCS shifted to also begin to provide robust remote academic programs; access to Wi-Fi, laptops and tablets; attendance monitoring and check-ins; virtual counseling sessions; virtual check-ins with parents and caregivers; and online teaching strategies to assist staff.

UCS is respectfully requesting $5M to implement and sustain 31 community schools by providing professional development, technical assistance and training, and mental health resources to selected UCS public schools. This allocation would directly support program coordination and services for those schools, administrative salaries, mental health staff salaries, professional development, and supplies and equipment.

Positive Learning Collaborative

For nearly a decade, the Positive Learning Collaborative (PLC) has been using restorative practices to significantly decrease suspensions and major incidents while increasing academic performance and satisfaction in New York City classrooms. The PLC works to transform school culture to enable healing from the impact of trauma, stress and inequity that is particularly evident during this public health crisis.

After nearly a decade of programming in our 25 PLC schools, we have seen a 46% reduction in suspensions, a 40% decrease in major incidents, a 53% improvement in school culture, and three times more gains in ELA scores than in the average city school.

The PLC has an expert team of clinicians and public school educators, including social workers, psychologists, behavior specialists, teachers and counselors. We have a multi-tiered integrated model of best practices in the areas of therapeutic crisis intervention for schools, positive behavior interventions and supports, social and emotional learning, restorative justice, and mindfulness and wellness. Our goal is to support adults so adults can support students through one-on-one coaching, data tracking, workshops and training, and to support groups and restorative circles. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reach and impact of the PLC has increased significantly. The virtual connectivity driven by the pandemic enables the PLC to reach more parents, observe more classrooms, and coach more educators in real time. The model was created to meet the individual needs of each school community. This flexibility makes the program well-suited to address today’s challenges.

Since going virtual, we have been able to expand our reach beyond the 25 PLC schools by offering many of our workshops to school communities in their respective neighboring areas. We have noticed that workshop and support group attendance is at an all-time high. We can now observe, assess and support more classrooms, and we are providing real-time support and coaching when issues arise.

Supporting schools to heal and develop positive and equitable systems that support all students has always been at the center of our work. With your help, we know we can make an even greater impact during this time of great need. We ask you to support PLC with $2M this year.

Dial-A-Teacher homework helpline

Dial-A-Teacher began in January 1980 as a pilot program in 17 schools in eight districts. Over the years it has expanded to reach and help students citywide from all grades across various disciplines and in many languages. Dial-A-Teacher is now operating Monday through Thursday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., in nine languages including Spanish, Mandarin and Bengali. Last year, the program received more than 40,000 calls. If Dial-A-Teacher’s operating technology were upgraded, the program could help even more students in the virtual education arena where so many of our students are now learning.

Dial-A-Teacher is respectfully requesting $170,160. The funds would be used to: 1) further develop an online presence to include creation of an electronic application that meets the technology students are using today; 2) procure digital curriculum for multiple subject areas — curriculum the DOE has identified that aligns with the new standards; 3) perform technology maintenance and upgrades for effective functionality of the program via a hybrid remote/physical presence model; and 4) promote the program in the communities we serve.

BRAVE hotline

The UFT entered into an agreement with the Mental Health Association of New York City (MHA), now known as VIBRANT, on October 3, 2011, to launch an anti-bullying campaign in New York City public schools. Since then, the UFT and MHA have been at the forefront of bringing awareness to the problem of bullying and of creating resources that include a BRAVE (Building Respect, Acceptance and Voice through Education) hotline that students, their families and educators can call, as well as ways to chat or text for help, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Bullying in schools and in our society is a tragic phenomenon. In New York State, legislation called the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) was passed in 2010. Its goal is to ensure that public elementary and secondary school students have a safe and supportive environment, free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment and bullying on school property, on school buses and at school functions.

Students may be bullied based on any perceived difference, including race/ethnicity, religion, immigration status, economic status, sexual orientation and disability. The vast majority of LGBTQ students in New York City public schools report hearing anti-LGBTQ remarks and most experience some form of verbal or physical harassment, cyberbullying or physical assault, according to GLSEN, the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students, and other sources.

Students today face a complicated world. If they don’t feel safe, learning becomes an afterthought. We are working to create safe schools and learning environments where no student encounters bullying. That means educating school community members to stand up for others and not to be bystanders when they see harassment. It means providing the emotional and mental health support and referrals that are needed so every student has a place to turn. We see the need to ramp up the services and referrals offered to our students and educators.

With your continued support, we can make a lasting impact on the lives and health of students across New York City. We respectfully ask you to support this program with $281,000 for this fiscal year so we can continue to provide the services that are a lifeline for our students and to be a reliable place our educators can turn to for resources.

Support citywide programs

I would also like to take the time to advocate for two citywide programs that are vital for our students and educators. We need to restore Teacher’s Choice, and I also ask the City Council to support Broadway Bridges.

Teacher’s Choice

The Teacher’s Choice program is crucial to our educators. It’s a key initiative to ensure our teachers are reimbursed for the school supplies and materials they purchase for their classrooms and for many of their students in need. After baselining the program for three years in the FY20 adopted budget, the program was completely cut in the FY21 adopted budget. Even during this time of remote learning, teachers need to purchase school supplies to continue to support students in need and to enhance their classroom experience regardless of whether it is in-person or virtual. We ask that you restore funding for Teacher’s Choice to the 2019-2020 level of $20M and once again baseline the program in the city budget.

Broadway Bridges

Broadway Bridges aims to ensure that every student in a New York City public high school has the opportunity to see a Broadway show before graduation. Through Broadway Bridges, The Broadway League subsidizes $20 tickets to weekday matinee and evening performances by paying half of the ticket price as well as the $3.00-$3.50 in fees associated with each ticket purchase. This enables The Broadway League to offer schools $10 tickets. 

If the pandemic continues to prevent curtains from rising on Broadway and/or prevent schools from allowing in-person field trips during some or all of FY22, Broadway Bridges will operate as it has for FY21. Students are invited to watch a specially streamed Broadway production from their classroom or from a home environment, as well as to view new online educational video content and resources aimed at making Broadway more accessible to them and encouraging career exploration.

Until such time as in-person attendance at Broadway performances is possible, these funds will be used to cover the per-person streaming cost for the filmed productions as well as related technical expenses and the creation of new educational video content. Broadway Bridges establishes a mechanism through which New York City public schools can enhance their arts offerings by either bringing students to live theater or giving them access to streamed theater — a valuable life experience and a broad introduction to a sector of New York City’s economy that generates 89,000 jobs annually.

The initiative improves the arts experience of students who have not otherwise had the opportunity to attend live theater, and it enhances the experiences of students who are already engaged with the performing arts through their schools. We ask that you support this important initiative in the FY22 City Council budget.

Capital commitment plan to reduce class size, prepare summer school, close digital divide

Finally, I would like to turn your attention to our thoughts on the proposed February 2021 amendments to the capital commitment plan for fiscal years 2021-2025. It is time for us to get more creative with our capital budget if we are truly committed to reducing class size.

In our five-point plan, the UFT calls for using federal COVID recovery funds to create smaller class sizes in 100 of the neediest Title I schools. We hope the work done in these initial 100 schools will form a blueprint for implementing smaller class sizes in all schools.

We also believe that bringing additional resources — mental health and academic supports — to all our schools, would benefit every one of our students during these challenging times. According to our plan, these supports would be paid for by the federal government.

Last summer, students, parents and staff did not believe it was possible for the system to keep them safe. They did not believe schools incapable of providing enough toilet paper and soap would be able to provide enough personal protective equipment (PPE), let alone strict cleaning, testing, tracing and social distancing. The UFT, working on logistics with the DOE, created a system to keep schools stocked, prepared and safe. That is the kind of dramatic change we need to replicate across the school system.

The last year has tested the school system in new and profound ways. The work done on our school buildings and the daily effort to keep students, teachers and staff safe has been remarkable, and that work continues. Many lessons have been learned. Recognizing there are many extraordinary needs that must be met to enable our school buildings themselves to meet the challenges we face is important both on a daily basis and in the long term. The proposed amendment to the Capital Commitment Plan addresses the pandemic’s impact through a few programs.

The School Construction Authority (SCA) reports that the pandemic and subsequent shutdown in March have affected the schedule of every project at the SCA from design through construction. Projects have restarted, but there has definitely been an impact on schedules. The amendment specifically comments about delays in the schedule of the Universal Physical Education Initiative.

The budgets for many programs have stayed the same, but the budget for technology has increased 35%, from $750 million to $1,016.80. The ability to have strong remote online learning throughout the school system is a profound new need that has a very high priority identified in the amendment. The initiatives to improve and expand schools’ bandwidths and to strengthen schools’ networks have become pressing. And funding to provide students who do not have an internet-connected device at home with tablets with wireless broadband communication has been an important initiative over the last year, with additional funding of $266 million.

The UFT strongly supports these technology initiatives. The need for many of them was identified even before the pandemic. The urgency of strengthening school’s networks and expanding bandwidths has to be a very high priority. Implementing these improvements must continue at an urgent pace.

Another important change is the inclusion of work on ventilation systems in the Capital Improvement Program of existing buildings.  The plan proposes $84.4 million for this new category; It did not previously exist as a stand-alone program in the capital plan. This is another much-needed program that would contribute to the safety of school buildings.  SCA is calling it an important change that should be funded and implemented immediately.

Work continues to air condition classrooms, and there is $275.8 million to complete this work.  This program began several years before the pandemic, which heightened its importance.  Summer school is likely to be key after 15 months of interrupted classroom learning. This work needs to be completed in the spring.

The largest component of this proposed $19.3 billion capital plan is the $8.9 billion capacity program, designed to provide sufficient space to relieve overcrowding and achieve smaller class sizes. If SCA is successful in implementing it, there will be 57,000 new seats in schools throughout the five boroughs. There will be many more pre-K and 3-K For All sites. Some sites will be new construction and other sites will be located in existing spaces.

The amendment states that 93 sites will be needed to make these 57,000 new seats a reality. As we are about to enter the third year of this five-year capital plan, the amendment identifies 38 sites located in 17 of the 21 districts where new schools are planned as well as one high school site in Queens.

We understand it takes several years to develop a new school and get it built. We also understand that finding sites and spaces that will accommodate a school can raise complex issues, even in a city where there is vacant space aplenty now. Not every vacant building lends itself to being converted into a school, but we hope there are opportunities SCA can identify.

The amendment identifies 3,458 new seats that will open in September 2021, in Districts 10 and 11 in the Bronx, Districts 20 and 21 and one high school expansion in Brooklyn, and District 30 in Queens. The new seats will be welcomed in these neighborhoods. But more needs to be done. We recognize that all our partners understand this and are committed to solving these space problems. What we want to emphasize is that throughout the city there is a crisis of many students with enormous needs that can’t be met under normal learning conditions. 

District 7 in the Bronx illustrates the space problems many districts are experiencing. The capital plan identifies the need for 2,512 new seats in this district. One site that can accommodate 572 seats has been identified to date. Construction is supposed to start shortly at this site, with completion scheduled for June 2024. As of the 2018-19 utilization report, this district had six elementary schools with utilization at 90% or above, plus four special ed programs above 100% capacity.  Additionally, there are a number of charter schools and high schools in the district that are short of space. And in District 25 in Queens, which needs 5,636 seats, the highest in the city at the community district level, the list of capacity sites includes two additions at existing schools in that district.  In the 2018-19 utilization report, schools with capacities over 90% are the overwhelming condition in this district.

Locating space in underutilized school buildings has been a multi-year effort to relieve overcrowding elsewhere. Identifying unused private school buildings has been an important resource. SCA and School Facilities have been very successful over many years in re-configuring buildings to make the most of the existing space and to adapt buildings to current educational standards. We urge that every effort and every tool be used to maximize space for the neediest schools.

Closing thoughts

This school year has been challenging, exposing many fractures and holes that need to be filled in our public school system. But it is also granting us an opportunity to build back better, to quote our nation’s President. This is our moment to step up and get this right. It is our moment to make sure proper health and mental health supports are provided to all students in every school. It’s our moment to ensure we have proper academic intervention programs in place so no student ever falls behind. And, finally, it’s our moment to build a public education system that truly provides every one of our students with the opportunity to have a sound basic education. I know that working together we can achieve these goals. Let’s allow the goals to guide us as we roll up our sleeves and build back a stronger, more fortified public education system for all New York City public school students.

Thank you.