UFT Weekly Update -- September 28th 2007 Issue

File all Step 1 grievances online starting this Monday
Starting on Monday, Oct. 1, chapter leaders must go to the UFT home page to file all Step 1 grievances on behalf of members in their chapter. The union has moved to an online grievance procedure for Step 1 grievances so we can track grievances filed at the school level more effectively and assist members more quickly.

You must be logged in to the UFT Web site to have access to the private chapter leader section, where the grievance form will be housed under the heading “Grievance Briefcase.

If you have not already done so, you must register for an account at www.uft.org. When you identify yourself as a UFT member on our online registration form, you will be asked to verify your union membership by providing your Social Security Number, File Number or EIS number. Do not change the zip code that our computer system generates even if it is out of date. Once you click “verify membership,” your membership should be verified immediately. Click on the link, “return to home page” on our Thank You! page. You will now see a Chapter Leader section at the top of the left-hand navigation bar on the home page. When you click there, you will find the online grievance form under the heading “Grievance Briefcase.”

If you have any questions about the new online grievance process, contact the grievance liaison/contract coordinator in your borough office.

Tell Congress not to mandate individual performance pay for teachers in NCLB
We need to send a second wave of faxes on No Child Left Behind. The voices of the educators in your school chapter are urgently needed as the House of Representatives considers a draft bill that mandates school districts to have a performance pay plan for individual teachers based on the test scores of that teacher’s students in order to receive certain federal funds. Please go to the Action Alert! section of the UFT Web site right now and send a fax to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and your U.S. Representative expressing your concerns about individual performance pay for teachers. Also please spread the word to the rest of your chapter. We need to inundate the offices of these elected officials with faxes.

This is a new letter and the first that we are sending to both Speaker Pelosi and your U.S. Representative, so if you responded to our earlier NCLB fax campaign, we need you to go back to the UFT Web site and fax this letter as well. Thank you for participating in this important political campaign.

Error in our NCLB alert handout
Our recent “Alert on NCLB Reauthorization” handout contains an error in the section on teacher performance pay. It should have said that a provision in the draft bill mandates districts to have a performance pay plan for individual teachers based on the test scores of that teacher’s students in order to receive certain federal funds.

Please download the corrected handout and distribute that instead.

Klein tells principals to use school survey results constructively
The DOE’s individual school surveys are full of information that can help your chapter committee, your school’s parent leaders, your principal and you identify issues in your school and work collaboratively to solve them through your monthly consultation meetings and/or the school leadership team. Chancellor Klein delivered a very similar message to principals in the Sept. 24 issue of the Principal’s Weekly: “By now, most principals have reviewed their Learning Environment Survey results and begun to discuss them with their communities. Survey results provide an important opportunity for school leaders to learn directly from parents, teachers and students, and from each other. In conducting these discussions, it is essential that you respect the commitment your constituents showed in filling out the survey, use the results constructively to improve your schools, and avoid any suggestion that you have breached the confidentiality of survey responses, which we have worked very hard and successfully to maintain. Use of survey results to penalize, threaten, or criticize survey participants is unacceptable and forbidden. As you develop goals and set priorities for your school, we encourage you to consult your Survey Report, which contains information you can use make the best decisions for your school community.”

To view the survey report for your school, go to the DOE Web site and enter your school’s name or number. When you get to your school’s Web site, click “Statistics” (on the left side, under “About Us”) and then click “Learning Environment Survey Report 2006-07.”

Mentoring Alert!
Please help ensure that our newest teachers receive appropriate mentoring. Every school should have a New Teacher Induction Committee that designs the school-based mentoring program. The chapter leader (or designee) should be a part of the committee. Mentoring plans with matches were due on Sept. 21. The Principal’s Guidelines for School Based Mentoring and related documents are available online.

Please e-mail UFT Vice President Aminda Gentile at agentile@uft.org if you know of new teachers that are not yet being mentored, or if non-DOE employees (i.e. consultants) are being used as mentors.

Home-buying opportunities seminars in all 5 boroughs

The UFT, in partnership with ACORN and New York City, has created a program to offer affordable housing opportunities in the city to UFT members looking to rent an apartment or buy a house, co-op or condo.


Opportunities Seminars from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. [see dates below] introduce members to the spectrum of offerings. After the session, each member is assigned a loan counselor who gives one-on-one support. Seminars and counseling are both free. Pre-registration is required.


Upcoming Home-buying Opportunities Seminars:

Brooklyn: Oct. 3, UFT Borough Office, 335 Adams Street, 24th Floor, Room 1-4

Bronx: Oct. 4, UFT Borough Office, room will be posted in the lobby area

Queens : Oct. 11, UFT Borough Office, 97-77 Queens Blvd., 8th Floor, Room G

Staten Island: Oct. 18, UFT Borough Office, 4456 Amboy Road, 2nd Floor, Room ABC


To register for a seminar, call 1-718-246-8080 and identify yourself as a UFT member.


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To Do:
Your school safety plan was due to the safety administrators at your Integrated Service Center on Friday, Sept. 28. If you have questions about the validity of your school safety plan, you do not have to sign off on it until all safety protocols and procedures are in place. See our Safety Plan Check List as a preliminary guide. Make sure that your school has a SAVE Room and a removal process as part of the Safety Plan. (Chancellor's Reg A443 1.05MB). Remember that safety planning is an ongoing process. While the school safety committee in your school must meet a minimum of once a month during the school year, you can meet as often as necessary. If you have any questions, you should call your borough safety liaison.
CORRECTION: New chapter leaders, delegates and para reps will not receive mailings that directly affect their positions unless their election certifications have been sent to the UFT Membership Department. The Election Committee Chair is responsible for sending in these certifications. In the previous edition of the update, we incorrectly stated that new chapter leaders and delegates need to send in their election certification. In fact, the chapter leader assumes that responsibility for the school only if there is no Election Committee
The next Delegate Assembly will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 4:15 p.m., at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway.
Address changes: Remind members that they must notify the Department of Education, the union and the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) when they change their address, name, telephone number or marital status. They can get forms from the payroll secretary to notify the DOE. To notify the UFT, members who are already enrolled in the UFT Welfare Fund can use the new online change of status process to: 1) make changes to your name; 2) update your mailing address, and 3) update your family profile including dependents and beneficiaries. Members may also continue to use the blue “Change of Status” packets that are available through your chapter leader or by calling the UFT Welfare Fund forms hotline at 212-539-0539. If you have not previously enrolled, please click this UFT Welfare Fund Enrollment link.
Make sure that all teachers, parents and students in your school have received the Discipline Code and proper training with respect to the code.

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For your information:
UFT Dental Plan transfer period: Members can transfer their dental plan during the month of September through Oct. 15, and the new plan becomes effective in November. Forms and information are available on the Fund website or by calling the Fund Forms Hotline at 212-539-0539.

New York City health benefits program transfer period: In-service members may transfer their health plan, add or drop Rider coverage, or add or drop dependents during the transfer period, which runs from Nov. 1, 2007 through Nov. 30, 2007. The new plan becomes effective in January 2008. The application (ERB form) is available through your payroll person.

UFT Welfare Fund updates: Members can now Enroll or file a Change of Status form on-line at www.uftwf.org.

Buy-Out Waiver Program: The Health Benefits Buy-Out Waiver Program allows eligible employees who can obtain non-City group health benefits to waive their New York City health benefits in return for an annual cash incentive. The Medical Spending Conversion Enrollment/Change Form is available from your payroll person and must be submitted along with a completed ERB form by Nov. 16, 2007. Members can access a full description of the program on the following website: www.nyc.gov/olr (Click on left listing- Health Benefits Program and then Flex Spending Programs).

Know your rights: The UFT’s Know Your Rights manual, an abbreviated, A-Z ready reference, is online at the UFT Web site. Please share the link with your members. Here is a sample entry in the manual: “Consultation: Your principal is required to meet with your UFT chapter committee once a month on matters of school policy — and the chapter committee sets the agenda. The principal also must consult with the chapter leader on the school budget and staffing, compensatory time positions and qualifications, the school safety plan, the menu of professional activities and the faculty conference agenda. In addition, if there is a systemic school concern your members want addressed, they should speak to you about raising it during a consultation meeting.”



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In the News:
How important is math? If your students seem less concerned about their math competency than you are, perhaps it’s because their parents don’t highly value the subject. A recent study in the Kansas City area, titled “Important, But Not for Me,” revealed that only about one-quarter of parents thought higher math skills were important, and higher science and technology skills were also not highly valued. The results mirrored a survey that the non-profit group Public Agenda did last year, according to the organization’s spokesperson: “In our national ‘Reality Check’ survey of parents last year, 64 percent said that math and science education in local schools was not a serious problem; 70 percent of parents of high school students said their own child’s math and science coursework is fine as it is.”

$40 desktop computers? An effort to provide ultra-low cost computers to countries in South America, Africa and elsewhere may well provide benefits down the road for U.S. kids as well. A number of large companies, including Intel, are getting in on the act, using special chips, shared computer processing, and lower power requirements. One company, NComputing, is preparing to install classroom computers in Macedonia at a cost of $220 per seat, but NComputing's president predicts that by 2009 schools will be able to provide portable, online computers for perhaps as little as $40 each.

Child-centered education to the max: A new fad has crossed the Atlantic and is gaining fervent converts in New York. The Reggio Emilia system, named for the town in Italy in which it originated, allows children to develop their own lesson ideas and develop them in groups. It has been criticized as lacking in structure, unsuited for the city's schools, and unreasonably expensive (it requires teachers to travel to Italy for training), but some private and a few public schools are already trying it out, and there are waiting lists of eager parents.



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Calendar:
Thursday, Oct. 4: Exclusively for educators, the Bodies exhibition at the South Street Seaport will host a free preview on Thursday, Oct. 4 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Real bodies are shown dissected to display various internal organs. The Seaport Exhibition Center is located at 11 Fulton St. RSVP by Oct. 1 to www.prxi.com/newyork-rsvp/, and bring your UFT ID card when you attend.

Thursday, Oct. 4: The Elementary School Committee, headed by Michelle Bodden, will meet Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. at 52 Broadway in the second floor auditorium. On the agenda are consultation committees, missed preps/coverages, and a Q&A.

Thursday, Oct. 11 and Thursday, Oct. 18: The following upcoming workshops are scheduled for both middle school and high school teachers: The ABCs of the UFT Contract is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 11. In this workshop, you will learn how to use your contract to address school issues. Explore Using the Internet to Enhance Your Teaching, on Tuesday, Oct. 18 and learn to use several sites that provide tools to motivate and challenge students. There is a $5 fee for each workshop and both are scheduled from 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. and are held at 52 Broadway. Please share this information with your teachers, both new and experienced, as well as any of your substitutes. Call Sue Picicci at 212-598-9282 or e-mail spicicci@uft.org to register or for further information. Refreshments will be provided.

Friday, Oct. 19: “A Night of Casino Fun & Games” to benefit the Katrina Relief Fund will take place on Friday, Oct. 19, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the UFT’s Bronx Borough Office, 2500 Halsey. All proceeds will go to the UFT’s disaster relief efforts.

Fridays, Oct. 19, Nov. 9, and Dec. 14: At 6 p.m. on Oct. 19, the Professional Staff Congress, the union representing the 20,000 faculty and professional staff who work at CUNY, will be showing the documentary Control Room about Al Jazeera television as the second of ten films about war as part of its ongoing series, Labor Goes to the Movies. The 2007-08 film series aims to create a forum to deepen the collective discussion across the labor movement about the current war and strengthen labor’s opposition to the war in Iraq. The films are shown at 6 p.m. at the PSC Union Hall, 61 Broadway, 16th floor in Lower Manhattan. There is a $2 suggested donation. The remaining 2007 movie schedule is: Friday, Nov. 9, Culloden and Friday, Dec. 14, Ride with the Devil. For more information, contact Dania Rajendra at (212) 354-1252 or at drajendra@pscmail.org.

Now till Oct. 21: Help rebuild New Orleans, one book at a time. The UFT is bringing donated books from the Big Apple to restock the library at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in the Big Easy. New books appropriate for a K-8 school, as well as software and audio-visual equipment, can be dropped off at any of the five borough offices.

Saturday, Oct. 20 and Saturday Nov. 3: Two workshops focusing on classroom management in the middle schools will be offered during the next few weeks. Classroom Management – Strategies to Consider is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20. In this workshop designed specifically tailored for middle school teachers, participants will learn beginning of the year strategies and techniques for immediate use in the classroom. On Saturday, Nov. 3, the workshop Managing the Middle School Classroom through Learning Styles will be offered. This workshop will enable middle school teachers to pinpoint the learning styles of their students while addressing classroom management concerns. Both workshops run from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and are held at 52 Broadway. There is a $10 fee for each. Please share this information with your teachers, both new and experienced, as well as any of your substitutes. Call Sue Picicci at 212-598-9282 or email spicicci@uft.org to register or for further information. A light breakfast will be provided.

Sunday, Oct. 21: It’s time again to make strides against breast cancer. Join the UFT and NYSUT at 9 a.m. on Oct. 21 and join one of the six marches in the five boroughs plus Jones Beach. For contact information and to download the flyer, click here

Sunday, Nov. 4: The UFT celebrates Labor Heritage Week with its annual Teacher Union Day Awards and Gala Luncheon on Sunday, Nov. 4th at the Waldorf Astoria. The first two chapter leader mailings will include nomination forms for members who have advanced in UFT titles and chapter leader service awards. The deadline for submission of names is firmly Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. If you need further information please email Samantha Mark at smark@uft.org.


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Professional Committees
UFT Professional Committees offer a wide range of workshops, presentations, and exchanges enabling all members to take an active part in their professional growth. Unless indicated, meetings are at UFT Headquarters at 52 Broadway. Check lobby for location. For further information contact us @ 212-598-7772.

ATSS/UFT (Assn. of Teachers of SS)

Friday, Oct. 12, 4 p.m., Executive Board.
Saturday, Oct. 27, 9 a.m., Annual Fall Tour.
ELAC/UFT (English Language Arts Council)

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 4 p.m., Essay Writing…
ESL/Bilingual Committee

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 4:30 p.m., Issues in the ESL/Bilingual Community.
HAEA/UFT (Hellenic-American Educators Assn.)

Friday, Sept. 28, 4 p.m., Fall into Fall @ Zenon Taverna, Astoria, NY.
Wednesday, Oct. 3, 4 p.m., Executive Board Meeting.
Friday, Oct. 19, 4 p.m., TBA.
Italian-American

Thursday, Oct. 11, 4 p.m., Annual Heritage Celebration.
NYCAFLT/UFT (NYC Assn. of Foreign Language Teachers)

Saturday, Oct. 27, 9.a.m., Annual Regional Conference.
NYCATA/UFT (NYC Art Teachers Assn.)

Friday, Oct. 5, 4:30 p.m., General Meeting @ Morgan Library & Museum, NYC.
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 5:30 p.m., Pre-Conference Dinner.
Saturday, Oct. 27, 8:30 a.m., Annual Artworks Conference.
NYC Dance Educators/UFT

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 4:30 p.m., General Membership Meeting.
Players

Thursday, Oct. 4, Friday, Oct. 5 & Thursday, Oct. 11, 4 p.m., Rehearsals.
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 4 p.m., Dress Rehearsal.
Thursday, Oct. 25 & Friday, Oct. 26, 6 p.m., An Actor’s Life For Me.
Friday, Oct. 26, 4 p.m., Board Meeting.
Runners

Thursday, Oct. 25, 4 p.m., General Meeting.
Science

Friday, Sept. 28, 7:15 p.m., Neural Prostheses @ NYU.
Friday, Oct. 19, 7:15 p.m., Can Technology Save the Planet? @ NYU.
Saturday, Oct. 27, 10 a.m., Hands on Science for Students @ The NY Hall of Science.