UFT Weekly Update -- September 5 2008 Issue

Get class size info to your DR on Sept. 9
The UFT will be carefully monitoring class size again this year and using the expedited grievance procedure in the contract to address issues. This week, you’ll need to obtain from your school secretary the school’s RACL, which indicates class sizes, and then use that information to report the number of oversized classes in your school to your District Representative on Tuesday, Sept. 9. (You do not need to send the RACL to your DR.) The union uses these reports to gauge the scope and severity of the problem across the city. Meanwhile, speak to your principal about resolving any oversize class issues. The Department of Education has 10 school days to equalize registers. So on Sept. 15, the 10th school day, let your DR know of any classes still oversized so the union can file demands for arbitration. Class size limitations are in Article 7M of the contract. (You can file a class-size grievance after Sept. 15, but the regular time limits for all grievances will apply.)

Tell us if non-secretaries are doing secretarial work by Sept. 10
In March, an arbitrator ordered the DOE to “cease and desist” from assigning the duties and responsibilities of a licensed school secretary to any other title. The duties and responsibilities of secretaries are spelled out in Circular 31. Please notify School Secretaries Chapter Leader Jackie Ervolina immediately at mjeuft@aol.com if any person in your school who is not a licensed school secretary is doing secretarial work. Specify the name of the person improperly doing secretarial work in your school, that person’s title and the specific secretarial work that the person is performing (i.e. payroll, admissions, discharges, transcripts, handling student/teacher records, purchasing of any kind (FAMIS), typing letters or memos). We will present the next list of violations to the arbitrator on Sept. 10. Be assured that nobody’s name but Ervolina’s will appear on this list.

Understanding the latest school budget allocations
After nearly five months of rallies, and school- and community-based actions by UFT members and the Keep the Promises coalition, the City Council in June adopted a budget that contained no classroom cuts. The Department of Education has allocated to individual schools most of the $129 million that the Council added, as well as the $63 million in CFE funds that the department had withheld from schools during budget negotiations. No school faced a loss in funds and some received an increase for this school year.

To find out how much additional money your school received, for help making sense of the allocation spreadsheet, and for a list of questions you may want to ask your principal regarding the use of these additional funds, please check out our school allocations guide in the chapter leader section (log in required) at the UFT Web site.

Encourage new members to attend UFT orientations
Now is the time to show our newest members just how supportive and helpful the union can be as they launch this most challenging of careers. All borough UFT offices are hosting events in September or October. These orientation sessions are part of the union’s continuing effort, begun with the new teacher summer series, to provide opportunities to new teachers and other new members to learn and ask questions about, among other things, salary, pension, health benefits and UFT Welfare benefits, licensing and certification, and planning and managing effective instruction. Encourage new members to visit the New Teacher page and register for one of these orientations.

Do your new teachers have mentors?
From the first day of school, every new teacher without prior teaching experience is entitled to a mentor – an experienced classroom teacher, ideally in the new teacher’s subject area, or another teacher working as a coach or lead teacher – who will provide a minimum of two periods a week of confidential, non-evaluative, nonjudgmental collegial support, separate from any outside mentoring they may have been provided. (Teaching Fellows have a mentor assigned by the program in addition to the school-based mentor.) Ask your principal for a list of the new teachers and their mentors. The chapter leader is a required member of each school’s New Teacher Induction Committee, which insures new teachers receive proper mentoring services. If new teachers in your school do not have an official mentor by the middle of September, or if you have any questions about the mentor program, contact your district representative or send an e-mail to mentoring@uft.org.

COPE campaign begins next week
Chapter leaders will start to receive their COPE packets starting next week. We are asking chapter leaders to enroll more members in COPE and encourage them to vote. Packets will include a list of who in your school contributes to COPE and who doesn’t, COPE enrollment forms, and voter registration forms. Make sure you personally reach out to each member in your school who does not contribute to COPE, and be sure to send in all the completed COPE cards in the self-addressed stamped envelope enclosed in your packet. Be sure to mail in any completed voter registration forms to the Board of Elections by Oct. 10 so that members are eligible to vote in the Nov. 4 presidential election. If for any reason you need additional COPE brochures, COPE cards or voter registration forms, please call 212-598-7747. Help us build the UFT’s political power member by member!

Tell new teachers about Dial-a-Teacher
Make sure your members, especially new teachers, know about Dial-A-Teacher, a program which was created by the UFT more than 25 years ago. Every week that school is in session, 50 experienced classroom teachers provide free help with homework to students – and parents – over the telephone. They don’t do the homework; instead they provide step-by-step guidance so students can better understand assignments, figure out answers and check their work. And for parents who need help helping their kids, the program also offers sympathetic advice. Callers can get help in 15 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, French, Haitian-Creole, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Slovak, Czech and Hungarian. Students need only call 212-777-3380 any school day, Monday through Thursday, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., to talk to a New York City public school teacher.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And on uft.org don’t miss:
Union-friendly charter school opens in South Bronx

Opening day goes smoothly, Weingarten says

UFT launches back-to-school radio ad


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Do:
A citywide chapter leader meeting will be held on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 52 Broadway on the second floor, starting at 4 p.m. At this “nuts and bolts” meeting, you will be briefed on the union’s initiatives and campaigns and there will be an opportunity to discuss any problems that have arisen in the first weeks of the school year. Please make every effort to attend.
Print out and share the poster for the Oct. 19 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. Walkers in each borough can join UFT teams, and contact information is on the poster.
All new chapter leaders and new delegates MUST send in their election certification to the UFT Membership Department or they will not receive mailings and email that directly affect their positions.
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). Please contact your borough safety liaisons and district reps for technical assistance.
Establish a school safety committee in your school to meet monthly during the school year. The first item should be a review of the school safety plan, which will be available online to be updated. Online updates must be completed by Sept. 26 and submitted to your Safety Administrator for review. See our Safety Plan Check List as a preliminary guide. Make sure that all teachers, parents and students in your school have received the Discipline Code and proper training with respect to the code.
Within two school days of knowledge of their new program, members who wish to grieve their new programs or assignments must notify their principal in writing and file a Step 1 grievance using the new online grievance procedure located in the grievance briefcase in the chapter leader section of the UFT Web site. The principal has two days from notification to meet with the member and render a decision. If the grievance is denied by the principal, you should contact your district representative immediately, because the grievant has only two days to file a Step 2 grievance with the superintendent.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For your information:
Chapter leaders and principals to assign parking placards:The UFT reached an agreement with the city on Aug. 26 that preserves all on-street and off-street parking spots for schools, but limits the number of permits available to a school to the number of available spots designated for parking by DOE personnel. In each school, the chapter leader and principal must agree on how those placards will be used. The story and the agreement are at uft.org. If you as chapter leader have any questions, please contact your district rep.

Save your Teacher’s Choice receipts: Remind members to keep receipts for classroom purchases made after Aug. 1 for Teacher’s Choice reimbursement. This year, all teachers will get $150; guidance counselors, social workers, and school psychologists, $100; lab specialists, $75, and secretaries, $50. More information on Teacher's Choice is available at uft.org.

2008-09 calendar: The 2008-09 school year calendar has been posted on the UFT Web site. Please go here to view the calendar. Please remind members that those who wish to observe additional holy days may take them as religious observance days.

New, online DOE form for change of status: The way to inform the Department of Education of a change of personal information has changed. Changes of name, Social Security number, tax information and date of birth are now made by downloading a new form from the DOE Web site and following the instructions. One part of the completed form is to be sent to the DOE and the other given to your school secretary. This online form replaces the now-discontinued OP-85 form. Change of address, home phone and marital status can be reported to the DOE’s HR Connect at 718-935-4000. Remind members that they must also notify the union and the Teachers’ Retirement System when they change their address, name, telephone number or marital status. To notify the UFT, members who are already enrolled in the UFT Welfare Fund can use the new online change of status process [http://www.uft.org/r/30653/4375678] 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 [http://www.uft.org/r/30654/4375678] link.

Know your rights: The UFT’s “Know Your Rights” manual, an abbreviated, A-Z ready reference, is online. Please share the link with your members.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the News:
Palin boosts creationism: Evolution may be accepted science, but that didn't stop John McCain's veep pick Sarah Palin from suggesting, back when she was running for governor of Alaska, that creationism be discussed alongside science in the classroom. reports the Boston Globe. "I am a proponent of teaching both", she declared. "And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher."

NCLB no panacea in Oregon: No Child Left Behind has left behind science, music, writing and other subjects in Oregon, says the Oregonian, without leading to huge achievement gains in tested subjects. While granting some progress due to the law, many critics decry its narrow focus. One district assistant superintendent remarked, "What you know about a kid's learning is very rigid and limited when all you have are these tests scores."

Low school funding unconstitutional? Students and parents supported by a majority of the school districts in South Dakota are suing in state court for more money for their schools, claiming the present funding level violates a state constitutional provision guaranteeing all children access to a free, adequate and quality education, according to the Associated Press. The judge who will decide the case warned, however, that the court cannot order the state legislature to provide more money.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Calendar:
Saturday, Sept. 6: Join us for the annual Labor Day Parade. UFT members will assemble at West 46th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues. Refreshments will be served beginning at 10 a.m. The UFT march time is noon. For more information, contact Marvin Reiskin at 212-598-7747.

Thursday, Sept. 11: The UFT Committee on Social and Economic Justice will meet at 50 Broadway, Classroom B, 2nd floor, 4:30 to 6 p.m. Agenda items include Medicare, a student and soldier coalition, and the November elections.

Sat., Sept. 13 or Sunday, Sept. 14: Especially for New Teachers - Welcome Conference - Beginning the Journey – will take place each day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 52 Broadway. This conference launches the union’s year-long network, examining research-based essential elements of instructional and classroom management, including: planning and managing effective instruction; selecting instructional strategies to encourage students to be self-directed learners; and building a community of learners. Ask your new teachers to go to the New Teachers section of the UFT Web site for online registration.

Saturday, Sept. 13: A NYC Walk to Beat the Clock for HPV/Cervical Cancer Prevention & Awareness, a 4K walkathon from 8 a.m. to noon, begins at Carl Schurz Park at East End Avenue and East 86th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. For more information, visit the organization’s Web site.

Thursday, Sept. 18: A high school workshop Designing Study Sabbatical Proposals that Work!, from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. at 52 Broadway, will guide prospective applicants in writing successful proposals which are rigorous and applicable to their teaching assignments. For more information, contact Gregg Lundahl at 212-598-9281 or by e-mail Glundahl@uft.org.

Saturday, Sept. 20: Join fellow UFTers in standing up for better quality education, income and health opportunities for all New Yorkers by participating in the United Way LiveUnited Day of Action. A walk starting at City Hall Park and crossing the Brooklyn Bridge ends in Cadman Plaza Park for a Volunteer Festival. Visit the LiveUnited Web site for details and to sign up.

Saturday, Sept. 20: In Classroom Management: Strategies to Consider, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 52 Broadway, learn practical, beginning-of-the-year techniques for immediate use in the adolescent classroom. This is a perfect workshop for any new teacher and was designed specifically for those searching for new strategies for dealing with the middle school student. To register or to get more information, call Sue Picicci at 212-598-9282 or e-mail spicicci@uft.org. There is a $20 fee. A light breakfast will be provided.

Thursday, Sept. 25: The UFT Special Education Committee will meet 4 to 6 p.m. at 52 Broadway, sixth floor, with special guest Linda Wernikoff, Executive Director, Special Education Initiatives, Division of Teaching & Learning. The topic will be Changes in Special Education Referral Process and the Excusal Provisions. For reservations, call 212-598-9546. To be admitted, you must print out and bring this flyer.

Thursday, Sept. 25 and Friday, Sept. 26: Special free preview for educators of Bodies…the Exhibition, which features real human bodies dissected to show various internal systems, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday. RSVP for reservations and for further information.

Sunday, Nov. 2: Save the date for Teacher Union Day.

Thursday, Nov. 13: Save the date: The UFT Jewish Heritage Committee/JLC Educators Chapter Fall Gala will honor Robert Morgenthau, Manhattan District Attorney at 6:30 p.m., at the Captain's Ketch Restaurant in downtown Manhattan. Details to follow.

Tuesday, Nov. 18: Save the date for a retirement dinner honoring Angela Reformato Solomon. The former chapter leader of the guidance chapter will be feted at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach. See the flyer for details.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 at 212-598-7772.

ELAC/UFT (English Language Arts Council)

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 4:30 p.m., Reading Strategies for Differentiated Instruction Workshop.
NYCAFLT/UFT (NYC Assn. of Foreign Language Teachers)

Saturday, Sept. 13, 9:30 a.m., Planning Committee Meeting.
NYC Music Teachers Association/UFT

Saturday, Sept. 13, 8:30 a.m., A Year in Song: A Workshop by Michael and Jill Gallina.
NYCATA/UFT (NYC Art Teachers Assn.)

Monday, Sept. 8, 4:30 p.m., Steering Meeting/Dinner Mailing Meeting.
Friday, Sept. 19, 4:15 p.m., General Meeting at the New Museum (235 Bowery at Prince St).
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 4:30 p.m., Open Executive Board.
Players

Thursday, Sept. 11, 4 p.m., Board Meeting.
Science

Friday, Sept. 19, 7:15 p.m., Using the Digital Resources of the Journal of Chemical Education at NYU (32 Waverly Place).
Veterans

Saturday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m., Labor Day Parade at 46th Street.
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 4:30 p.m., General Meeting.