Dear Members, The time has come for us to retire this old website. After over 7 years, we’ve changed our domain and have a newly renovated website. Please book-mark www.solidarityuft.org for all your UFT needs! See you over at our new website! Read More

Queens ATR (a pseudonym and not her real name) is an Reading Specialist in Queens elementary and middle schools. She comes from a proud union family and has been involved in the UFT for over a decade. These are her words and not the opinion of UFT Solidarity caucus. Once… Read More

Manhattan ATR (her pseudonym) is a passionate Social Studies Educator and a proud member of UFT Solidarity and a unionist. These are her words and not the opinion of the UFT Solidarity caucus. For the past several years, the New York City Department of Education’s Absent Teacher Reserve pool (ATR)… Read More

UFT Solidarity and the ICE UFT Blog are collecting stories of long term, Z-status, and appointed term subs who have not been receiving their pay and benefits. We are hoping that enough of us can come together, stand together, and fight for people’s rightfully earned salary and benefits. This is… Read More

Anyone who genuinely wants to improve the UFT is welcome to join me on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 1:00 PM for a UFT Solidarity sponsored Zoom workshop on running for chapter leader or delegate.  The school chapters are the backbone of the Union. If multiple UFTers with integrity and… Read More

UPDATE: Teacher Evaluation System **This is from my District Rep** The UFT has reached a teacher evaluation agreement with the city Department of Education for the 2020-21 school year under which most teachers will receive only one informal observation and members who have already had successful walkthroughs will not need… Read More

UFT Solidarity Council Members attended the Chapter Leaders meeting this afternoon.  The meeting was led by Jason Goldberg, Bill Kalogeras and James Duncan.  It was a long meeting so I’m just hitting on some points I thought were significant.  High schools are expected to open in four to eight weeks. … Read More

The CDC has announced that teachers do not need vaccines to return to their classrooms. They only need “resources” to stay safe. Why doubt the CDC? Why question this government institution? Everyone should doubt an institution that reverses its position and puts safety last. The CDC has said that masks… Read More

The framers of Education Law 906(1) never conceived of students being asymptomatic carriers of a virus like COVID-19 and could infect the families of countless students. To not test a significant portion of the student population that is known to asymptotic carriers by numerous scientific studies, and endangers lives to… Read More

Hello People! Our Friday and Saturday sessions were well-attended and we had a lively and insightful discussions of various aspects of how our union came into being. We were able to thoroughly cover the preface and first two chapters of The Teacher Rebellion. I would like to forge ahead with the… Read More

Dear friends and family,Please push Cuomo to waive teacher evaluation this year. DiBlasio and Carranza screwed the School Year up by not focusing on schools until mid-July. Online instruction is very different than teaching in a building and to evaluate teachers on student engagement under these COVID-19 times is just… Read More

After presenting the resolution, of course Unity played dirty and Mary Vacarro spoke against by intentionally mischaracterizing the resolution and then it was voted against 40%-60%. She said that it was unreasonable to expect remote teachers to not receive evaluations this year. I was given no opportunity to clarify what… Read More

Mayor Lightfoot promises slower phase-in with on PreK and Special Ed clusters coming in on Tuesday, K-5 on February 22, and 6-8 on March 1.  She threatened to lock out teachers who don’t return to their buildings on Monday.  Dozens of teachers who were in the first phase which was… Read More

February Town Hall with Michael Mulgrew 1)Introduced Senator Chuck Schumer: Thank teachers for everything we have done. He believes in public education. His family has grown up in public schools. We stayed open the whole year during this Pandemic. More urgent tasks of getting all teachers and school workers vaccinated…. Read More

Have we told you lately how much we appreciate you?  Well, we have a small ask to ask of you. We need to update our membership rolls! After 6 years it’s time to do a little housekeeping and make sure all our member information is current and up to date. (Also,… Read More

Robert’s Rule of Order is the most widely used manual of parliamentary procedure in the United States. Generally, Robert’s Rules of Order is a guide for conducting meetings and making decisions as a group. The purpose of the book is “to enable assemblies of any size, with due regard for every member’s opinion, to… Read More

This article was written by Crystal Lewis of The Chief. She interviewed Council Members Odalis Santana and Quinn Zannoni. IS ANYBODY LISTENING?: Members of the United Federation of Teachers Movement of Rank and File Educators and UFT Solidarity caucuses fear Governor Cuomo’s decision that city public schools can remain open… Read More

Please confirm your attendance by pre-Registering here! This meeting will be held at 5pm on 1/20/2021 over Zoom. Topics include: Chapter leader elections, Delegate Assembly updates, Vaccinations for 1B (which includes all UFT members), great initiatives to help move our caucus and union forward! The Facebook event can be found… Read More

Notes on 12/30/20 zoom conference regarding ending mayoral control, strengthening parent, student, and community empowerment, and reestablishing elected community school boards.  Lots of interesting issues were brought up. The zoom was led by Kim Watkins a public school parent who is running for Manhattan Borough President. The zoom conference was… Read More

UFT Solidarity believes in giving members the tools they need to maintain their dignity and agency. We are disgusted that UFT President Mulgrew has not made a stronger statement ordering the immediate closure of the schools. Our colleague James Eterno advises UFT members to do this: All it will take… Read More

Resolution Rejecting Remote Teaching Amendments to APPR By Quinn Zannoni and John Lawhead, UFT Solidarity Council WHEREAS, principals across the NYC DOE have been sharing amongst themselves a newly released Danielson Group framework for Remote Teaching; and WHEREAS, The Danielson Framework for Remote Teaching is not on NYSED’s list of… Read More

The mayor today announced a phased-in reopening plan that will enable elementary school and District 75 students to receive in-person instruction as early as Dec. 7 in parts of the city where transmission rates remain low. At our insistence, the city is implementing much stricter testing measures in all school… Read More