Why doesn’t the UFT leadership fight back against abusive administrators? Why did the UFT go along with an evaluation system that teacher’s don’t understand, that forces teachers to do 4-6 observations per year? Why is UFT leadership claiming that the 2014 contract’s paltry raises and increases to health care premiums… Read More
This Week’s Focus First 2% of total 5% salary increase coming on May 1 The salaries of UFT members employed by the Department of Education will increase 2 percent on May 1 as part of the 2014 contract. All UFT pedagogues and paraprofessionals on the Q Bank payroll will receive… Read More
For years we have been hearing about the issues occurring at the Manhattan high schools. When the issues we hear are similar, but come from different schools, we have no choice but to connect the dots and see that the problems are coming from the district office. UFT members and… Read More
Thanks to the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), as citizens we all have the right to government records. Meaning the public has the ability to obtain a wide range of information and data including our public schools. For example, did you know you can order the personnel file for a school principal… Read More
Oftentimes members complain that they do not have a say before the UFT agrees on something on their behalf. From evaluation, ATR and other outside of contract agreements. We now see surveys trickling out from the UFT. We are not sure how they are being sent out, but UFT Solidarity caucus… Read More
Dear Colleagues, As you are aware, in the 2015-16 school year, the Board of Regents and I placed a hold on the use of student performance measures based on the grades 3-8 ELA and math State assessments as part of teacher and principal evaluations which continues through the 2018-19 school… Read More
ATRs, Here we share a simple guide to finding out who did obtain the positions experienced ATRs have applied for. Just follow the steps here and you should be able to see the license and years experience of the employees who did obtain the position you applied for. If you… Read More
School excessing is supposed to be performed in reverse seniority. Those teachers would then be placed in the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool. This would imply that the average age of teachers in the ATR pool would be relatively low. This is not the case. The average age of ATRs,… Read More
Please find the web version of this guidebook by going here. Read More
There is not much to say here except that this is truly unfortunate. Contractual violations hurt members and often times hurt students and school communities. The UFT leadership went head to head with Mayor Bloomberg, or at least made like they did, and now have a cozy relationship with Mayor de… Read More
Delegate Assembly December 6th, 2017 UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s Remarks Federal Issues: -Moment of silence for two deceased members, delegates including a Bronx librarian -Thank you for Puerto Rico rally, helping to provide water purifiers for Puerto Rico -Tax package looks like it will pass. Tax credits for buying a… Read More
This Week’s Focus Unions defend tenure rights in appeals court hearing Tenure rights of New York teachers were the focus of heated arguments in a Brooklyn courtroom on Nov. 30 as lawyers for the UFT and other unions pressed a state appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit attacking those fundamental… Read More
Are you a staff member or parent who is wondering why schools are consistently hiring fresh out of college teachers and not retaining experienced staff members? Look no further than Robert Gordon. He developed the Fair Student Funding for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein. In sum and… Read More
This is a summary of the DA from November 8th, which had a celebratory tone after the overwhelming victory of the No on Prop 1 campaign which could have negatively affected teachers’ pensions and right. Please note that the discussion below does not imply agreement by UFT Solidarity’s council or… Read More
This Week’s Focus Flip your ballot and vote NO on Prop #1 on Election Day Because there are no hotly contested races at the top of the ticket this year, we anticipate that overall voter turnout will be low on Election Day. That’s why it’s essential that every UFT member… Read More
Why should every NY State resident vote no? By now, anyone who follows NY State politics knows that the Constitution requires a yes or no vote on the possibility of holding a constitutional convention every 20 years. On November 7th, every registered voter in NY state can weigh in on… Read More
This Week’s Focus Call members to remind them to vote NO on the constitutional convention On Nov. 7, New York State voters will vote on a ballot referendum proposing a constitutional convention to amend the state’s constitution. It’s up to us to make sure they understand why it’s important to… Read More
This Week’s Focus UFT files lawsuit to stop charter certification shortcut The UFT and NYSUT filed a lawsuit on Oct. 12 to prevent the weakening of teacher certification standards after the SUNY Board of Trustees Charter Schools Committee voted the previous day to allow some charter schools to create their… Read More
Make sure you’re chapter leader has a consultation team that meets with the principal. Enforce rules and support members. Read More
As stated in the May 27, 2017 article below, UFT Solidarity, in an effort to finally make the election process fair, filed a number of election complaints against UFT Unity. Not only did the US Department of Labor (USDOL) decide to take the case, but the investigators hit the ground… Read More
This Week’s Focus Lump-sum payment coming in October paycheck Because you have a union that fights for you, all UFT members now on payroll who worked for the Department of Education between 2009 and 2017 are being compensated for the two 4 percent raises that former Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave… Read More
Here is pertinent information from the opening meeting for chapter leaders, held at 52 Broadway on September 27th, 2017. Please note that this is just a record of what was said and does not imply agreement by the UFT Solidarity Causus, especially on the matter of the new evaluation system…. Read More
This Week’s Focus Start the year off on the right foot Welcome back to another school year! It’s important to start the school year off with the basic elements in place to ensure that your members have a voice in your school community and that you have a system in… Read More
This Week’s Focus Nominate your school or a UFT member for a #PublicSchoolProud award When U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos condemned public schools as “failing,” school communities across the city united in a campaign to show her the incredible teaching and learning that takes place every day in our public schools. At… Read More
