I attended the Delegate Assembly last Wednesday and took notes. Please read them here. One big takeaway is that we need to support NYC running an accurate Census. NYC gets a lot of money from the federal government, depending on our population count. If anyone has time to spare to help with the effort, please contact the UFT to help.

Additionally, as part of our internal union workings we are allowed to work together to endorse candidates for various positions. The major one on people's minds is the Presidential election coming up next year. The MORE Caucus has created a form to fill out to ensure we have a democratic process for determining which candidate the UFT will support. Please consider signing this petition to ensure we have a democratic process.

The UFT has various awards given to its members every year. I don't know if we've had a nominee in quite some time so I am forwarding this link here: Nominate teachers. Please read through the descriptions and see if you want to nominate someone.

​Every year it is important to remember what the policies are surrounding sick and personal days. For pedagogues, they may take up to 10 self-treated days per year without providing a doctor's note. Within those 10 days, one may take up to 3 as "personal days" with approval from the principal. They may be used to care for a family member or to conduct business that can't be taken care of outside of the school day.

For non-pedagogues (which includes paraprofessionals, school nurses, certain therapists, etc.) they have to provide a doctor's note after 3 consecutive days absent.

There is more extensive information here.

As members of the UFT you have access to a host of benefits that come into play later in life. One of them is the Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA). This benefit means money comes out of your salary pre-tax and is put into an investment account of your choosing (from a small list) that can gave interest at a higher-than-average rate over time. The Teacher's Retirement System provides this benefit and is open not only to teachers and pedagogues but also to paraprofessionals. One of the funds available has a guaranteed 7% return year after year for members in Tier VI (the most recent tier of the plan). Since The Federal Reserve's rate is currently around 1.5-1.75%, this is incredible! 

Talk to any of the veteran teachers for more information about this if you'd like - many of them have been investing for years.

Additionally, I wanted to share the blog version of the Consortium Worker. If you didn't get a chance to read the pamphlet, please take a few moments to look at it.

This week I sent a more detailed and specific update to my staff but one component of it relates to the New York State law that has been on the books for quite some time but for some reason was sent out over email to me through several different avenues. The law says that any employee in New York State is entitled to up to 3 hours off at the beginning or end of their shift in order to vote, if they can demonstrate evidence of need. I find this particularly interesting timing because this year is the first year of early voting in NY State. I don't honestly think there is any kind of conspiracy here but it seems to be redundant to a certain respect since there is early voting now. But, my colleagues reminded me that there could still be legitimate reason behind it. So, if you needed the time, I hope you took it!

In the most recent contract agreement the UFT, City, and DOE agreed to specific wage increases over the next few years. The major piece of information here is the 2% increase on February 14, 2019, followed by a 2.5% increase on May 14, 2020, and a 3% increase on May 14, 2021. There were also various other changes that you can read here or from the UFT website:

• Pay increases of 2 percent on Feb. 14, 2019; 2.5 percent on May 14, 2020; and 3 percent on May 14, 2021.
• Starting salary for teachers will go from $56,711 today to $61,070 on May 14, 2021; maximum salary for teachers will go from $119,472 today to $128,657 on May 14, 2021.
• Paraprofessionals with less than five years on the job will receive a new $500 longevity in addition to contractual raises. This will raise the starting salary from $25,927 today to $28,448 on May 14, 2021. Paraprofessionals with five or more years on the job will have $1,200 added to their existing five- or 15-year longevities.
• Titles that have a maximum salary of less than $100,000 will receive a $500 increase in longevities at or above the five-year mark. These titles include: occupational and physical therapists, school nurses, school secretaries, lab specialists, mental health workers and supervisors of school security.
• Education officers/analysts and associate education officers/analysts will get the following increases to longevities: $200 at five years; $400 at 10 years; $600 at 15 years; and $800 at 20 years.
• All new longevities will be added on Feb. 14, 2019, when the contract takes effect if it is ratified.
• The maximum number of sessions for athletic coaches will be increased by one session.

It has been a very long time since I've written on here but honestly I have been too busy trying to make sure I work well with my students to write anything large. With that in mind, I've decided to share little tidbits about the UFT contract with folks who are interested. I write these once a week for my staff and want to make sure you know about them as well! Here is one from yesterday:

Did you know that Professional Development days are contractually 6 hours and 50 minutes long? This is true even if the PD day falls on a Monday or Tuesday when there would be extra time in the schedule already. So, for example, Election Day is coming up on Tuesday, November 5 and since we normally start school at 8:45am we will only stay at work until 3:35pm (instead of our usual 4:30pm). Alternatively, if it falls on a day that normally ends at 3:05pm, we still stay until 3:35pm. 

Keep this in mind!

Much like what happened after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, LA, it seems that the government in Puerto Rico is calling for a reduction in public school funding and implementing new charter school reforms. Due to that impact, the teachers in PR are calling for a national strike to push back against the funding and charter menace. It is unfortunate that individuals in a country that barely has an electric infrastructure that is better than it was before being hit by Hurricane Maria (and lost many more lives than the official count) is going to potentially lose its educational infrastructure as well. Good luck to the teachers!

As you are probably aware the Supreme Court filed their latest decisions this past week, including the landmark case, Janus vs. AFSCME. As expected (but very unfortunately) the conservative-majority court voted in favor of Mark Janus and against Union interests. For those unaware of what this court means, here is some backstory:

In a 1977 Supreme Court case, Abood vs. Detroit Board of Education, there was a similar issue being argued: should employees who benefit from collective bargaining be forced to pay full Union dues or not? These employees argued that since they don't agree with the Union they should retain the moneys being forfeited to pay for their benefits. They also argued that their dues were being used for political ends. In the end, the Court ruled in favor of the Union, saying that the dues themselves were not inherently political in nature, and these employees still benefited from the collective bargaining. This was the introduction of "agency fees" being paid by individuals who work alongside public sector Union members but were not members themselves. 

Fast forward to 2018 in New York City. The UFT has a collective bargaining unit of approximately 200,000 employees, with only 2,000 of them being "agency fee payers." That means around 1% of the people who benefit from Union negotiation don't pay the same rate. The total cost of being either a Union member or agency fee payer is currently around $1,400, so there is a lot of money being funneled into the UFT coffers with which they can properly protect our membership from the forces that be.

Enter: the Janus case. In a 5-4 decision on very political grounds, the Supreme Court sided with Mark Janus. Everyone is now wondering what is going to happen to public sector unions across the country as 22 states had rules following the 1977 Abood decision. Some view this as a potential rallying cry to get behind and really start connecting membership to union leadership again. I'm sure groups like the Movement of Rank-and-file Educators Caucus in NYC is hoping its grass-roots efforts will have a positive affect on union membership (and I think they are right). 

The most influential aspect of this case to me, however, is something I read in this EdWeek article. In it, the author points out "The justices also ruled that unions cannot deduct fees from employees' paychecks without their express consent." What this exactly means for places like New York City, I'm not sure. It could simply mean that any new pedagogical employee is not automatically joined into the UFT as it is now. Or, worse, it means that any current member is automatically kicked out and has to opt back in. In the latter case, much of the time spent next year by Chapter Leaders and District Representatives will be spent trying to ensure everyone signs up. That could take a lot of time and money away from other, more long-term impacting things like the current contract negotiations happening between the City, the Department of Education, and the UFT.

I hope this situation can be turned into a rallying cry in general in politics to ensure we have more progressive candidates put into office (like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and to get our Union to be more connected to its membership.

It has certainly been a long time since my last post. This year has been one of many firsts for me: the first time with a new Crew, I'm teaching a computer science course, and the first time I'm diving in deeper with my role as Chapter Leader of our branch of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). I've spent countless hours talking with colleagues, administration, and more trying to learn and make the role better for me and my staff. All the while I have been paying attention to labor issues nationwide and wondering how they will affect us here in New York City.

The biggest concern of public sector unions right now is a Supreme Court case known as Janus vs. AFSCME. It is essentially a case debating if public sector unions should be allowed to mandate non-members to still pay something called an "agency fee" since they still benefit from collective bargaining that the union provides. As a deeply committed union member, I think it is important that the agency fee stay in place. It is only fair. That being said, there are others who completely disagree and have started smear campaigns against unions, saying that they "stole" money from them and that they are better off without the union. Unfortunately, that is not true. 

So, when teachers in so-called "right-to-work" states (more like "right-to-make-less-money-and-have-fewer-benefits" states) strike due to low salaries and poor working conditions, it means something all the more. By now I hope you have read about all 55 counties of West Virginia going on strike to fight for what they rightly deserve: a decent wage. Teachers in Oklahoma followed suit and are now in their fifth day of walking out. Teachers in Kentucky are as well.

​What is obvious to me is that with enough desperation a group can come together to work toward a common goal. But, that also means they need to be motivated to get there and have the leadership in place to follow suit. I applaud the various unions across the country who are working to push for better working conditions and salaries that their members deserve. Workers at Disney are also protesting horrible wages but are unfortunately not getting enough attention.

​I'm sorry if I am missing some other major union actions that are not well publicized. I hope that can be added in the comments. But please know that I support strong unions that fight well for their workers rights. 

The first week of school has been overall pretty good. I've been teaching a course called Exploring Computer Science for the first time which has kept me on my toes. And the Geometry classes have been fairly streamlined as well. The one major concern I had was Crew, but that turned out to be completely unfounded.

I think it was because I had a challenging time with my last Crew over the past four years of teaching but from the lessons I learned there I have applied many important beginning routines to ensure my students feel cared for, informed, interested, and more. We've had really good circle-based conversations, initiatives, discussions, and check-ins. The students seem motivated to be a part of this school-based family - even the new students who came from other middle schools. So far it's been pretty great.

I realize this may only be a honeymoon period but at the same time it's important to create solid bonds/relationships early on so that if and when conflict occurs later I can have the students think back to a "better time" and learn from the unfortunate situation. I'm psyched to be a part of this Crew!