Hello all,

Before I get into specific UFT-related material, just a general tidbit about dates in 2020. Make sure you write the full year (2020) because if you only write the first two digits, anyone else could date it between 2000 and 2019. 

Just to share again from the Delegate Assembly last week, the Census count is coming up soon (March!) and New York stands to gain or lose a lot of federal funding depending on how we respond. Please look at this flier to understand why it is important for every person in the city to respond to the census (and how none of the information can be used against you).

Finally, it is important to know that NYC needs new teachers all the time. The UFT has partnered with educational institutions for years to promote that idea. They also have a program called LEAP to Teacher to help paraprofessionals and other school-related staff to become classroom educators. Check out more information here.

Hello all,

Did you know that if you need/want to, you can borrow money from your TRS pension or TDA? Yes, indeed, and the money is deposited very quickly into whatever account you need. Essentially, you are borrowing against the amount of money you have already accumulated and will have to deposit it back into your account to get it in retirement later on. What that means for your pension loans is that their interest rate is 7% (because that is what you are earning). This can be much lower than traditional personal loans which have rates in the double-digits pretty often. You can read some information here from an old article on the UFT website.

Welcome back to school and happy new year! 

Recently, some staff members have been receiving positive "letters-to-file" that I wanted to make sure everyone understood. Essentially, according to Article 21A, administrators are allowed to submit documents to your office file, which is a folder that maintains records of each staff member in the building. This file may be looked at by future administrators inside or outside of your building when conducting any kind of investigations (or for future potential hirings). 

Many principals do not even bother with positive letters-to-file so it is wonderful that ours are taking the time to make them. That being said, if you receive a negative letter-to-file you are allowed to (and encouraged to) respond to it to provide any context you feel is missing. This will also go into your file and be readable by others later. Here are some other guidelines to understand what to do with these files.

While it is hard to fathom this happening at a school like ours, it is still important to know about how disciplinary actions work that may result in loss of a job or removal from a school. Article 21C talks about Section 3020-a of the State Education Law that relates to more serious allegations against pedagogues. In some instances, this law removes teachers from the classroom while investigations are made; in others, they are removed from their jobs. The key thing is to let the UFT Borough Office know if you ever have this happen to you - they have the experience and expertise to defend you and ensure a fair process is followed. 

The UFT caucus Solidarity has a detailed guide on their website.

I wrote a previous email about our consultation committee and its structure to help support staff to ensure our rights are maintained and that our school can function well. An additional support that we have is one hierarchical level above that committee: a group from the UFT that helps support consultation committees in making sure that our issues are properly addressed. In the case that something is not addressed fully at consultation, the chapter leader can send the issue to this more central committee to advocate on our behalf. This often involves the superintendent, who will then come back to principals to push for a swift resolution. While we have not had to use this tactic at BCS, it is good to know that we have the option at the ready. 

​As you all know I think it is important for us to know and understand all pieces of our contract. To that end sometimes I'll share things that might seem like they are coming because "something happened at school." I assure you this piece below is purely informational and not because anyone has been injured at BCS.

To that end, you may have heard in other schools where a pedagogue has been 'injured in the line of duty.' This is a technical term used to determine fault and payment of medical expenses. A summary is located at this website but essentially this coverage is provided by the UFT and DOE in the case of an "unprovoked attack by a student, parent, or stranger" on the pedagogue. While I do not wish this to happen to any of us at BCS, it is important to know that if you are hurt in one of these situations, your financial and health related matters will be covered as you recuperate. For anyone curious about the technical language, please see Article 21, Section K of our contract.

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.