Question for United Federation of Teachers Members
Do you know your rights regarding schedule? Does everyone in your building know their rights?
Read, Learn, Share the Knowledge
Ask your chapter leader to review rights regarding program during the first Chapter meeting of the year, or if that is not soon enough, to post relevant parts of Article 7.
All of us should help inform newer teachers of their rights.
Speak with newer members to make sure that they know their rights, even if the rights in your school only exist on paper. Don’t assume that even a third or fourth year teacher knows what the contract says. In my first school, senior teachers conspired with administrators to deny information about rotation to newer teachers.
Article 7 of the teachers contract is long. 7A – 7K address your assignment. Read the appropriate section, once, if you have not done so in a long time.
For a bit —->
7A High Schools
7B Intermediate Schools / JHS
7C Elementary Schools
7D K-8
7F Special Ed
7K District 75
7M Class size
7N Coverages
7O Shortage Area
7Q Conferences
7R Basic Instructional Supplies
7T Professional Assignments
7Q – The September conference should be on school time. If they try to get you to stay after school for a conference this month, make sure your Chapter Leader stops them.
7R – Basic Instructional Supplies. They are not well-defined. Certainly text books, paper, chalk fall into theis category, but we can try to make the case that a working xerox does, too. If your school requires charts on that expensive paper, they should be supplying it.
The reorganization period is very brief, and if there is a problem you will need to assert your rights quickly.
JD2718 
Is there someone in NYC with whom I can actually review the wonderful contract and all of the UFT. Protection. I was a new teacher with my first appointment.No one protected me.
I had my FIRST APPOINTMENT with 504 students and two Special Ed classes ( entire school with no help not even clarical) to teach chemistry and living environment laboratory classes. **Although the school was open for 3 years just like the other small schools at this location, **there were neither costly science supplies nor printed material ** which are required to do Regents Labs AND THE OTHER SCHOOLS OPENED AT THE SAME TIME PERCHASED FOR THEIR STUDENTS!
In order to keep my job I purchased ,shopped weekend, researched and wrote lab procedures weekend and nights, which the had to be converted to “Workshop Method”
I was required to work the second fulltime job of Lab Assistant, with no reimbursement. Do make-up labs with no compensation and give up lunch or pre period to do it.
In addition to literally working day and night ( Extensive proof.)as a teacher and lab. assitant I also did the janitors job of scrubbing the mold and cleaning.
There was broken plumbing,electricity,gas leaks, areasol rodent excrement and rodents everywhere, and so much garbage up to the ceiling in the preproom that when it was removed a huge office with skylight was discovered.
My success rate was slightly above the rest of the science department teacher who only had clasrrom responsibilities,
When the Principal was required ( Letter from her stating her requirements )to provide me with supplies and a clean safe environment Jan 4, on that same day OF COURSE I received a U and June my certificate to teach high school was permenantly removed…FOREVER, even though I received excellent evaluations prior to and after this school.
My union rep filed no grievences. The Special Rep said that ” at the end of the day ‘ there is nothing he could do and I will never in life ever be able to teach high school science in NYC. My responses were removed from obsevation.My file is constantly altered.My hearing although positive regarding reversal was ignored and I am denied written copy of this hearing. The Instructional Supt. whom I am yet to even meet sign unseen instituted my termination of probation on 6/15 prior to me ever recieving the rest of my U’s all dated 6/20.
Ok how does the UFT Contract benefit me? Who helped me? Can I speak to someone now?
I am sorry to hear about your unfortunate circumstances with the
NYC Board of Ed. If I were you I would continue to pursue remedy
with the Union Rep. or if he or she repeatedly does not respond, go
over their head to a Union Supervisor. Make sure all correspondences
are free of typos and spelling mistakes. Proofread everything you
send out. Your letter requesting assistance had many spelling and
grammatical mistakes. It doesn’t look good from a teacher and will
probably limit constructive feedback. I’m not trying to be negative
but realistic in my appraisal. Good luck!
In general, we don’t evaluate comments on blogs for typos. People write in an on-line environment, there is no chance to look at the work after it is posted and correct it, etc, etc. Criticism of spelling, grammar, etc, on-line is considered fairly bad form.
However, I will gently point out that you are responding to remarks from 3 years ago.
I can answer, but my answer will be supremely unsatisfying: What happened to you, happened to you. It cannot be undone.
Protections for new teachers do not include tenure. Tenure, in effect a guarantee of due process, would have given you a real hearing (though not a guarantee that you would win)
What the union can and should do is ensure that newer members are not abused by fellow union members, that newer members receive assistance on union-related matters, that newer members are aware of their contractual rights.
There are schools where these are not done. In order for these things to take place, the UFT chapter in the school must be strong. From your story, it sounds like your chapter was not strong.
I feel bad for you, but once your license has been revoked, there is nothing anyone can do to help.
Dear Ms Sustik,
CONTACT YOUR UNION OFFICE IN PERSON
May I refer you to NYC Dept of Education’s Division of Human Resources, Publication ” The Appeal Process”? This can be found online at http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/dhr/resources/Doc/AppealProcess.pdf
RE: jd2718, snooty response (above)
Speaking from my personal professional experience here in this quagmire called the New York City Department of Education, despite the sissy fits of your comrades, you most certainly DO have rights.
Under Federal Law and the Taylor Act the Union is there for your protection. REGARDLESS OF PRESENT CONTRACT.
If this kind teacher’s response is indicative of the rank-in-file teacher fellow answer, then there is NO fellowship between teachers in this insane workplace. Let jd2718’s answer stand as proof that most teachers are NOT there for their beleaguered comrades, are ignorantly not willing to help their fellows AT ALL, sadly- and most dangerously -even when they are elected as Union Representative. (See also Movie “On The Waterfront”.)
Jd2718, THANKS A LOT
DF,
I understand your sense of frustration.
Ms Sustik went to her union (you might reread her story). And she was not able to keep her job. Neither of us know the details.
She came here looking for help, help that I can’t provide, for two reasons. I do not know the details, and I am not her rep.
From what she told me, she was a new teacher who was discontinued months ago. I don’t know a way of helping someone in that situation; I suspect there is none.
I do know that the Department of Ed abuses and beats up on our new teachers. Really, you were around the system, you should know better than to unload on a rep from a different school, probably a different borough. It is the DoE and their principal who treated this woman so fouly. And it is foul.
It is true that we need to get better, get a lot better at defending new teachers. But we do not steal their pay, steal their lunchtimes, make them do other people’s work, threaten them, and then fire them. That is the DoE.
I know that many of our chapters are too weak now to properly defend our members. Did you read Ms. Sustik’s story? Things happened to her that a strong chapter would never have allowed to happen.
While I do not know how to help this woman, I do know how to help others. We need to build strong, functioning chapters that communicate well with members and that help defend members’ rights. I do my part, as best I can, by serving as UFT Chapter Chair in my building. I do not get extra pay for this; I do not get time off for this.
I also talk to teachers from other schools and encourage them to do what they can. And some do.
That’s my part, and I do it as best as I can.
Maybe us older teachers can start a Big Brother, Big Sister type of
thing, where we form a group and put our names together as the teachers who are interested in helping the “lost, new, overwhelmed
teacher”. We do not have to leave the whole burden on union rep,
district reps, and the UFT etc. I know I have helped extremely lost teachers, and I have even saved some careers, just because I took the time to listen, assist and advocate for a new teacher. No, I am not a union rep, and I have never been, even though I have been asked and could have easily been one. I am just an empathetic person, who routinely offers my assistance, time, knowledge, advice, and ear to new teachers! Do this! “what goes around comes around” I have also
been in a bind where I really needed assistance and it came through for me so miraculously. Looking back, I think it is because I always have stopped to offer my assistance to a new teacher! No immodesty, but the above statement just got me thinking and reminiscing
As many of us as possible, pitching in as much as possible… (even if it’s only a tiny bit)
We can begin to shift the environment to one where a larger number of new teachers have a greater chance of succeeding.
I absolutely agree.