The UFT has filed legal papers with the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to declare impasse in the negotiations between the UFT and the NYC Department of Education (DOE) over a teacher evaluation system for schools that had been placed in the Transformation and Restart models of school improvement. We have charged the DOE with walking away from the negotiations that they were required to complete in good faith by the agreement they had signed with the UFT last June. Further, since the DOE has explicitly refused to negotiate an appeals system, with repeated statements to the UFT in negotiations that they would never overturn a supervisor’s rating on an issue of substance — a stance confirmed by the 99.5% rate at which they currently turn down U rating appeals — they are in direct violation of state education law which requires a substantive appeals process. If PERB declares impasse, as we have reason to believe they will, the NYC DOE will be forced back to the negotiations table to complete the process they agreed to undertake last June.

On the morning of Jan. 13 the DOE sent teams to Transformation and Restart schools, and to other PLA schools which had not as yet been placed in any School Improvement model, announcing its intentions to close your schools, and to impose by fiat a new evaluation system that could be used to remove half of your staff and your principal. In his State of the City address on Jan. 12, Mayor Bloomberg said that he believed there was a loophole in state law that would allow him to take such steps without negotiating it with the UFT. Our UFT lawyers have carefully examined the laws and regulations the mayor is invoking, and we do not see any grounds for the view that the DOE has the legal authority to take such unilateral action. If and when the DOE begins the legal process for closing your schools, the UFT will be immediately taking the appropriate legal action to stop it.

For ten years now, the policies of Mayor Bloomberg and of Chancellors Joel Klein, Cathie Black and Dennis Walcott have failed the public schools and students of New York City, with a particularly heavy toll falling on those with the greatest needs. Your schools have been on the front lines of these failures. Over the last two years, you were told that as PLA schools, you would receive additional funds, resources and supports to help you improve. Those promises have proven hollow, as the mayor and the Department of Education have done next to nothing to fix your schools. All that they can fix is blame, in an increasingly desperate and shrill attempt to evade responsibility and accountability for their failures.

It is sad that the mayor and the chancellor would do clear and manifest harm to your schools and your students in order to serve their political agenda. But they will not succeed. In this battle, the entire 200,000 membership of the UFT is behind you. And whenever the welfare of our schools and our students is threatened, as it is now, we will not rest until that threat has been defeated.

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew
UFT President

The International Labor Communications Assocation

The UFT’s website, uft.org, won first prize in the “Best Design” category for websites, and Edwize took home first in the “Best Web-Based Journal” category for the second year in a row.

The New York Teacher also garnered several accolades, including first prize for “Best Series of Articles” (the “War on Truth” series) and “Best Cover or Front Page” (“DOE Pits Parents Against Parents,” at right). A UFT editorial cartoon, “NY State Test Progress Victory Parade,” won second place for “Best Cartoon”; “The school that never closes” won third for “Best Feature Story.”

The awards were for work done in 2010. Here is a complete list of winners.

The judges wrote: “Edwize is the best education union blog we’ve ever seen. True to the blog format with its personal tone of powerful and moving member-written features that present authors as both teachers and union members. Regularly updated with diverse contributors — both staff and members. The blog is a pleasure to read.”

UFT.org was awarded first place in the category “General Excellence — Web.”

Thank you to Metro, and especially our writers, readers, and commenters.

Parents, teachers, community members will be there, outside Brooklyn Tech HS, united with the message: Closing struggling schools rather than working with them and offering them the support they need to serve ALL their students is not educational “reform” — it’s educational neglect. Spread the word!

Download the flyer >>

You’ve got 500 words. Now enter a UFT essay contest and tell Chancellor Cathie Black about all the value you add to the lives of students! What work do you do every day? What makes you so special? What do you do that often gets lost in all the talk about “reform” and “accountability”?

We will print the winning essays in the New York Teacher and post them on the UFT website. Winners will also receive a ticket (a $225 value) to the Sixth Annual PBS Celebration of Teaching and Learning at the New York Hilton on Saturday, March 19. Three lucky grand prize winners will also participate in a panel discussion at the Celebration with UFT President Michael Mulgrew and other educational leaders.

Mail your essays to: Essay, 52 Broadway, New York, NY 10004, Attention: Joseph Colletti. You can also email your essays to jcolletti@uft.org, but embed your essay in the actual email, as attachments don’t always open. Double-space, keep it to no more than 500 words, and please do not send any photos, articles, drawings or other materials with your essay. We cannot return essays. Be sure to include your name, address, school address and a personal phone number and personal (non-DOE) email with the essay.

The entry deadline is Feb. 25.

The judges wrote: “Great looking; includes nice mix of videos, text, images, charts; clear bold headlines, links to comments. Great writing like this: www.edwize.org/an-apology-from-a-teacher. Clear agenda that is advanced; comprehensive use of diverse sources.”

Thank you to ILCA, and especially our writers, readers, and commenters.

The judges wrote: “This year, UFT took first prize again with its winning formula that gives real, live, flesh and blood teachers a chance to correspond about the trials and triumphs of a New York City school teacher.”

Thank you to the MLCC, and especially our writers, readers, and commenters.

A million dollar opportunity is a terrible thing to waste.

This year’s deadline, Jan. 31, is fast approaching for the UFT’s annual awarding of $1 million in total scholarships to academically excellent and financially eligible New York City public high school seniors through the Albert Shanker College Scholarship Fund.

To receive a $5,000 scholarship from the fund, those selected must be accepted in a full-time, matriculated, degree-granting program at an accredited college or university.

Visit the Scholarship Fund Web page for more information.

Do you know a special high school senior in need of a scholarship?

Each year, the Albert Shanker College Scholarship Fund of the UFT proudly gives out nearly $1 million in undergraduate and graduate scholarships to academically excellent and financially eligible students from New York City public schools.

The deadline to apply for the 2010 scholarships is Jan. 31. Encourage students to apply today.

Visit the Scholarship Fund Web page for more information.