Highlights from the August issue of New York Teacher:
Scores of new teachers accepted the UFT’s invitation to its 2009 Summer Series, designed to bring teachers in their first three years on the job together and to introduce them to the city’s local treasures, in this case the four borough botanical gardens.
[Browse other new teacher articles here.]
From the beginning, Michael Mulgrew wanted to work with at-risk kids, and at a very young age he embraced his mother’s most important piece of advice: Wherever you are, whatever you do, always help others.
With the current UFT/Department of Education contract expiring on Oct. 31, UFTers on the union’s new negotiating committee began reviewing the member contract survey in preparation for the next round of collective bargaining at their first meeting on July 9.
The UFT has reached a landmark two-year contract agreement that locks in a pay rate and begins a phase-in of health insurance benefits to provide coverage for all of the city’s 28,000 family child care providers within four years.
The UFT’s Principals in Need of Improvement (PINI) campaign was born from the need to tackle the behavior of recalcitrant principals head-on and change the school’s culture in the process. It has already made a difference in a number of schools.
The state Senate returned to session on Aug. 6 and passed a bill to renew mayoral control of the city’s public schools, along with other related bills to increase parental input in the school system and address some of the other flaws in the original legislation.
David Steiner, dean of the Hunter College School of Education, was appointed New York State education commissioner by the state Board of Regents on July 27, and is expected to take office on Oct. 1. Commissioner Steiner is replacing Richard Mills, who retired as commissioner after serving for 14 years.
Frank McCourt, 30-year veteran New York City public high school teacher, staunch unionist and best-selling author of memoirs including “Teacher Man” and “Angela’s Ashes,” died on July 19. “He was a great inspiration to kids and a huge upholder of the beauty of our profession,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.
At welcoming ceremonies on June 15 at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, UFT Vice President for Education Issues Aminda Gentile told 750 new Teaching Fellows that they are about to become members of a super-sized professional support team, the United Federation of Teachers.
