Where we agree, where we disagree
From New Action’s May 2016 Leaflet Where We Agree We agree that 200 lawyers at Tweed is about 200 too many. But we need leadership that tells this to Fariña, sits down, and gets something done. We agree that the current funding formula for schools makes no sense, that principals are forced to
Resolution on Discontinued Probationary Staff Members
New Action wrote the original version of this resolution (March 28, 2016), and supported the revised version which was passed by the Executive Board (April 4, 2016) and by the Delegate Assembly (April 20, 2016.) It does not go far enough. As long as we have abusive and incompetent principals with th
For Appropriate Supervision
New Action introduced the following resolution at the April 18, 2016 UFT Executive Board. It was tabled to allow details to be reviewed and corrected. We expect a revised resolution to be brought forward at the May 9 Executive Board. For Appropriate Supervision April 18, 2016 Whereas both the Danie
Paid Maternity/Paternity Leave
Last April New Action proposed that UFT members should be entitled to paid parental leave. UFT members are often shocked to learn that all they receive upon having a child is six weeks of UNPAID maternity leave. Eight months later de Blasio may be helping this to happen. But why did our union not ra
Why I can no longer support Mulgrew / Unity
By Gregory Di Stefano 33 year teacher, 46 year UFT member The last decade has seen a serious deterioration of UFT members’ rights such as: not being able to grieve unfair observations, inaccurate letters in the file, abuse by some incompetent and corrupt principals, the unfair treatment of p
Get Test Scores Out of Teacher Evaluation
New Action urges: no test scores in teacher evaluation. Unity responds by not letting members vote. At the January 11, 2016 UFT Executive Board meeting, New Action urged opposition to the use of test scores to evaluate teachers, and urged that we use the four year moratorium to lobby for a change in
New Action explains: We can no longer run with Mulgrew/Unity
Since the early 1980’s, New Action/UFT was the main opposition to Unity Caucus. In 1985, New Action leader, Michael Shulman, won the UFT High School Vice-Presidency, and served until 1987. New Action continued in opposition until early 2004. Perhaps our greatest achievement was making pay parity t
How Not to Fight the Friedrichs Case!
By Michael Shulman, Co-chair, New Action/UFT By now most union members have heard of the Friedrichs case before the US Supreme Court. The threat is real and in the hands of this conservative court it is almost a given that the justices will rule against all unions and eliminate dues check-off . The
Resolution on delinking testing from evaluation
New Action urges: delink teacher evaluation from test scores. Unity responds by not letting members vote. The following resolution was presented by Jonathan Halabi (New Action) at the Monday, January 11 UFT Executive Board meeting. A representative from Unity moved to table (could be for future cons
Renewal Schools – Some Questions
(from the New Action leaflet distributed at the October 2015 UFT Delegate Assembly). For a printable version click: Leaflet 2015 October This school year we have a new group of schools targeted for intervention. There are 94 Renewal Schools, mainly in poorer neighborhoods, chosen because of lower