Special Education
Special Ed for 12 years under Bloomberg was devastated. It was if he took a bulldozer to special education under the guise of reform. Children with special needs suffered the most. Klein empowered principals and ignored children, emboldening incompetent principals. Under the Individuals with Disabil
Eliminate Abusive Administrators
Eliminate Abusive Administrators Experience and research show that ONLY collaborative relationships in a school foster a healthy work environment, benefitting staff and students. Unfortunately many Leadership Academy principals hired by Bloomberg and Klein are not collaborative. They were hired to g
In Support of Opt Out
In New York State our children are being inundated with Common Core exams that determine their teachers’ ratings (even gym, art and music teachers!) and narrow the entire school year to a rigid “teach to the test” agenda. We stand in solidarity with parents who want to opt their children out
Unfairly Discontinued Probationers
Probation is a training period. Principals, APs and mentors work with beginning teachers. But during the probationary period, teachers can be discontinued at any time. Under Bloomberg weak, abusive, or incompetent principals used probationers as scapegoats. They did not try to help these teachers. A
Resolution in support of Unit Costing for the NYC Department of Education
The following resolution was submitted to the April 27, 2015 UFT Executive Board. Jonathan Halabi (me) motivated, and began by excusing the technical nature of the details. 1. School Closures + 2. Unit Costing + 3. End of Seniority Transfers + 4. Fair Student Funding have led to a crazy system where
Funding
The current teacher funding formula is another Klein leftover. It encourages principals to avoid hiring experienced educators. It punishes schools that hire them. This hurts principals, teachers, schools, kids. Shouldn’t Mulgrew and Fariña be ending Fair Student Funding?
Cuomo’s War on Educators
Andrew Cuomo got much of what he wanted in his attack on NY state’s teachers. Tenure now will take four years. Fifty percent of our ratings will be based on standardized tests that our students take. It will be quicker to fire teachers. This set of changes is designed to “churn” teachers, t
Support the Resolution to Protect Planned Parenthood
(from the New Action leaflet distributed at the March 2015 UFT Delegate Assembly). For a printable version click: March 2015 Leaflet On March 10, 2015, New Action/UFT introduced a resolution denouncing the attacks on Planned Parenthood. Since the Republicans in the House and Senate have set their
New Action Wants Your Thoughts and Your Help
What do you think about what you read here? Do you have suggestions for future topics? E-mail us, write us, or call us. We want to hear from you. You can join us by filling in the coupon below. Financial contributions are always welcome. Do you receive our leaflets in your school? If not, one of [&
Abusive Administrators
(from the New Action leaflet distributed at the March 2015 UFT Delegate Assembly). For a printable version click: March 2015 Leaflet With so many abusive and non-collaborative administrators, isn’t it time to reinstate the union’s Principals in Need of Improvement (PINI) program? Unity leaders