The next Delegate Assembly is on June 11
Chapter Leader UpdateJune 4, 2025
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Hannah Loesch
JUSTICE FOR DYLAN: Members from the UFT Member Action Committee participated in a May 29 rally outside DOE headquarters to support a Bronx high school student from Venezuela who was detained by federal agents following what should have been a routine immigration hearing.
This Week's Focus
Updates on Clerical Day and Eid al-Adha observance
Clerical day, which is this Friday, will be fully remote for all school-based staff. June 6 is a clerical day for 3-K, pre-K, K–5, K–6, 6–8 and K–12 schools and District 75 programs. The purpose of this day is to allow members time to complete various administrative tasks including, but not limited to, preparing report cards and finalizing gradebooks; documenting student areas for improvement for summer; organizing promotion portfolios electronically to share with summer school teachers; data-sharing for articulation purposes from one grade to another; and/or planning for Summer Rising. For students and staff in high school and 6–12 schools, June 6 will be a regular day of instruction.
Staff may also request time off for Eid al-Adha since religious observance is expected to begin at sundown on June 5 and extend through June 6 this year. According to the DOE memo, all requests should be considered in a manner consistent with Chancellor's Regulation C-606, which allows for time off for holy day observance.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew reelected as president
Michael Mulgrew, the UFT president since July 2009, was reelected to the position for the sixth time, receiving 54% of the votes along with other candidates from the Unity Caucus. The A Better Contract slate took 32% of the vote, while the ARISE Caucus received 14%. The uncertified election results were announced on May 31. Voter turnout increased by 15%; the UFT Election Committee announced that 58,318 ballots were cast, up from nearly 51,000 in the 2022 election. For the first time, the independent Global Election Services (GES) administered the election and counted the vote. When certified by GES, the final results for all races will be posted in the UFT Elections 2025 section of the website. The new three-year terms begin on July 1.
Stand up at the 'No Kings' rally and march on June 14
Join your fellow UFT members at the "No Kings" rally and march at Bryant Park on Saturday, June 14, from 2 to 4 p.m. Hundreds of No Kings rallies will be taking place across the country as part of a Nationwide Day of Defiance to call out the increasing authoritarian threats, corruption and attacks on civil rights from the federal government. The UFT contingent will assemble starting at 1:30 p.m. at Salesforce Tower at 1095 Sixth Ave. Bring friends and spread the word.
UFT secures new transfer process for OTs and PTs
Months of negotiations between the UFT and the DOE have produced a new transfer process for occupational and physical therapists that went into effect on May 12. The previous process that OTs and PTs had to use to transfer schools was exasperating. Many therapists complained about repeatedly attempting to transfer schools without success or being placed at schools midyear in positions that never appeared on the transfer list. So we pushed the DOE to revamp its process.
The highlights include:
- The agreement outlines a process to anticipate, identify and post all vacancies in a timely manner.
- OT/PTs will receive confirmation that their transfer applications were submitted to schools for consideration.
- In addition to applying for posted vacancies, therapists can send their resume to a school that does not have a posted vacancy for future consideration should a vacancy arise.
- Vacancies that open midyear will be posted in the subsequent transfer period so all occupational and physical therapists may apply.
Join us for a Juneteenth tour of Seneca Village
Please join members of the UFT African Heritage Committee on Thursday, June 19, for a special tour of Seneca Village, the largest community of free African-American property owners in pre-Civil War New York. The group for the tour will gather at 9:30 a.m. at Mariner's Gate on West 85th Street and Central Park West. At the conclusion of the tour, the group will walk back to 85th Street, where UFT members may participate in the citywide Juneteenth walk in Central Park, which begins at 12:30 p.m.
Chapter Leader Checklist
To Do #1
Still time to complete the mayoral candidate survey
Please urge your members to look for their May 27 email from UFT President Michael Mulgrew and use that link to fill out our mayoral candidate survey if they haven't already completed it. Do not forward your survey link to your chapter's members. In order to ensure the results are reliable, members must respond to the survey email they received from the UFT.
To Do #2
Submit your summary for May consultation by June 30
Please submit your consultation summaries on the Chapter Leader Hub after your committee meeting with the principal, but no later than the end of June. Consultation summaries should include all topics discussed during the committee meeting. It's important that chapter leaders submit these summaries in a timely fashion so the union can escalate unresolved issues to the monthly district consultation or — if the same issue is reported by chapter leaders across the city — to the monthly consultation at the chancellor's level.
To Do #3
Shine a spotlight on an impressive new educator at your school
We want to showcase the great things happening in New York City public schools and honor UFT members' accomplishments. Does your school have a teacher or related service provider in their first three years on the job who is already leaving their mark on your school? Is one of your new members using skills they honed in a prior career to benefit New York City students? We are looking for dynamic new educators to feature in the Building Your Career section of the New York Teacher and on social media.
To Do #4
Encourage members to review their records
Advise your members to carefully review and save emails from the DOE's Department of Human Resources, which records all information concerning city licenses/appointments and state certification. If the information received is inaccurate, they should immediately follow the DOE's instructions to correct errors in the record.
To Do #5
Share flyers with your members.
Here are flyers you can print and distribute in member mailboxes or post on your school's UFT bulletin board:
Hub Highlights
Did you miss our last Chapter Leader Update?
The Chapter Leader Update comes out every two weeks during the school year, but do not fret if you miss an issue. As chapter leader, you have access to the complete Chapter Leader Update archive through the Chapter Leader Hub. Check out the archive to get any updates you missed. Remember, you can access the hub using your UFT website username and password.
You Should Know
Health & Safety
Air conditioning guidelines and complaints
During the official 2025 air-conditioning season from Wednesday, May 28, to Tuesday, Sept. 23, school room temperatures should be no lower than 78 degrees. There is no regulation mandating an upper temperature limit this June, but starting in September, a new state law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, will establish maximum temperatures in educational and support services spaces in schools. The law will prohibit students and staff from using a space that reaches 88 degrees or higher and require schools to adopt policies to ensure students' and staff members' health and safety on days when the temperature reaches 82 degrees or higher. The UFT and NYSUT advocated for the legislation as the number of uncomfortably hot days during the school year rose.
The UFT will address temperature complaints on a case-by-case basis with the DOE Division of School Facilities. Members who want to file a complaint should keep a log of the room temperature and also provide specific information that answers the following questions: Are the rooms interior rooms whose only source of air is provided by a mechanical ventilation system? If so, is the mechanical ventilation system working? Are the rooms overcrowded? Are the rooms occupied by special needs students? What are the room temperatures? For more information, read the 2025 NYC Cooling Season Guidelines.
Instruction
New date for September parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools
The elementary and pre-K parent-teacher conferences (Open School Night) originally scheduled for the evening of Thursday, Sept. 11, in the 2025-26 school calendar have been moved to Wednesday, Sept. 17. Please update your calendar. Any changes to the September parent-teacher conferences require a school-based option vote.
Medical & Wellness
Finalist selected for in-service health insurance contract
The city and the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) are currently in the process of negotiating an improved in-service and pre-Medicare retiree health care plan for all New York City public employees. We want to use this process as an opportunity to address the growing frustrations we face with health care and create a better plan for us all. The city and the MLC have selected EmblemHealth/ UnitedHealthcare (UHC) as the finalist. The scoring on the final bids for the contract shows that EmblemHealth/UHC would allow more members to keep their current doctors; expand the network of doctors, hospitals and other services; and provide a clear roadmap to allow us to keep our health care premium-free. Now, the city and the MLC will begin an intense negotiation process with EmblemHealth/UHC to improve benefits under the plan. If the negotiations end with an agreed-upon plan, the plan will be presented to the member-based UFT Health Care Committee, which will make a recommendation to the UFT Delegate Assembly for a vote. The Delegate Assembly will vote to decide if the UFT, as part of the MLC, will support the plan.
Explore how everyday habits shape our health and energy
Whether you're looking for a complete reset in your wellness routine or some simple tweaks, listen to the latest episode of the Member Assistance Program's Brewing Wellness Podcast as program staff revisit their conversation with Dr. Pina LoGiudice, a naturopathic doctor and co-founder of Inner Source Health. You will learn how everyday habits shape our physical health and overall energy. Dr. LoGiudice will also be hosting two holistic health workshops for the Member Assistance Program this summer — stay tuned for details.
Political Action
Early voting begins on June 14
Early voting for the June 24 primary begins on Saturday, June 14, and runs through Sunday, June 22. Besides the hotly contested race for the Democratic nomination for mayor, citywide primaries are being held for public advocate and city comptroller. All City Council seats are on the ballot. Voters in each borough will also vote for borough president, and voters in Manhattan and Brooklyn will vote for district attorney. Find your polling site and its hours for early voting.
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot for the June 24 primary is Saturday, June 14. The board of elections must receive the absentee ballot application by letter or through the online absentee request portal by this date. New York City residents can complete an online absentee ballot application or call 1-866-VOTE-NYC to request an application by mail.
See the union's political endorsements on the UFT website. For complete New York City voter information, visit the NYC Board of Elections website.
Help get out the vote for our endorsed City Council candidates
The UFT Delegate Assembly has voted to endorse candidates in 45 of the 51 New York City Council races on the June 24 primary ballot. Want to volunteer to get out the vote for these candidates? Send an email to the UFT political action coordinator for your borough. The union's endorsement process for City Council candidates running for election began in February. The candidates answered questions on a union questionnaire about their support for public education and the labor movement, their willingness to work with the UFT, their campaign's viability, and their stances on key issues such as the class size law and newcomer students. Then they were invited for an interview before a union screening committee, which included members who live and/or work in the district. The screening committee's recommendations were put up for a vote first at our Administrative Committee (AdCom), next at the UFT Executive Board and finally at the Delegate Assembly, our highest decision-making body.
Salary & Personnel
Winter break extended an extra day next school year
Thanks to our advocacy, the DOE is extending next school year's winter break to include Friday, Jan. 2. All students and staff will now report back on Monday, Jan. 5. Under the previous version of the 2025-26 school calendar, schools were going to be closed from Wednesday, Dec. 24, through Thursday, Jan. 1, with students returning for only one day of classes before the weekend. The addition of Jan. 2 to the winter recess means New York City public schools will be at the state's minimum of 180 school days, so the DOE will not approve any school-based options for next school year that reduce instructional days.
Excessing should decrease as class size limits take effect
The ongoing phase-in of the state class size law's new class size limits means that, more than ever, school administrators should avoid wrong-headed excessing decisions. A situation in which excessing may have been considered reasonable in the past may no longer make sense. Push your principal not to excess staff and instead to maintain staffing levels that will allow your school to more fully comply with the class size law. Excessing should be limited to unique circumstances.
Please ensure that any excessing at your school proceeds according to established contractual protocols and state law. Keep in mind that excessing letters mean that a staff member is in danger of being excessed. The DOE notifies staff in June, but the actual excessing occurs in September. Notified UFT members may either look for a new position through the Open Market Transfer Plan this summer or wait until the fall to see if a position remains open. Read the UFT's Q&A on excessing. Excessed members lose their school position but keep their job, their salary and their benefits. Excessing happens when a school has more staff members in a given license than positions in that license. If excessing occurs in a particular title or license, the person with the fewest years of service at a school or work site is excessed first. The union has prepared a document to help you read a seniority list so you can see the order of excessing. (You must be logged in to the UFT website to access this document.) If your members are placed in excess in September, they can register on the Open Market Transfer Plan system at that time. They may apply for any vacancies in their license area citywide and they may apply to any school regardless of vacancies. Excessing is covered in Article 17B in the DOE-UFT contract. If you have questions, please contact your UFT district representative.
Recent Guidance and Agreements
Contact the UFT
- DOE members, call 212‑331‑6311.
- DOE functional chapter members, call 212‑331‑6312.
- A health benefit question? Call the Welfare Fund at 212‑539‑0500.
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