If the funds are allocated by the City Council in June, why does it take the DOE two months to figure out each person's allocation? It seems like simple division: Divide the total allocation by the number of eligible employees. Then prorate for non-classroom teachers. It's not rocket science.
Spending according to the UFT website is retroactive to August 1. The end date for spending has not yet been released but is some time in mid January.
The allocation for this year by job title:
| Title | Amount |
|---|---|
| Teachers | $250 |
| School counselors | $110 |
| Social workers and psychologists | $110 |
| Universal literacy coaches | $110 |
| Single Shepherds | $110 |
| Occupational and physical therapists | $95 |
| School nurses | $95 |
| Lab specialists | $85 |
| School secretaries | $60 |
James, I seem to remember it being $250 many years ago. I also remember it being $0.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have a list of Teacher's choice allotments over the years?
It hasn't been zero in many years. It was $250 last year. $250 is the least DOE can do for supplies considering how we are still waiting for retroactive salary until 2020 for we work we did in 2009 and City surplus for 2019 exceeded $4 billion.
ReplyDeleteJames I think you should look in the hours the DOE expects us to work next Tues and Wednesday
ReplyDeleteExplain please.
ReplyDeleteWe received word today that Tues we work a regular day that includes the extended time, now according to the contract it says when school is in session. I don’t think school is in session next Tuesday? For the last several years the first 2 days have always been PD days 6 hrs 50 minutes. I don’t know what happened?
ReplyDeleteOn Tuesdays when school is in session there will be a 75-minute block immediately following the conclusion of the school day that consists of 40-minutes for Parent Engagement activities as set forth below in section c of this section B(1), immediately followed by a 35 minute block of time for Other Professional Work as set forth section d of this section B(1). If less than the entire 40-minute block of time is taken up by Parent Engagement activities, then the time will be utilized for Other Professional Work as set forth Section D of this Article.
ReplyDeleteTo me next Tuesday school is NOT in session? Maybe I'm wrong there are empty seats disguised as children.
Article 6B1d: On citywide professional development days the workday shall be 6 hours and 50 minutes.
ReplyDeleteIf Tuesday is neither a day when school is in session or a citywide professional development day, then what is it? Please ask your DR or VP. Thanks and tell us the answer.
DR says we have to stay all day including the extended time. The union is very soft on this issue. It also happens on the June Clerical day. I’m a big union supporter and I’ would never leave the union but if you have a contract you should honor the provisions of it?
ReplyDeleteAll of my 430 art students are looking forward to the massive $250.00 that I will be able to spend on them for supplies.
ReplyDeleteJames, the problem is that nobody actually knows what type of day Tuesday is considered. It's not an instructional Tuesday, so we really shouldn't be staying for parent engagement and OPW-it should be a regular 6 hour, 20 minute day. We didn't have this issue last year, because we only had one day before the kids came, they called it a Chancellor's day and it was 6 hours and 50 mins.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I heard from the Queens CL meeting yesterday, the DOE and UFT are making this up as they go along. It seems we will be staying the extra 75 minutes, but nobody can really justify why.
Go to VP and/or grieve and ask for remedy to be payment for extra time. If entire school or at least a group of teachers grieves, that gives you safety in numbers. This is organizing.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, the UFT drops the ball on EVERYTHING!
ReplyDeleteBecause the contract means nothing, which is why I'm not paying. You made my point.
ReplyDeleteSame comment all the time. Once again you fail to show where dropping the UFT helps anyone but you. I ask again: Where have workers done better when they drop their union en masse? UFT can get away with doingnothing on time issue because members as a group will not grieve. Stopping the long days when kids are not there could be done if enough members grieved for pay.
ReplyDeleteIt wont help, it will be the same. I ask again, what have my dues gotten me other than abuse, disrespect and chest pain, while waiting 11 years for retro and 1% raises.
ReplyDelete$100,000+ per year salary, no premium health benefits, a pension, paid sabbaticals and more. Teachers without a union getting that? No way.
ReplyDeleteThey cant even get straight what our work time is yet for this Tuesday and Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteReceived an email from DR both Tuesday and Wednesday are 6 hr 50 min days. I don't understand why this has to happen? The union very soft on this issue.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny. I called our wonderful union on Tuesday to ask how long the work day would be for elementary teachers would be on Tues 9/3.I held for 15 min and spoke to the UFT conceige. I spoke with both employees and a supervisor who told me to contact my principal to find out the answer to my question. I said I called my union because it is a contractual question and not up to the principal. They then stated they know nothing about our contract. A complete joke our union employs a service to do their job and they are just as useless as our union.
ReplyDeleteAlso, please keep in mind that it takes us several years to make 100k even WITH A MASTERS PLUS 30. True, no medical upfront but if you are sick or have a chronic sick child and the $30 copays and lab fees add up fast and eat up a chunk of my petty salary.
PS I still don't know what time I have to pick up my kid on Tuesday. The UFT rocks! Always has it's members best interests at heart. I feel SOO lucky that they have my back!
Many have called, all getting different answers.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Chaz says our fixed tda is simple interest, not compounding? Is this true? I had no idea. It makes s huge difference? Where is this stated?
ReplyDeleteANNO 10:49. I think you should copy and paste/post your email that you got from your district rep stating that Tue and Wed are days that last 6hrs and 50 mins. That way we can share it with everybody who does not know when to get out of school on those days.
ReplyDeleteTDA compounded yearly not every quarterly. Makes a difference but not enormous. Was it ever compounded more often than yearly? Don't remember.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a lot in, makes a big difference. Seems misleading to me. Got fucked out of 8.25%, and now this.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to calculate this over many years? Is it just a simple interest calculator vs compounding interest calculator.
ReplyDeleteI KNEW IT AND I AM BEYOND PISSED!!!-Our principal just sent out an email regarding observations. She is NOT CHANGING the observation format that the DOE has been using for years. Tenured teachers at my school still have to choose 4 informal observations or 1 formal observation and 3 informal observations. The friggin' UFT contract says that tenured teachers only have to have a "minimum" of 2 informal observations this year. However, that is just the "minimum". Our principal is going above the minimum and he has every right to do this. To say that I am livid is an understatement. There is no way to grieve this. We are fucked and the UFT agreed to this. I knew it was going to happen and it did. I bet a ton of principals are going to be doing the same thing.I am now going to put up a retirement chart in my office and count the days. This job has turned to utter shit.
ReplyDelete300k current balance for 20 years, difference is hundreds of thousands of dollars.
ReplyDeletewell we got thurs and friday back for the 1.25%
ReplyDeletethat was the deal(remember that ?)
admins still go in pre labor day thats why they get 8.2.25 and we dont.
this is nyc - you aint getting something for nothing around here.
City is saving $2 billion for those two days before Labor Day that we got back to go from 8.25% to 7% on fixed TDA. The fact that administration still works before Labor Day is largely irrelevant because the Professional Staff Congress (CUNY Professor union) is also in the NYCTRS with us. They still get 8.25% on the TDA. They didn't give up a thing for that as far as I know. UFT leaders are almost always looking to concede.
ReplyDeleteThere you go contradicting yourself, saying how we always concede, but this is better than nothing? Nah, I'll keep my money. And yes, that 1.25% is a huge difference, we got royally screwed...Again.
ReplyDeleteAre you short on memory? We had those days off, we agreed to work, then we gave up the 1.25 to get them back.
ReplyDeleteNot short on memory. We gave the two days before Labor Day up to shorten summer vacation. The two days were to be used for staff development and to set up rooms. This was one of the more unpopular concessions from the 2005 "Givebacks r Us" contract. To get the two days added back to summer vacation in 2009, we agreed to reduce the interest on the TDA fixed from 8.25% to 7% and more givebacks. It saved the city $2 billion. The PSC never gave up the 8.25% nor did the CSA. Those are the other two unions who have members in the NYCTRS. It was a huge mistake to agree to give up the two days in 2005 and it was a bigger one to get them back for so little in return. Think of that as Randi Weingarten's parting gift to the city.
ReplyDeleteWe wrote about it at the time.
https://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/billion-dollar-days-off.html
Here are my exact words from 2009: "Close analysis of the agreement between the city and the UFT creating a new pension tier shows that the city has once again taken the UFT to the cleaners. While this is nothing new, it is still depressing when it happens over and over again."
Further down: "However, in yet another indignity, we will be forced to pay for our two days off at a rate of 1.08% in additional funding according to the agreement. .5% will come from lowering the interest rate on the fixed TDA from 8.25% to 7% and raising the amount of years future teachers must work before they can retire with health benefits from ten to fifteen."
My conclusion in 2009: "When you are enjoying those extra days (of summer vacation), just call them the billion dollar days. That's roughly the amount that each day will end up costing us in the long run. For that kind of gift, couldn't we get back just a little bit more of our professional dignity?"
My position has not changed ten years later.
So we agree, then, again, I ask, why should I pay $1600 and contribute to my own demise. It would be worse blah blah blah. Look at what the 1 example, just 1 example, costs me. 1.25% is many hundreds of thousands of dollars to just me...
ReplyDeleteTeachers are idiots so they cant figure out what 1.25% means. That destroyed, or at least made much worse, what was the most important part of the job.
ReplyDeleteKeep getting abused by the uft and smiling, see where that continues to get us. Retro held for 11 years, 1% raises, more expensive medical, the 1.25 costs the average person thousands a year, every year, compounding, over a lifetime. Not paying dues is nothing compared to all that we lost.
ReplyDeleteThink about as time goes on, as you accumulate more and more in the tda, 1.25 on 500k, 800k, 1M plus...Wow, what a destructive, self destructive negotiation...And nobody cares. That 1.25 difference is like adding another salary to your retirement.
ReplyDeleteAs they keep graduating HS unable to read and write..Yeah, great job. Keep coming in early, staying late, coming in during August to make your room pretty, all for free. Do electronic grades, 5 page lesson plans, we are being made fools of...
ReplyDeleteHow many are already complaining about too many observations, not getting class setup time and getting wrong work time for Tues and Wed? Not even first day yet. Keep earning that $62 per check uft. How many days till Mulgrew says "Off to a good start."
ReplyDeleteDont worry, retro in October, raise of 2.5% next May. Doesn't that make you feel better?
ReplyDelete