PRINCIPAL TELLS UFT CHAPTER HE WILL BE FORCED TO CUT SPECIAL PROGRAM IF TEACHERS WIN GRIEVANCE TO GET SPECIAL PER SESSION PAY THEY ARE ENTITILED TO

Teachers who exert their rights in NYC risk all kinds of retaliation including losing cherished school programs. In one high school in Queens, administration for years has underpaid teachers who took on an extra teaching class, and now that a new Chapter Leader is fighting for them to be compensated as per the UFT Contract, the school is saying they will lose a popular program.

Teachers in secondary schools are contractually permitted to volunteer to teach an extra class for a special per session rate of $7,278 per term. The administration at this particular school, however, has argued that since the subject area where they have many openings is not a shortage area, they have the option to pay teachers at a reduced coverage rate of $45.38 per class.

This school has about five full teacher vacancies in one non-shortage area department so it means over 20 classes have to be covered. Traditionally, the administration has lowballed the teachers by offering the $45 coverage rate which if a teacher covers the class for the entire term, would amount to $3,857 for the term. Teachers are shortchanged around $3,400 per semester. That is called cheating the teachers. It is outrageous. Remember, coverages are supposed to be paid for an absent teacher. They are not for filling vacancies for a semester. What's even more depressing is the UFT has not been able to stop this practice.

For years, teachers at this school, and I gather many others, have been losing grievances because there is an annual Department of Education memo that says schools "may" pay special per session pay for non-shortage area classes that are covered for the term. To the DOE it is up to the goodwill of the principal to pay the proper rate. We, unfortunately, have too many principals who if given the choice will cheat the teachers and spend the extra money elsewhere. The UFT has taken the DOE to arbitration but we have been told they have neglected to introduce a different DOE document that makes our case very strong. 

This is from page 8 of Circular 6R from 1997-98, available on the UFT website:

Notice it says non-shortage area licenses can use the professional period for teaching a sixth class. It doesn't say the principal then has a choice to pay the shortage area pay rate. The language is: "They shall be compensated in accordance with Article 7-O (Shortage License Areas)." I checked to make sure Article 7A10j (for high schools) and Article 7B11j (for middle schools) were still in the current Contract. I am happy to report that Randi Weingarten did not give those two provisions away in 2005 when she gave away so much else. I was astonished that the UFT was not prepared to use this non-shortage area provision of Circular 6R in their arbitration grievance presentation on the sixth class. However, the new Chapter Leader at this school asked us for help and we easily found the document. It was given to a UFT rep and the UFT is now prepared to make this a precedent-setting arbitration.

Approximately 20 teachers at this school have climbed on board and filed grievances saying they want to be paid at the proper special per session rate of $7,278 per term for teaching an extra class, not at the cut-rate coverage pay.

How has the Principal responded?

You guessed it if you said that he would threaten to kill the school's most popular program because he will have to pay the teachers what they are contractually entitled to so he would have to cut funding somewhere else. He claims he won't have enough money left to run the popular program. The Principal is out there blaming the UFT for attempting to kill a program that nobody wants to see die. In reality, it is the Department of Education that won't properly fund their top programs so teachers can be paid properly for their work. 

My guess is that the sixth-period provision is being abused by principals all over the place to cheat teachers out of their rightful pay for teaching an extra class. We recommend that this Principal work with the UFT to secure adequate funding to pay teachers what they are entitled to by the Contract and also to have funds left to run all of the school's special programs. Teachers wanting to be fairly compensated for their work is not the problem and they should not be guilted into accepting less money.

Elect Camille Eterno and United for Change and all kinds of garbage like this will be publicly exposed as soon as we are made aware of what's going on. No more coddling the DOE.