Presents Priorities
UFT Urges Albany: Preserve Funding

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

United Federation of Teachers leaders met with state legislators Jan. 29 to press their demands to rescind Governor Spitzer's cuts to city education funding as well as a host of other legislative priorities.

Of top concern to the union is that the education money promised last year be restored and funneled through a budget category known as the Contracts For Excellence. The CFE money must be spent on low-performing, high-needs schools in five areas, including reducing class size, a long-time priority for the UFT.

Top Legislators Spoke

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith all spoke at the UFT's annual legislative breakfast meeting. UFT President Randi Weingarten accompanied other UFT officials to smaller group meetings with legislators after the morning session at Albany's Tree Restaurant.

"We recognize that Gov. Spitzer has tried to meet his commitment to public education," stated a pamphlet handed out to all the breakfast attendees. "But we believe that, even in times of economic hardship, our children should be held harmless. That means budgeting the full amount that was agreed to last April in that historic Campaign for Fiscal Equity agreement between the Governor and the Legislature."

UFT officials are also concerned that the mandates for class-size reduction, set by the state and agreed to by the city last fall, were formulated as citywide averages instead of class size by school and grade. The law imposes limits of 20 students in kindergarten through third grade and 23 students in higher grades. '''Citywide average' is the sticking point in a city as large and diverse as ours because, in some overcrowded neighborhoods it allows youngsters to continue to be jammed into unconscionably large classes," UFT officials argue in the pamphlet. "And it makes enforcement - in this instance the accountability measure - immensely difficult."

The union is also lobbying to get more funding to expand the Career and Technical Education programs, which provide vocational training for high school students.

Stopping Violence

In addition to increased funds for professional development, UFT officials want more money to enforce the Schools Against Violence Education Act. They estimate that staffing a SAVE room in every school, where disruptive students are supervised, would cost about $140 million, much more than the $20 million allocated by the city.

The UFT is continuing to push for universal pre-kindergarten, emphasizing that working parents need all-day pre-k, and often cannot utilize the half-day programs currently funded by the state.

Outside of education-related issues, UFT officials are lobbying for Taylor Law reform, alongside most city unions, noting that a measure vetoed in 2006 would have been a modest but important step forward. The bill would have imposed a six-month deadline on negotiations followed by state intervention with penalties for not bargaining in good faith.

Unionizing Protection

The labor officials note that Teachers at charter schools often face a backlash for trying to unionize. They want the law that governs city unions changed so that the burden of proof shifts from the employee to the employer to prove that union activity was not an impetus for firing.

Central to the UFT's agenda will also be the passage of pension reform, allowing current members to retire at age 55 after 25 years of service if they increase their pension contributions. The city agreed to the shift last fall and there is significant support in Albany for the bill, which is purported to be cost-free to the government.