The Work of Unity: Then and Now

Retired teacher, activist and UFT Officer David Sherman reflects on his work with Unity Caucus - from the creation of Teacher Centers and Teachers Choice to the establishment of Mid-Winter Recess

After teaching in Brownsville, Bed-Sty, East Harlem and Fort Greene, I eventually was recruited in 1980 by Al Shanker and Sandy Feldman to “build an educational arm,” for the UFT. They believed that the responsibility of the union was to support members in terms of salary and working conditions and equally to ensure high quality education for every student in every community. I became the first at-large vice president of the UFT (now referred to as “Education VP’) and served in that capacity for 13 years until I retired from the UFT in 2004 and went to work for the American Federation of Teachers nationally.

Over the years, as active Unity leaders, we worked tirelessly to achieve those goals. Many of you are probably unaware that so many of the services and benefits we have that arose from those struggles. The list is so long so I will only point out some highlights:

• Teacher Centers (which once had 320 school- based sites paid for by districts, not UFT)

• Dial-A-Teacher and Parent Outreach (originally funded by a federal grant and then by NYC Council)

• Freedom from Lesson Plan guidelines

• Peer Intervention Program for struggling teachers

• New Teacher Orientation (started in 1988)

• School Based Options (SBOs)

• Chancellor’s District (which saved over 50 schools from closing)

• Teacher’s Choice

• Mid-winter Recess (This did not exist until mid-90s)

• 5 preparation periods a week for every teacher

• First initiative to reduce class sizes

• Expedited class size grievance process

We fought on every level - DOE, City Council, contract negotiations, mediation, federal guidelines, state policies and laws, arbitration, and more. In every case, it was those organizations that paid for these programs, not members’ dues.

The UFT became sought out by other unions, school districts, elected officials and foreign countries to visit so many of the innovations we initiated, either on our own or in our many collaborations with the DOE, non-profit organizations, cultural leaders, government officials and colleges and universities. We had visitors from all over weekly. It was quite a time!

Don’t forget what your union and its Unity leadership have done for you. As tough as teaching is now, it would have been a lot more difficult without the work of those who built the UFT