Educators Speak Out at NYC Labor Day Parade
This year, teachers nationwide are raising their voices outside of the classroom. From Arizona to West Virginia, teachers are striking over low pay and poor working conditions. In Connecticut, Jahana Hayes, the 2016 National Teacher of the Year, is running to become the state’s first African-American Democratic congresswoman.
New York City teachers are pushing many of the same issues, though they have not gone on strike, due to a 1967 law which prohibits public employees from striking. City teachers have not participated in a strike in the last 40 years.
But that doesn’t stop New York City educators and school staff from speaking out.
On Saturday, 1,200 United Federation of Teachers union members wore their cobalt blue-and-white UFT T-shirts to march up Fifth Avenue in celebration of their union.
One of those educators was Siu Chia, a paraprofessional who teaches special-education students at P.S. 506 in Brooklyn.

I came from a third world country, Malaysia,” Chia said. “In my country, we have no unions. With UFT, we have a voice.”
Chia said that as the union representative at her school, she has become knowledgeable about rights listed in her contract — and what is not in the contract between the Department of Education and the union.
“Teachers do everything that they ask us to do, but we don’t have to do that,” Chia said. “I can talk to my principal, say, ‘This is the contract,’ and sometimes, they also don’t know.”
Laura Parker, 70 years old, is a retired teacher who worked with students with special needs at Eleanor Roosevelt High School for 42 years.

Parker said that one of the top issues that teachers face is helping students with special needs deal with standardized testing.
“They are never going to be able to pass those tests,” Parker said. “They should make a test for them, according to their level.”
While contract negotiations are underway, UFT President Michael Mulgrew said he is working on finding solutions where schools can be more collaborative and give teachers the tools they need to succeed.

“We deal with the largest, most diverse, most challenging school population in the country,” Mulgrew said in an interview. “We’re not going to get it done the old way.”

