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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Mary Vaccaro, Vice President of Education and Executive Director of the Teacher Center at United Federation of Teachers
4:34:12
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144 sec
Mary Vaccaro, representing the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), presented on the UFT Teacher Center's work in providing professional development for educators. She highlighted the expansion of teacher centers in city schools and requested additional funding to continue and expand their work.
- The UFT Teacher Center has increased from 15 sites in 2021 to over 210 sites, providing over 125,000 hours of professional development annually.
- They have been involved in the rollout of the New York City Reads initiative and supporting the new math curriculum.
- Vaccaro requested $6,500,000 in speaker funds and $4,120,000 in city council funding to expand their work, particularly in providing social and emotional support for students.
Mary Vaccaro
4:34:12
Good afternoon.
4:34:13
On behalf I'm Mary Vaccaro, vice president of education and executive director of the Teacher Center.
4:34:18
On behalf of our over 190,000 members of the United Federation of Teachers, we thank you Chair Joseph and the entire Education Committee for granting us this time to present our initiatives.
4:34:31
For over forty five years, the UFT teacher center has provide cutting edge, high quality professional development for our educators.
4:34:39
Thanks due to the funding for the city council, we now have supported well over 210 teacher centers embedded throughout our city schools, an 80% increase from the 15 sites in 2021.
4:34:54
Each of our sites has experienced UFT teacher center coaches who provide professional development, one on one support to teachers on topics of their choosing.
4:35:04
This allows teachers to constantly hone their craft and to reach their students effectively.
4:35:09
In addition to their on-site work, the teacher center holds sold out seminars in person, online, and hybrid settings.
4:35:17
These seminars close out because they're focused on what teachers wanna know and they're interactive, vibrant and engaging and many leave with the materials that they need.
4:35:27
Together, the UFT teacher centers annually provide over a hundred and twenty five thousand hours transformative professional development for over 317,000 educators in all titles.
4:35:40
Over the past two years, this work has include playing an integral part in the rollout of the New York City Reads initiative and supporting the new math curriculum.
4:35:49
We have district coaches and field staff embedded in schools year round who provide implementation support to teachers as they navigate the new curricular.
4:35:58
These coaches help educators dig deeper into the units of study and assessments.
4:36:03
This important work is why we are asking $6,500,000 in speaker funds and $4,120,000 in city council funding.
4:36:13
We want to expand this work and continue to ensure that educators are prepared to provide the social and emotional supports their students need to address these challenging times.
4:36:24
Many students have experienced trauma or new arrivals in this city.
4:36:29
We equip educators with a culturally responsive toolkit that enables them to reach all types of students.
4:36:35
Thank you.