GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

state of the union

August 30, 2010

Teachers union coffers take a hit as membership drops

by Anna Phillips, at 5:04 pm
picture-32

With fewer dues-paying members, the United Federation of Teachers is renting out space in its downtown headquarters to help cover its operating costs. (Photo via Flickr)

The bags of swag at the city teachers union’s regular conferences might be lighter this year, the catered dinners less lavish. The recession has caught up with the union and it’s beginning to cut back.

Hit with the combination of a two-year hiring freeze and typical teacher attrition, the United Federation of Teachers has lost roughly 2,000 members in the last year. With them has gone about $2 million in dues.

On top of the membership decline, the union is now funding programs that the state used to support. This year, the state legislature cut all $16 million of its funding for the Teacher Center, a professional development program that trains teachers at over a hundred city schools. To keep a cut-back version of the program going, the UFT has had to kick in $5 million of its own money.

“In many respects, you can say the economy caught up to us,” said the union’s Chief Financial Officer David Hickey. “We’ve done okay in the last couple of years. And so it did, it got us.”

At the same time that it’s losing members and dues money, the union’s political fund is the largest it’s been in 10 years. But the millions it has set aside to wield its influence through campaign contributions can’t be used to cover its operating costs.

To remain in the black, the union has had to renegotiate all of its contracts with vendors and cut back on how much it spends on conferences and other extras. In past years, the UFT hosted an annual parents conference at the Hilton Hotel in November. This year, parents will convene at the union’s less glamorous borough offices.

The union is also cutting some employees’ hours by as much as 20 percent. With more teachers choosing to work past the retirement age due to the poor economy, the UFT needs fewer people to answer questions about pensions or consult on retirement, Hickey said.

“We’re not necessarily cutting things out, but we’re cutting back,” he said. “No full time person was laid off.”

In an effort to bring in new revenue, the UFT is leasing out space in its headquarters in Lower Manhattan. In about a week, a new high school, the Manhattan Academy for Arts & Language, will open on the building’s fifth floor.

Though the union has been able to make small cuts, city officials have warned that next year they may have little choice but to lay off more teachers, costing the union more members.

Hickey wouldn’t speculate about what steps the UFT would take then. “We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it,” he said.

Print Print
  • http://nyceducator.com NYC Educator

    Wow. Kinda makes ya wonder how much we’d have saved if they hadn’t sent 800 people to genuflect before Bill Gates.

  • http://www.anurbanteacherseducation.com The Reflective Educator

    Excellent point, NYC Educator.  It also makes you wonder why they don’t axe luxuries during good economic times and use the money for something useful.

  • philip nobile

    Anyone who attended bi-weekly Executive Committee meetings at 52 Broadway knows about the feast of delicious hot dishes and desserts that attendees gorged on. I onced asked the chef what happened to the considerable leftovers. I was thinking that the excess was donated to the homeless. Surely, the food did not go to waste. “We throw it out,” the chef replied.
    My money-saving solution: switch the meeting time to 4:15 instead of 6pm and offer the same fruit and soft drinks meted out at Delegates Assemblies.

  • Sean Doyle

    taking 800 people 3000 miles was an affront to rank and file trade unionism

  • JohnG

    Here are a few questions; where are the 2000 teachers who were teaching students? How many of them are in charter schools, and how many of them are just gone from the classroom?
    And which classrooms have they gone from? Are there less teachers in the primary grades (if so, which ones?) or less in the secondary grades (which disciplines have they gone from?) How has this affected class sizes?

    Would anyone care to try to see if any of this may be part of the cause for the recent increase in the achievement gap we’re hearing so much about in the press this summer? I mean, personally, I’d like to see headlines in the papers reading “INCREASE IN THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP FOUND TO BE CAUSED BY FEWER TEACHERS IN THE CLASSROOM”, but I know that’s a bit too easy and just a tad subjective.
    But how subjective, exactly?

  • Michael Fiorillo

    Sean Doyle,

    And taking those 800 loyalty oath signers 3000 to cheer Bill Gates was equivalent to spitting in the eye of every teacher in the country.

  • http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/ norm

    With the lifting of the charter school cap watch for the UFT to lose more members to charters. And with the cuts coming see if Unity still offers perks – like those elaborate chapter leaders training weekend sessions in Princeton – a major area of recruitment into Unity.

    It was over 800 people sent to Seattle. They took staff and had guests. They each received around $1750- $2000 to cover expenses. A hundred dollars a day in meal money – and there were so many free vendor parties and meals we who paid our own way didn’t have to spend all that much on food.
    And watch those yearly NYSUT conventions where the same 800 get to play – this past April they went to Wash DC. Even when they hold it at the Hilton in NYC all 800 get to stay at the hotel on our dime.

    And David Hickey – the LM-2 UFT reports lists his whopper salary.

    Check how many UFT staffers make over $150,000.

    Would it surprise anyone to see them try to sneak through a dues increase at the rubber stamp delegate assembly?

  • Peter

    1. The sale of the three former UFT building on 20th street/Park Ave S and the purchase of 50/52 Broadway shortly after 9/11 gained the UFT very substantial long term tax write-offs.

    2. Every year thousands of teacher leave the system, leaves of absence, retirements, resignations etc., between 4-6,000 each year. The budget cuts are reflected in individual school budgets. For example, if 6,000 left, 4,000 would be replaced.

    3. The school system gains and loses students from year to year, resulting in the gain or loss of teachers.

    4. 30,000 out of 1.1 million kids are in charter schools.

    5. With the opening of 50/52 Broadway and the upgrading of borough offices many meetings/training sessions now use these buildings instead of rented space.

    6. AFT conventions are held in even number year (next in 2012 in Detroit), NYSUT conventions annually, I agree, they should follow the AFT format.

Tips, questions, feedback?

Contact us at .

Follow GothamSchools

RSS

Chalk It Up

Recent Comments

0 comments so far today
View all comments »

Events Calendar

RSS Feeds

Newsroom posts Community posts All GothamSchools content

Our Twitter Updates

Archives

February 2012
M T W T F S S
« Jan  
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
272829  

Copyright Notice