Q: Who are the United Teachers of Seaford? A: The UTS is the exclusive negotiating agent for more than 200 teaching professionals at Seaford School District on Long Island, NY. UTS is affiliated with NYSUT, AFT, and AFL-CIO. Q: How can I contact The United Teachers of Seaford? A: The mailing address can be found at the bottom of the home page. E-mail links to any member of the Executive Board can be found on the Executive Board web page. For questions about this web site, please contact the webmaster. Q: How do I become a member of the Executive Board? A: Every September, building representatives are elected for a one-year term, and in June, all officer positions are elected for a two-year term. All UTS members are encouraged to run for these positions. Q: How can I become more active in the Union? A: UTS encourages all of its members to be active and participate in any way possible. Each month the Executive Board meets to discuss ways to increase our visibility through various Public Relation Campaigns. Each of the campaigns require a committee of members to be successful. So we NEED your help! You can find out about such committees at your monthly faculty meetings or you can contact your representatives directly. You can also contact you building rep. with any ideas that you think would benefit the union. Q: Where can I obtain information about medical, dental, optical and legal benefits? A: The UTS Trust Fund handles such benefits. Be sure to visit their web page. Q: What does it mean for a teacher to have tenure? A: Basically, tenure means "due process." It means that once teachers successfully complete a probationary period, school boards and their administrators must follow a formal, legal process to discipline or dismiss them. The probationary period for new teachers is three years. However, previously tenured teachers looking to work in other New York State districts or transfer their tenure areas in the same district must complete an additional two-year probation. The procedure, spelled out in Section 3020-A of state education law, provides tenured teachers with a system of due process, giving them the right to answer charges that have been brought against them. Conduct or conditions that may constitute just cause for discipline or discharge of a tenured teacher include misconduct, incompetence, insubordination, physical or mental disability, neglect of duty or lack of a teaching certificate. A tenured teacher can be dismissed if found guilty of any of these charges. Q: What is VOTE/COPE? A: VOTE-COPE is New York State United Teachers' voluntary political action fund, which pools contributions from members across the state to support local school budgets and pro-education candidates. It also supports political action on behalf of education, health care and labor issues. UTS's Vote-Cope Chairperson is Chris Feiler in the Manor School. Q: What is NYSUT? A: New York State United Teachers is over 600,000 people who work in, or are retired from, New York's schools, colleges, and healthcare facilities. Classroom teachers, college and university faculty and professional staff, school bus drivers, custodians, secretaries, cafeteria workers, teacher assistants and aides, nurses and healthcare technicians are the groups that NYSUT represents. NYSUT is a federation of more than 900 local unions, each representing its own members. It is part of the American Federation of Teachers, the fastest growing union in the United States. It is also part of organized labor - the AFL-CIO - and of Education International, with more than 20 million members world wide. Q: What is the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)? A: The AFT pioneered the organization of professionals, and as a result of its drive for collective bargaining for teachers in the 1960s, it paved the way for the unionization of other public sector and professional employees. These groups have joined the AFT because of its democratic spirit and structure, its competence in serving their interests through collective bargaining, and its participation in the labor movement. Each AFT constituency shares common goals of professional development, empowerment at work, and building more effective institutions for the people it serves. In addition to its teacher members, the AFT represents paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, higher education faculty and staff, public employees, and nurses and other health care professionals.
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