United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew told members on a Wednesday phone call that the union is pushing for some sort of compensation now that teachers are expected to work through most of spring break.
Educators found out late Tuesday that their vacation was cut to only two days, after an executive order issued by the governor required schools to keep up with instruction amid a statewide school shutdown to stem the new coronavirus.
In New York City, school was originally scheduled to be out from April 9-17, a total of seven school days. Instead, teachers and students will be off only April 9-10, returning to class a week early.
“I told the chancellor: Look, there has to be a real conversation about how we’re going to be compensated for this week. And he assured me we would definitely get to a real conversation about how we’re going to do that,” Mulgrew said. “This is now part of our work year.”
The union would not answer questions about what kind of compensation it is seeking for teachers, but teachers could face an uphill battle given the economic outlook for the city and state are grim.
The state is facing a projected loss of at least $10 billion in revenue, and it remains to be seen how New York City’s budget will shake out amid historic unemployment and a virtual shutdown of the local economy.