Professional activities

Most secondary school teachers and elementary school teachers in eight-period schools are programmed for a professional activity. (Teachers in elementary schools with eight periods are programmed for one professional period per week, while teachers in secondary schools have five professional periods per week.)

Each spring, following the timetable for indicating program preferences, teachers must select their preferred activity from a menu of options. The menu is fixed but if you want to participate in an activity not on the menu, you can do so if you get your principal’s permission.

Your choices

The menu will be made up of some, but not necessarily all, of the following activities:

0. Small group instruction (not exceeding 10 students)
0. One-to-one tutoring
0. Advising student activities such as clubs, teams or publications
0. Performing student assessment activities
0. Professional development, or preparing training workshops and demonstration lessons
0. Common planning time
0. Conflict resolution for students
0. Cafeteria duty
0. Schoolyard duty
0. Hallway duty
0. AM bus duty
0. PM bus duty
0. Homeroom
0. Providing interdisciplinary articulation
0. Developing multicultural curriculum
0. Developing programs to integrate technology into the daily life of the classroom

Before drawing up the menu for your particular school, the principal must consult with the chapter leader about the qualifications and responsibilities for each menu item and the number of positions available for each activity. If your principal does not do this, the chapter leader should file an appeal with the chancellor and if that appeal is denied, to the city Office of Labor Relations.

At the principal’s discretion, the menu of options may be expanded to include other professional activities. The chapter must then vote on an SBO to include those activities.

Assignment process

If you are a teacher with a professional period in your program, you must choose three activities, in rank order of preference, from the list that your principal gives you.

The principal will assign professional activities based on the established criteria and the availability of positions. If two candidates are equally qualified, the principal should select the teacher who has worked in the school for the longest time. If you are not given one of your top three choices, you must select three additional menu items.

Before the end of the current school year, your principal must notify you in writing as to which professional activity you have been assigned for the following school year.

Your principal is forbidden from assigning you to more than one professional activity, as stipulated in an independent arbitrator’s previous decision.

Unless your activity puts you in a specific place at a specific time, your professional period is self-directed, meaning that you just have to complete the assignment.

Administrative assignments

If the principal assigns you (whether voluntarily or involuntarily) to an administrative assignment such as lunchroom, hall or yard duty, you cannot be assigned to any administrative duty for the following year, unless you voluntarily agree to it. All involuntary administrative assignments must be made by the principal on a rotational basis in inverse seniority order.

If you are new to the school system or at risk of receiving a U-rating, the principal can assign you to either professional development or common planning. This assignment will be your professional activity, regardless of your preference.

Middle school teachers performing homeroom duty fulfill the requirement of the professional period.

Teachers serving as athletic coaches or in compensatory time positions such as dean, programmer and grade advisor may use their professional activity to further the work of those positions.