At PS 397A in Crown Heights, a thriving, upbeat school where 450 children in neatly pressed uniforms are enrolled in grades K-5, the UFT president visited classrooms and spoke with teachers about their concerns and how their students were doing academically.

"It's not because New York is my hometown," she said later in a chapter committee meeting run by Chapter Leader Coreen McPherson.  "It's just that we do an extraordinary job compared to other cities with similar circumstances.  And New York City schools have life.  You can feel it as soon as you walk in the door."

Feldman asked committee members what help they needed to do their jobs better, and answered questions on issues ranging from reading curriculum to per-session payment policies.  She discussed the need for fixing school buildings, a task that would be facilitated by passing the bond issue on November's ballot, and assured members that the UFT was continuing the fight to pass the tier enhancement bill.

She also talked at length about the union's role in improving early-grade literacy.

Feldman said Project Read - a city-funded early-intervention program for primary  grade students having trouble reading - is crucial not only because it's essential for all kids to read well, but because as public schools increasingly come under attack and the satisfaction level of some parents slips, e must improve public schools.

Parents are more than satisfied with PS 161, the school Feldman visited next.  They're proud of what has been dubbed "the jewel of Crown Heights," a school that has defied the image of the downtrodden, inner-city school.

The 1,348-student, K-8 school - where 97 percent of students are eligible for the federal free lunch program - has the highest test scores in District 17.  The math and reading scores dwarf the city's averages.  Teachers pour their lives into their pupils.  Children vie to become members of the Principal's Reading Club, parental involvement is high, and there's a studious, engaged atmosphere among the children, all in the crisp yellow shirts that are part of their uniforms.

"This is an example of what can happen when you have a combination of talented teachers working well together, an enlightened principal and a dynamic chapter leader," said Feldman, who visited the school to congratulate teachers, students, the principal, Chapter Leader Robert Isler and staff on creating a model school that is capturing national attention.

"It can be done; it is being done," Feldman said.  "Nor is it a matter of kids doing well 'despite the neighborhood they live in,' as it's often put.  Given the right learning environment, every child can be educated.

"At both schools, teachers are saying that students are doing better academically.  It confirms a sense I have that citywide, kids are doing better.  Certainly a good budget helps.  But it can't just be a one-time infusion of money.  This is just the beginning of what must be an ongoing commitment."