In the week since the teachers union president, Randi Weingarten, strolled into the Blue Room at City Hall alongside Mayor Bloomberg to herald a long-awaited contract deal, she has barely stopped to recuperate from the seven straight days of negotiations that led to the pre-dawn handshake.

Because Ms. Weingarten must convince the union’s 100,000 members to ratify the contract, she has been dashing to schools across the five boroughs, e-mailing teachers, and in general doing all she can to push the proposal.

She could clear a hurdle tomorrow afternoon, when the delegate assembly gathers to vote at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Brooklyn. The union’s executive board overwhelmingly approved the proposal in a meeting Thursday night and approval tomorrow would take the vote to the final stage, a secret ballot sent to all 100,000 members.

Even if Ms. Weingarten expects her members to ultimately approve the contract, it is likely that the curse of 1995 is weighing on her mind.

In December of that year, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, the late Sandra Feldman, negotiated a five-year contract with Mayor Giuliani. In a surprise move, that contract was shot down by the full membership even after both the executive board and the delegate assembly approved it.

Months later, the membership approved an almost identical contract, but only after Ms. Feldman had put on a full court press, meeting with teachers and chapter leaders across the city before the vote.

Thus, after taking a day off last week for the Jewish holidays, Ms. Weingarten jumped right back into the fray.

“A union leader that takes a ratification vote for grated is an idiot,” a political consultant, Norman Adler, said. “She’s doing what smart union leaders do: They rally the troops to vote for the contract.”

While many teachers are grumbling that, under the new contract, they will have to return to school two days earlier, work 50 minutes longer a week, and lose the ability to challenge negative evaluations, many look forward to the 15% pay hike and retroactive bonuses that are due to arrive before the winter break.

Mr. Adler said that even if there’s “a little grumbling in the ranks,” he expects that the members will ratify the contract.

Under the proposal, a starting salary for a new teacher would swell to $42,512 from $39,000. The maximum teacher salary would hit $93,416, up from $81,232. Teachers would also receive a retroactive paycheck, based on seniority, ranging from $2,819 to $5,771.

In a letter e-mailed to teachers last week, Ms. Weingarten touted the 15% total raise over 52 months and the retroactive pay, which is 65% higher than a state arbitration panel had recommended.

“Thank you for participating in this fight,” the letter read. “Your help and support have made the difference – particularly in this national climate of anti-union hostility.”