News for School Counselors

The largest school district in the nation has an unacceptably low number of buildings that are accessible for students with disabilities.

The Department of Education employs many types of educators and professionals who work with New York City public school students in a variety of ways, from providing occupational therapy to adapting computers for special needs children. Here is how the UFT represents them.

Janet Caba is a college counselor at West Bronx Academy for the Future, a small Grade 6–12 school where each year she helps the graduating class of about 50 students make decisions about their higher education.

The overriding theme of the proposed DOE-UFT contract agreement is empowering educators to fight for the working conditions they need to do their jobs.

Two longtime UFT legends stepped down as officers of the union and their replacements were voted in by the Executive Board on Sept. 24. Mel Aaronson, who served as treasurer of the union since 1998, will be replaced by pension trustee Debra Penny, while Mary Jo Ginese, until recently the leader of the Supervisors of Nurses and Therapists Chapter, will take over for Carmen Alvarez, who has been the vice president for special education since 1990. 


If you are the designated liaison for your school's Child Abuse Prevention and Intervention Team, you're required to attend a training by Oct. 31. Take a look at the training dates.

Don't miss this year's guidance expo on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The first UFT School Counselors Recognition Ceremony on June 12 at the union’s Brooklyn borough office honored 18 school counselors for the critical role they play in the lives of many of the city’s more than one million students. 


High school seniors in public schools who are of Hispanic/Latino heritage and have parents or guardians who are union members are eligible to apply for a $1,000 scholarship from the AFT.