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Mulgrew: Class-size law ‘not a negotiation’
UFT President Michael Mulgrew reminded the Delegate Assembly on May 17 that the new state class-size law will begin to be implemented in September, and that there is no excuse for schools to fail to fulfill the mandate.
Kudos to Maria Ponciano, PS 280, Queens
Maria Ponciano, the chapter leader at PS 280 in Jackson Heights, uses social media, email, WhatsApp, Google Slides and other technology to keep her members engaged and informed.
Making educators’ work visible
As part of their fight for a fair contract, educators across the city on March 30 set out to make their heavy workload visible to their school communities and to the city during a citywide grade-in.
Kudos to Kristin Golat-Defendis, MS 51, Brooklyn
Kristin Golat-Defendis, the chapter leader at MS 51 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, stood up to an abusive principal. On Jan. 30, 2023, the principal was transferred out of the school.
Kudos to David Ephross, PS/IS 308, Brooklyn
David Ephross secured much-needed bathroom repairs at PS/IS 308 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, after repeated requests to the principal were unheeded.
Life lessons
Jenna Marrazzo, a second-year teacher at PS 42 on Staten Island, stepped up in her first year on the job to support and advise the school's newly invigorated student council, which had gone dormant during the pandemic.
Pink is for support and remembrance
UFT members across the city were proud to wear pink on “Pink Day,” Oct. 12, the second Wednesday in October, to raise awareness about breast cancer, celebrate survivors and remember colleagues lost to the disease.
One stride at a time
UFT members in all five boroughs and on Long Island participated in this year’s American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks on three separate weekends in October, raising thousands of dollars for breast cancer research...
Ex-Bronx chapter leader gets justice
An administrative law judge has ruled that Bronx teacher Brenda Cartagena had been the victim of retaliation by her school’s principal for standing up for her members’ rights as school chapter leader.
Delegates decry deadly school shooting
Americans were still reeling on May 25, a day after the carnage in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old brandishing automatic weapons shot and killed 19 elementary school children and two of their teachers. And emotions were still raw among the union...