UFT President Michael Mulgrew and other union officers gathered at the Corning Tower Observation Deck in Albany on Jan. 28 to discuss the union’s 2019 legislative priorities with state lawmakers. Mulgrew called on the lawmakers to increase state school aid by $2.2 billion while shifting more funds to the schools with the highest numbers of students in need. To pay for it, Mulgrew said Albany should expand the state millionaire’s tax while closing the carried interest loophole that allows hedge fund managers to pay less tax on their profits. He also appealed for state aid for UFT Teacher Centers, UFT community learning schools and the Positive Learning Collaborative, a joint DOE-UFT initiative to improve school climate. Mulgrew thanked the legislative leaders — Carl Heastie and Andrea Stewart-Cousins — and their members for their commitment to public education. “We see what happens when states defund education,” he said. “I am proud that New York continues to invest in its public schools.”