Article Type Parent
Katie Garfield, hospital schools program teacher
As a teacher at a hospital clinic, Katie Garfield instructs K–12 students while they receive treatment for cancer and blood diseases including sickle-cell anemia.
Giving back to communities year round
UFT Vice President for Elementary Schools Karen Alford writes that our schools are more than academic institutions. They are caring institutions and, as educators, we understand that caring for the communities we work in is part of teaching and...
Three informal assessment options
Sometimes, informal assessments can be more meaningful and less anxiety-provoking than traditional tests for students. Three informal assessments I use in my high school chemistry classes are 10-Point Bingo, a whiteboard activity and “I Can”...
History of the UFT pension plan
New pension plan tiers come into existence when the state Legislature enacts new laws that change benefits, contribution rates and service requirements. But a pension tier is never set in amber. Over the past 40 years, legislative amendments to each...
Dancing to his own drummer again
When Roy Fialkow retired in 2019 after a 29-year career as an adaptive physical education teacher, his life came full circle: He returned to Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, where he had been a dancer in his 20s, as the nonprofit’s education...
Our growing role at the AFT
While the national union may seem distant from our activist local in New York City, we are, in fact, an integral part of the AFT. The AFT’s bird’s eye view keeps us involved in national issues and policies that affect the wider labor movement and...
Defend children’s right to shelter
Mayor Eric Adams has introduced a new policy to limit families with children to a 60-day stay in shelters. Sign this petition calling on the mayor to reverse this policy before it creates chaos in our schools and harms families who are the most in...
School safety
School safety is a prerequisite for teaching and learning. The UFT’s Safety and Health Department is dedicated to protecting all UFT members from safety threats that can confront them in schools. Here are answers to some of the most common questions...
Enrollment drive saves Harlem school’s funding
When PS 30, a United Community School in Harlem, found out in early October that it was going to lose $285,000 due to low enrollment, it decided to take the initiative and find 30 more students. By the end of October, PS 30 had 76 new students — more...
At 100, still embracing the challenge
Miriam Krinick, who turned 100 in November, was honored on Nov. 1 at Brooklyn’s PS 108, where she taught for 18 years, at the unveiling of a Little Yellow Library, a charitable donation to the school from the Kendra Scott Foundation.