As Gov. Kathy Hochul considers signing state legislation to reduce class sizes in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams is threatening cuts to next year’s school budgets even as he sits on billions of dollars of federal education aid.

Capping a yearlong push by educators and parents to lower class sizes, state lawmakers passed a bill on June 2 to cap the number of students per classroom in New York City public schools at 20 to 25, depending on the grade, by 2027.

Functional chapters are so named because what unites these student-support professionals is their function rather than a worksite or a school. The chapters were formed to allow these UFT members with common issues and concerns to have a voice.

Kathleen Taylor is an American Sign Language interpreter for the city Department of Education, providing interpreting services for students, staff and parents at meetings and events such as parent-teacher conferences and suspension hearings. 

The UFT has won a city contract as a network provider to coordinate the work of home-based family child care providers. The new network expands the union’s advocacy on behalf of these workers.

The union’s LearnUFT courses provide low-cost professional development and Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) hours for UFT members.