October 1, 2026

Create a team for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Every October, thousands of UFT members come together to participate in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks in the five boroughs and on Long Island. Chapter leaders can create teams for their chapter members to fundraise and support one another. To form a team, select a walk and then click "Sign Up." When it's time to name your team, be sure to include "UFT" in the name. Let your chapter's members know your team's name so they can select it when they sign up to walk.

This year, the walks in Manhattan (Central Park), Queens (Flushing Meadows Corona Park) and Long Island (Jones Beach State Park) will take place on Sunday, Oct. 18. The walks in Brooklyn (Coney Island Boardwalk), the Bronx (Orchard Beach) and Staten Island (Midland Beach) will take place on Sunday, Oct. 25. All the walks begin at 8 a.m., except for the Long Island walk, which has a rolling start time. More details, including online registration and each walk's UFT Strides coordinator, can be found on the UFT website.

Set up your team

Report class size data to your district rep on Oct. 7

We are addressing the contractual class size issues that school chapter leaders reported on Days 6, 10 and 14. These contractual class size limits are separate and apart from implementation of the state's class size law. The next key reporting day is Day 19 (Wednesday, Oct. 7). Please obtain your school's RACL (elementary or middle schools) or Master Schedule Final (high schools), which indicates class sizes on these dates. For most schools, the oversize classes that remained unresolved by Day 14 (Sept. 30) will go to your district representative and superintendent to tackle. On the 21st day, unresolved cases escalate a step higher to the central Class Size Labor-Management Committee.

The 2018 contract created a special additional step for schools that are chronically out of compliance, defined as having oversized classes for four of the past six school years. These schools are escalated to the Class Size Labor-Management Committee once the overages are reported to the union. If the Class Size Labor-Management Committee cannot resolve the issue, the case is scheduled for expedited arbitration as soon as 10 days later — and no later than the 34th school day of the term. The arbitrator can issue a binding remedy within five school days that the DOE must implement in five school days.

Be aware of new school leadership team changes

School leadership teams are important tools for change in our schools. The DOE is mandated to provide training for all principals, superintendents and SLT members. Chancellor's Regulation A‑655 is changing this year, so please make sure that your principal is aware and that your SLT gets the training to learn about the differences. The DOE has provided the following documents to support SLTs in understanding the changes.

• Role-specific one-pagers
• Side-by-side comparison of changes
• FAQs on training
• Rollout plan

The DOE announced Teacher's Choice allotments

The popular Teacher's Choice program continues this school year, with eligible UFT-represented educators receiving a reimbursement for some of the supplemental instructional supplies they buy. We secured the same level of funding for the program as last year, but because the city hired over 4,000 additional new educators this fall, the per-member amount of Teacher's Choice changed slightly.

Here are the Teacher's Choice spending amounts by title.

The purchasing period began on Aug. 1 and continues until Jan. 8. You can find more information, including purchasing and paperwork deadlines, on the Teacher's Choice page of the UFT website.

Come to Teacher Union Day on Nov. 1

On Teacher Union Day, we commemorate the strike that put the newly formed UFT on the path to becoming the powerful voice that it is today. At the awards ceremony, we'll honor the past leaders who inspire us as well as the work of today's exceptional UFT members and chapters. This year's honorees include Vice President for Non-DOE and Private Sector Members Anne Goldman and UFT Assistant Secretary Khiera Peña.

This is a chance to celebrate your colleagues' incredible achievements and come together with UFT members who care deeply about the labor movement. There will be a continental breakfast and post-awards reception. Register by Oct. 2 for the early bird discount!

• Date: Sunday, Nov. 1
• Time: 8 a.m.
• Where: New York Hilton Midtown, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, Grand Ballroom
• Cost: $40 if you register before Oct. 2, $50 after

Register now

Tell Gov. Hochul to opt out of vouchers

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is considering opting into the new federal school voucher tax credit program, but doing so would have a devastating impact on our public schools.

The new federal law, which takes effect in January in states that opt in, will reroute billions of dollars to private schools for students whose families have never sent their children to public schools. We must safeguard New York State public schools, which educate 90% of our children.

On Sept. 16, we joined our state union, NYSUT, and dozens of labor, parent, education and civil rights groups to launch our anti-voucher campaign. The message was clear: The governor needs to reject the voluntary federal tax-credit program. You can add your voice to the call to protect public education by signing the petition.

Tell Gov. Hochul to opt out

Learn more about the trouble with vouchers on this episode of the "UFT On Air" podcast. Let's show the governor that we stand strong in support of our public schools and reject any efforts to weaken them.