Dara N. Sharif
New York Teacher Editor
‘Go all out’ to achieve class size reduction
Teachers in Queens, the city's most crowded borough, said the benefits of lowering class size were seen almost immediately, and they encouraged their colleagues to stay the course in pressing school leadership to do the work.
Mobilizing in support of all labor
Members of the UFT Member Action Committee and the Retired Teachers Chapter Labor Solidarity Project marched alongside thousands of other New York City union members and community groups in one of the city’s largest May Day protests in recent years.
African Heritage Awards Dinner
About 150 UFT members and guests braved frigid temps to celebrate African heritage and honor educators, students and colleagues amid a snowy start to Black History Month at the 23nd annual UFT African Heritage Committee Awards Dinner.
Freedom to explore
Educators at The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria in Queens utilize their ability to have a flexible schoolday schedule to engage students with two weeks of intensive immersion in a single project. The Progressive Redesign Opportunity Schools for Excellence (PROSE) program, of which TYWLS of Astoria is part, affords schools the freedom to experiment and innovate.
Fueling student success
At food pantries and distribution efforts run by UFT-supported United Community Schools, monthly or weekly programs help meet the nutritional needs of struggling families across the city. The pantries are a safe haven for many immigrant families burdened by fear of being detained by ICE, even during grocery runs.
Matching families with needed child care
The UFT is making it easier for NYC families to find child care. NYC Childcare Navigator is an expansion of an online tool the union launched a year ago to help members find child care options and apply for programs that could offset the cost.
Unplugged and reengaged
The state’s new UFT-backed cellphone ban is getting rave reviews from educators who say students are more engaged in class — and rediscovering “old-fashioned” pastimes like reading, playing board games and simply talking to one another.
Who are we?
The United Federation of Teachers represents nearly 200,000 members, including a diverse group of some 78,000 teachers and 26,000 paraprofessionals as well as school counselors, school nurses, social workers and psychologists, occupational and physical therapists and school secretaries. Discover more about who makes up the UFT in this series of charts and graphs.
Optical network grows
The number of optical stores available to UFT Welfare Fund-eligible members has increased by almost 800 nationwide with the addition of Visionworks to the General Vision Services network.
Counting the benefits
Maria Dela Cruz and her fellow math teachers at Newtown High School in Queens fuel their students' interest in the subject by participating in a national math competition whose live and virtual aspects pique students' desire to go all out to best other students in real time.