Humane education is a must
In 1917, the New York State Legislature passed a law requiring elementary schools to teach students about the humane treatment and protection of animals, but nearly 110 years later, many teachers are unaware of the legislation.
The UFT Humane Education Committee wants to change that, co-Chair Gail Frydkowski said.
“We want educators to know that they can contact us, we have resources, and we can help them blend the material into whatever they’re doing,” said Frydkowski, a retired teacher who worked at the HS for Health Professions and Human Service in Manhattan. “They don’t have to do anything extra.”
The committee provides examples of how educators have incorporated the curriculum into the classroom. Committee co-Chair Lisbet Chiriboga, an English as a new language teacher at PS 1 in the Bronx, shared that she once assigned a story about vulnerable tortoises in Florida to her newcomer students. One of the students was so moved by the tale, she gave a presentation in English before all the 4th-grade classes. Other examples are students writing profiles of animals available for adoption from a local shelter and students writing persuasive essays and raising funds to help preserve the habitat of eagles they watched on a webcam.
Humane education is about nurturing compassion and respect for all living beings, preserving the environment and appreciating the interconnectedness of people, animals and the planet. The UFT Humane Education Committee was formed in 1989, and members have worked to raise awareness of the humane education law.
Teaching it benefits students in many ways, said Chiriboga. It boosts student engagement, academic motivation, attendance and good behavior, as well as compassion, respect and other traits that social-emotional learning (SEL) fosters, she said.
Later amendments to the law added topics to be covered under humane education, such as controlling the proliferation of animals, animal abandonment and cruelty, and permitting students to opt out of animal dissection. State lawmakers are considering a bill to expand the law to secondary schools. The committee’s page on the UFT website includes elementary and secondary school units that educators have developed.
UFT Humane Education Committee members have contacts at organizations that provide free materials to classrooms and advice on how to connect humane education to science and reading, research, SEL and more.
The committee is planning professional development workshops and meetings in the 2026–27 school year. Visit the committee page to join and for more information.