Members from Central Park East II in Manhattan (left, foreground) prepare to march as part of the UFT contingent in the No Kings March on Oct. 18.
Joining more than 7 million protesters nationwide, more than 200 UFT members marched up Sixth Avenue in Manhattan alongside members from other New York City unions as part of the No Kings March on Oct. 18.
“What brought me here today are my kiddos,” said Jonathan Krouse, a paraprofessional at PS 5 in Manhattan. Krouse said he was alarmed by the Trump administration’s recent dismantling of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which oversees special education. “I’m scared for the future for my students on the spectrum,” he said.
Other UFT members spoke out against the Trump administration’s mass deportation of undocumented immigrants without due process.
“People are being taken from their homes, their schools, from court appointments where all they’re trying to do is follow the rules,” said Erica Cuevas, a special education teacher at Bronx Community HS. “We need to stand up together for them.”
Theodora Kapodistrias and Christine Gomez, two history teachers from Long Island City HS in Queens, marched in homemade sweatshirts that read “U.S. history teachers warned you” and “Learn your history before you repeat it.”
Kapodistrias, who is the UFT chapter leader at her school, explained that as history teachers, she and Gomez know the importance of democracy.
“In this moment, you can see everything we teach in terms of concentration of power and abuse of authority,” she explained. “We came here to say we don’t accept it, and we know what’s in the constitution.”
Despite the gravity and urgency of the issues that motivated them, UFT members felt hopeful as they marched together.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Krouse said. “There are so many different people here ready to fight for our country.”