Cara Matthews

A UFT team of about 40 people walked in Central Park on Oct. 23 to raise money for CaringKind, a group that provides care and support services for individuals and families affected by Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sept. 8 signed into law landmark legislation that will lower class sizes in New York City by a third over the next six years, closing a decades-long gap in class sizes between the city and the rest of the state.

The UFT chapter leader of Vision Education Services revamped the program's website for the Department of Education.

Thanks to the union’s advocacy, UFT-represented educators will be reimbursed for some out-of-pocket expenses through Teacher’s Choice at the same levels as the previous school year. Teachers will once again receive about $250.

The UFT, together with parents and education advocacy groups, spent the summer keeping the pressure on Mayor Eric Adams to reverse $469 million in school budget cuts for the coming year. But to everyone’s dismay, the school year is starting with the cuts still in place even though the mayor has $4.6 billion in federal education funds he has not spent and Albany has given New York City an unprecedented amount of school aid.

After 28 years in the New York City public school system, retired teacher Jo-Ann Marks' childhood dream takes flight when she begins a second career with Frontier Airlines.

The return of in-person card games is one of the most eagerly anticipated fall activities for retirees at the UFT Staten Island borough office, which has reopened in a new barrier-free location on South Avenue that has larger rooms for classes than the old site, plenty of parking and state-of-the-art technology.

Heaping pallets of high-interest books greeted new teachers on Aug. 13 at the United Federation of Teachers’ Bronx borough office, where they were able to choose 50 volumes each from among the thousands offered to build their classroom libraries as they start the school year. 

Wage gaps, lack of public support, burnout, a strong emphasis on testing, and cultural and political wars are all factors in a nationwide teacher shortage that has many school systems struggling.

A tour about pollinators and another that focuses on architecture are just two of the many educational tours that can serve as class trips at The Green-Wood Cemetery, a 478-acre National Historic Landmark chartered in 1838 in western Brooklyn.