Cara Matthews

The new state budget legislation includes two union priorities — a cell phone ban in schools and funding earmarked for class size reduction — but UFT President Michael Mulgrew said the state’s revised funding formula used to calculate school aid hurt the city’s public schools and must be changed.

The federal threats to collective bargaining, Social Security, health care and education funding loomed large at the 53rd annual New York State United Teachers Representative Assembly in Rochester in early May.

With the state funding that 750 schools received to bring class sizes into compliance with state law, more UFT members will have optimal teaching conditions next school year and are confident that students will benefit from the additional time and attention they receive.


At the UFT’s annual city legislative breakfast, 28 City Council members heard how critical an annual “RESPECT check” would be in reversing the paraprofessional shortage in schools. They also heard appeals from union representatives for continued city funding of Teacher’s Choice and UFT programs that benefit educators, students and families.


Member organizing paid off at the Brooklyn campus of Boerum Hill School for International Studies and two other public schools. The city Department of Education moved to alleviate overcrowding by transferring unused Success Academy Charter School space to their schools.

Twenty-five middle school educators were honored at the UFT’s inaugural Middle School Awards Night on May 15. Some 200 members and guests attended as members' roles in students' lives at at key stage of development were highlighted and celebrated.

The UFT Speech Improvement Chapter presented 31 awards at the 19th annual Better Speech and Hearing Month Celebration on May 27. Award-winning topics and projects included raising awareness about stuttering, communicating with devices, using a school snack shop to expand communication skills and bringing speech therapy into the classroom.

UFT Excellence in Education Award-winning teacher Stephanie Edwards of Brooklyn's International HS at Prospect Heights taps into her English language learning students' creativity to effectively teach them social studies and economic concepts.

Louise Naples, a retired school secretary, has become an avid quilter in retirement. Her quilts were recently on display at The Center, a communal gathering space at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, Queens.

In the days following UFT Lobby Day in Albany, scores of UFT chapters held virtual lobby days in their schools to urge state lawmakers in emails and social media posts to fix Tier 6, update the state’s Foundation Aid formula and enact other UFT legislative priorities.