Queens communities oppose Success co‑locations
An effort by Eva Moskowitz and her Success Academy corporate charter school chain to elbow their way into two school buildings in southeastern Queens has met with unprecedented community opposition.
Building ‘calm and focus’
About 60 schools this year joined the UFT’s pilot partnership with MindUp, an evidence-based social-emotional learning program conceived by the Goldie Hawn Foundation to support educators' and students' mental health.
Starbucks union drive marks first year
To mark the one-year anniversary of the Starbucks union movement, the company’s workers held rallies on Dec. 9 in 10 cities nationwide, including New York City. The UFT was among the unions at the City Hall rally.
School budget fight update
The city’s more than $400 million in budget cuts to schools across the city in September will stand after an appeals court ruled on Nov. 22 that the New York City Council won’t have to vote again on the education budget.
Contract gets action on class size
Just two of this school year’s grievances over excessive class sizes citywide remained unresolved by Thanksgiving — thanks to a powerful provision in the 2018 Department of Education-UFT contract.
Mass layoffs in tech spur litigation
The thousands of layoffs at Twitter and other tech companies in recent months have renewed a focus on the decades-old federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires written notice of at least 60 days for mass layoffs...
Chicago to monitor students’ social media
Chicago Public Schools has contracted with a Canadian company to monitor students’ public social media posts for signs they might engage in violence on campus or potentially harm themselves and require staff – or police – intervention.
New African American Studies AP class
Roughly 60 public high schools across the country are piloting a new Advanced Placement course called African American Studies, the first new College Board offering since 2014.
UFT backs bill requiring city hospitals to disclose costs
UFT President Michael Mulgrew backs a City Council bill that would create an Office of Healthcare Accountability to rein in overcharges by hospitals that a study found inflated employee health care costs by up to $2.4 billion.
‘The biggest crisis we’re facing’
UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the Delegate Assembly on Nov. 16 that the increasingly unique benefit enjoyed by New York City employees — high-quality, premium-free health coverage — is under threat unless municipal unions can find health savings...