The U.S. Department of Education is dropping its appeal of a federal judge’s August 2025 decision that found the Trump administration’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion violated the First Amendment and federal procedural rules.

After four years of organizing fueled by concerns over job security, pay and transparency in employment policies, hundreds of Metropolitan Museum of Art employees in January approved forming a union through the United Auto Workers.

The UFT told state lawmakers during budget hearing in Albany that it wants them to deliver on a number of priorities key to best serving New York City educators and the students they serve, including fixing Tier 6, revising the state education funding formula, increasing family child care providers’ compensation and expanding the community schools network.

At the Delegate Assembly on Jan. 14, UFT President Michael Mulgrew updated delegates on the union’s work to expand access to affordable child care and addressed a range of national, state and city issues affecting educators.


After the UFT Delegate Assembly passed an emergency resolution in support, hundreds of UFT members joined thousands of demonstrators in Manhattan on Jan. 23 to show solidarity with Minneapolis-St. Paul, where ICE fatally shot a Minnesota substitute teacher amid a brutal crackdown on students, educators and immigrant communities.

The UFT is taking aim at the School Construction Authority as it forecasts that when New York City public schools enter year four of the phased implementation of the state’s class-size reduction law, they will fall slightly short of the 80% compliance the law requires -- largely due to a lack of space.