Dear parents, grandparents and education activists,

Congratulations to those of you who have children moving up in school, graduating, going to college or finding their first jobs.

This is my last full newsletter of the school year. I hope you have been able to use this information and pass it along to others. I will send out notices less regularly over the summer, and newsletters will start again every two weeks when the new school year begins.

It's been a hectic year, but one with many successes.

• We were able to win some additional state funds for our schools, but not the entire amount owed to New York City district schools based on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court settlement. This is a fight we will continue next year.

• Thanks to your hard work and the hard work of unions and other allies on the Fight for $15 campaign, we won an across-the-board, phased-in increase of New York State's minimum wage to $15.

• We pushed for continued funding and support for community schools, including schools that are part of the UFT Community Learning Schools Initiative and DOE renewal schools, with the help of the Coalition for Educational Justice.

• Our UFT special education parent working group met regularly with the DOE special education department, and together they will provide a professional development training for DOE parent coordinators this Friday.

• UFT members and parents participated in a day of celebration in May to voice support for public schools.

• And this past month, the UFT held a kick-off event to celebrate Pride Month and show support for families in Orlando who lost loved ones in a recent massacre at a gay nightclub there.

• The union also organized a prom wear giveaway for middle school students to pick out their prom dresses and suits for free.

In the wake of all these accomplishments, we're not resting — our UFT parent conference planning committee is making great plans for the UFT Manhattan parent conference on Saturday, Oct. 15.

We received many entries to our student art contest for the conference brochure. The winner will be chosen at our next conference planning committee meeting on Monday, June 27 at 6 p.m. at UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, 10th floor, conference room C. The following meeting will be on Wednesday, July 13 at the same time and place. Feel free to join us.

Remember to sign up for UFT text messaging by texting the word "parent" to the number 30644 and answering the questions that follow. We'll alert you about political campaigns, breaking news and school cancellations due to weather. And, we'll even send you a text message that links to this newsletter so you can easily read it on your mobile phone.

Finally, if you haven't yet, please register to vote. This upcoming presidential election is too important to sit out. We need Hillary Clinton to win in order to stop Donald Trump, with all of his racism, disrespect for women and unrealistic policy proposals, from becoming president.

Check out the news, events and resources below.

Sincerely,

Francine Streich
UFT Parent-Community Liaison

Upcoming events

• Thursday, July 7: The NYC Central Labor Council invites you to a Community Board training at 4:30 p.m. at 275 7th Ave. on the 16th floor. Learn about how community boards shape the city budget and how you can get involved. Dinner will be served. To RSVP, contact Maryann Rosa at 212-604-9552, ext. 201 or mrosa@nyccl.org. See the flier »

• Sunday, July 10: People with disabilities and their allies are invited to march in the disability pride parade, which will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and proceed from Union Square Park up Broadway to Madison Square Park. Line-up begins at 10 a.m. There will be food and music. For more information and to register, see the website »

• Thursday, Oct. 6 and Wednesday, Oct. 19: Save the date for "College is Possible," an evening for high school students with disabilities to ask questions about college accessibility and tour campuses. There will be an evening at CUNY Hostos College in the Bronx at 6 p.m. on Oct. 6 and another at CUNY York College in Queens at 6 p.m. on Oct. 19. Tours begin at 5 p.m. See the flier »

Summer camps and programs

• Summer camps for all ages at the Central Park Zoo: The Central Park Zoo offers summer camp programs for toddlers, teens and every age group in between. Camp programs cater to the interests of future scientists, veterinarians, zookeepers and more. These programs are available for a fee, and most run for about a week at a time. Find out more »

• Free lunch all summer: Participating schools, pools, parks, libraries and other locations will serve free meals Monday through Friday all summer to anyone under the age of 18. For more information and to find a location near you, visit the website »

• Discounted tickets to Yankees games: The New York Yankees are offering $16 tickets for upper-deck seating at select games this July and August. You can get discounted tickets for the games on Monday, July 18 against Baltimore; Friday, July 22 against San Francisco; Friday, Aug. 5 against Cleveland; Friday, Aug. 12 against Tampa; and Friday, Aug. 26 against Baltimore. To reserve tickets, email lionsbaseball@optonline.net. For more information, see the flier »

Education news and reminders

• Department of Education request form for transportation accommodations: Students in kindergarten through 6th grade are entitled to yellow bus or public transit assistance, within the Department of Education's distance and grade requirements. If your child needs an exception to these requirements, you must fill out and return by mail a DOE request form. This form must be returned by June 30. Download the DOE's medical evaluation request form »

• Extended School Year services for special education students: If your child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), it may include Extended School Year services. These are educational programs for children with IEPs and are not the same as general-education summer school. For more information and to enroll, see the DOE website »

• Summer learning tips: Check out these tips to encourage learning over the summer on the UFT parent website »

• School integration podcasts from WNYC: WNYC radio published a series of podcasts about integration and inclusion in NYC schools. Listen to them online »

• New initiatives to improve diversity at specialized high schools: Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced this month a new set of initiatives to improve diversity at specialized high schools. For more information, read the story from the DOE »

• Interactive online tool to look at education spending: The New York Federal Reserve has created an interactive infographic that allows users to look at data on education spending in New York City by geographic area, student and more. Check it out »

Opportunities

• Tuition-free job training for women: The Grace Institute invites women between the ages of 18 and 64 who have high school diplomas to join a free two-month vocational program in medical administration and other administrative fields. The program will run from September to October. To qualify, you must attend an open house this summer. For more information, see the website »

• Free Microsoft Office for NYC students: All NYC public school students are entitled to the full Microsoft Office productivity suite, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You can install this software on PCs, Macs and tablets. Download Microsoft Office now »