UFT President Michael Mulgrew warned union delegates at their Oct. 15 meeting of the serious repercussions for public schools stemming from the Trump administration’s attacks on health care and education.

New York State stands to lose nearly $6 billion in Medicaid funding under the budget bill signed into law on July 4. Some Medicaid cuts will go into effect in 2026 while others will hit after the midterm elections that November. If the state must replace that lost funding, Mulgrew said, state aid for public schools will be at risk.

“If you cut health care, those cuts will end up in education,” he said. “That’s the two big pots of money for all governments.”

Although tax revenues at both the state and city levels are coming in higher than projected, they are not enough to offset the loss of federal funds, Mulgrew said.

Despite the challenges, he said, the UFT will continue working with a statewide coalition of public sector unions to fix Tier 6 of the pension system. The union’s top priority for the 2026 legislative session, he said, is to persuade state lawmakers to lower the Tier 6 retirement age to 55 for government workers with 30 years of service.

“We cannot back down from that fight,” Mulgrew said.

Mulgrew also criticized the Trump administration for decimating the U.S. Department of Education’s special education office and for weakening career and technical education programs.

Jonathan Fickies