The UFT wants state lawmakers and the governor 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.

UFT Assistant Secretary Michael Sill delivered the union’s priorities to Albany on Jan. 29 when he testified at the legislative budget hearing on elementary and secondary education. The Legislature is holding hearings and deliberating on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal for the 2026-27 fiscal year that begins April 1.

Changes the state made last year to the Foundation Aid formula – the largest piece of state education funding – resulted in New York City schools receiving $314 million less than expected this school year, said Sill, noting that education costs more in New York City than the rest of the state and that that reality needs to receive more weight.

“We need to fix the regional cost index. We need to increase the weights for English language learners and students with disabilities,” he told the lawmakers. “And in a school system where we have over 140,000 students who are experiencing some level of homelessness, we need a weight for them as well.”

And when it comes to caring for the city’s youngest, the UFT commends Hochul for her plan to make a historic funding commitment to early child care. However, it’s vital that the 8,000 family child care providers the union represents receive better compensation, Sill said, including higher rates for nontraditional hours of care.

The union is also demanding that the state reform Tier 6 of its pension system. In addition to creating a more equitable retirement for Tier 6 members, reform would better attract and retain talented educators, Sill said. Educators should be able to retire at 55 with 30 years of service with an unreduced pension, rather than having to wait until they turn 63. That was one of multiple unwelcome changes when Tier 6 was established in 2012 under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “Thirty years should be a career,” Sill said.

Other UFT legislative priorities include:

• Removing the state requirement that New York City public schools provide charter schools space if that space is needed to comply with the state’s class size law, and to make the state Board of Regents the sole authorizer of new charter schools
• Providing $4 million to sustain the UFT’s current network of 39 United Community Schools, $5 million to provide expanded statewide assistance and support, and another $100 million to expand United Community Schools statewide.