How many children are missing from our schools? That’s the question the city Department of Education refuses to answer.

On Oct. 8, with just three months left in his term, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to phase out the gifted-and-talented program in New York City public schools. But Eric Adams, de Blasio’s likely successor, has ideas about the program that appear to be more in line with ours: It should not be destroyed, Adams said on Oct. 15, but should be retooled and expanded. 

Universal mask wearing is an essential part of keeping our school communities safe. New York City, thankfully, is doing its part.

It’s encouraging to remember how UFT members met the challenge of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 20 years ago, as we continue to navigate the twists and turns of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pride Month has become an American tradition, when people in cities and towns large and small celebrate the LGBTQ community with friends, family and allies. But the fight to be treated equally in the eyes of the law isn’t over by any means.

One of the most important lessons learned from the pandemic is that having a nurse in every school is vital to the well-being of our students.

The New York State budget provides an unprecedented windfall for New York City schools — an additional $1.3 billion — but no one should consider it a gift.

Great environmental strides have been made since the first Earth Day was celebrated 51 years ago. And now the moment to take another great stride forward has come.

The city's Panel for Education Policy refused to continue standardized testing for preschoolers for admission to the city’s gifted and talented programs, opening the door for reshaping the program and the criteria for admission and taking a crucial step toward addressing inequities in our segregated school system.

Now is not the time for the state to withhold funding that could help New York City students who have been traumatized by the life-changing effects of the pandemic. The governor’s executive budget proposes to reduce needed state school aid and then fill the gap with part of the $2.1 billion that New York State received for schools in the federal stimulus bill. Shortchanging our students now will have long-term consequences for them later.