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President's Perspective

The charter school fight

At long last, the New York State Legislature that is more inclined to support pro-teacher, pro-public school policies. There was no lifting of the charter cap included in this year’s budget. But the charter school industry has regrouped. This fight is not over.

A better approach to student discipline

How do we change the overall climate in our schools to reduce the conflicts that interfere with student learning and make suspensions necessary? Addressing that challenge is the mission of the Positive Learning Collaborative.

A way to ease the burden of student debt

We asked, and you told us loud and clear: The burden of student debt is one of your most pressing concerns. We listened and are now offering participation in the Student Debt Relief Program for UFT members only.

A new day for teacher evaluation

Between our recent collective bargaining on teacher evaluation and this latest bill, we’re moving toward a system that no longer makes test scores the focal point of teacher evaluations. It’s all part of recasting the evaluation system as an opportunity to support the professional growth of teachers throughout their careers.

Power tools to get the job done

As a chapter leader I always wanted better tools to resolve those kinds of issues without escalating them to a grievance, if possible. Now we have them.

Achieving our political goals

Just two years ago, with a hostile new administration in the White House and with the Janus case bearing down on us at the Supreme Court, things looked much bleaker. We didn’t panic. We had a plan, and we took it one step at a time.