It has been a truly great year for CTE, and there is more to come. The stars are aligned for us, with support plentiful at the city, state and federal levels. Everyone is looking to CTE.

Constantly organizing new members is critical to the health of every union, and the UFT is no exception. Unions must either grow or decline; a union that is not expanding is in trouble.

The Astor Foundation grant to develop and support early childhood literacy will be the perfect partner to our already thriving efforts to nurture childhood literacy via our partnership with the AFT and FirstBook.

"As long as there are students at this school, we are here to teach them." This is the sentiment echoed by educators at the 15 high schools citywide that are phasing out.

Our new contract provides welcome time for professional development, parent engagement and other professional work. Now how best to use it? The ASD Nest program offers a valuable model.

We now have a chancellor who is committed to creating the space for the necessary conversations and teamwork between educators and parents and, thanks to our new contract, we have at least 40 minutes of every school week to devote to parent engagement. So how do we best engage parents as our allies in the education of their children?

A new pilot initiative this school year has the potential to reinvigorate the parent-school connection that has become frayed in many of our middle schools.

No one should have to go to work while sick. Whether you’re a nurse, a child care provider, a charter school teacher or any other worker, working while sick is bad for you, your family, your colleagues and those you serve.

The schools in the New York Performance Standards Consortium are raising academic standards while endowing students with a lifelong love of learning, all without relentless test prep. Now that is exciting.

In this column, Vice President for Education Carmen Alvarez share her thoughts on how the chancellor’s vision can be operationalized in the realm of special education.