New blood is important to any organization or institution so that it continues to maintain its mission and prepare for a dynamic future. With that in mind, the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter Executive Committee, at my request, recently authorized the creation of a Leadership Council.

This year is an off, off year for elections and that means we have a political breather. But it is not a time to be idle.

Midterm elections used to be mostly unremarkable events that revolved around local issues for the most part. Rarely did these contests rise to a national level. A truism has been that the political party of the incumbent president tended to lose congressional seats due to public weariness of that party’s missteps.

Legacy is a concept that resonates with retirees. We often reflect on our personal lives, our careers and, for many of us, the fate of our union. Today, across the country, we are struggling with an evaluation of our past in the context of where we are and where we go from here.

Does the recent Supreme Court decision in the Janus case affect retirees? No and yes.