The UFT says a 6-point drop in overall ELA test scores by city public schoolchildren points to an "incompetent" implementation by the city DOE of new reading intervention programs, and the union is demanding reforms.

The UFT explains paraprofessionals' rights and obligations in terms of being absent from work.

The UFT will advocate for a policy that does not require excessing to disproportionately affect UFT-represented employees or negatively impact the ability to provide services for students.

Khiera Peña, a special representative in the UFT Grievance/Arbitration Department, was elected UFT assistant secretary, UFT President Michael Mulgrew announced at the Delegate Assembly on May 18.

Ready to apply for a new opportunity or wish to transfer to a new school? This Q and A explains what educators need to know about the Open Market Transfer Plan.

Richard Sacher, who retired from teaching in 2005, has made acting and singing his second act.

Information about IPRs, excessing, performance reviews and personnel files.

The efforts of Chapter Leader Melissa Wall of IS 109 in Queens Village saved five teachers from being excessed — and preserved the school's already approved plan to reduce class sizes in its 6th-grade classes.

Excessing is the process of reducing staff in a particular school or office when the number of available positions in a title or license area in that school is lower than the number of people in the school who require an assignment in that title or...

Summer is a good time to check on any outstanding items needed for state certification or to review state education policies if you are being appointed under a different license this upcoming school year. Read answers to common questions below and be...

IS 383 Chapter Leader Syreeta Dixon refused to back down when her principal violated the DOE-UFT contract in multiple ways in her Bushwick school’s teacher schedule and then threatened to lay off staff when Dixon called her on it.


Information about IPRs, excessing, performance reviews and probation extensions.

If you want a new opportunity, wish to work closer to home or have been placed in excess, the Open Market Transfer Plan gives you the chance to apply for a position at another school. This Q&A addresses the most commonly asked questions about the...

UFT President Michael Mulgrew predicted that the Trump administration will attack unions and public education.

New York City schools, particularly in District 75, are in dire need of paraprofessionals, who provide essential support services for children with disabilities. The shortage won’t get resolved until the city Department of Education streamlines its...

When Catrina Como became chapter leader at PS 376 in Brooklyn, she faced a tricky situation: The principal was demanding, and staff did not know their rights and were reluctant to speak up for themselves. “I work with a lot of amazing teachers who...

Information about excessing, wage increases and bonuses, individual progress reports and school counselor evaluations.

PS 896 in Sunset Park had no chapter leader, delegate or paraprofessional representative, and an administration that placed excessive demands on the staff. The turnaround was stark after Anna Willis, a second-year, untenured teacher, took on the...

The UFT consultation committee, led by the school chapter leader, meets monthly with the principal to discuss and attempt to resolve issues at the school level. As of May 7, more than 14,000 issues were raised in consultation committee meetings this...

The state's class size law is our collective opportunity to significantly enhance the quality of education for every child in our city. Yet this historic moment is at risk due to the reluctance of Mayor Eric Adams and the city Department of Education...

CTE Award-winning baking teacher Shamel Donigan provides his students at Food and Finance HS with the tools to find success in the culinary industry and in life.

New York City public school educators delivered testimony before the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s hearing on the state Foundation Aid Formula.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew submitted testimony before the NYC Council Committee on Education at its hearing on the preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2025, the preliminary Capital Plan for Fiscal Years 2024-28 and the Fiscal 2024 preliminary Mayor...

FAQ for UFT members employed in the DOE’s Division of Early Childhood Education

The UFT, together with parents and education advocacy groups, spent the summer keeping the pressure on Mayor Eric Adams to reverse $469 million in school budget cuts for the coming year. But to everyone’s dismay, the school year is starting with the...

Thanks to the union’s advocacy, the city Department of Education has agreed to take the reorganization of the Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE) off the table for this school year.

An administrative law judge has ruled that Bronx teacher Brenda Cartagena had been the victim of retaliation by her school’s principal for standing up for her members’ rights as school chapter leader.

Hundreds of protesters demanded that the city Department of Education restore more than $215 million in school budget cuts at a rally on June 24 outside City Hall, where the City Council was holding an emergency hearing to probe the reductions in the...

Information about the tentative contract agreement, excessing, school-based options, performance reviews and the 20th annual UFT School Counselors Conference.

Members of the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) who have positive ratings will fill regular assignments in September in schools where they are needed.

Information about the Open Market Transfer plan, excessing, professional evaluations for school counselors, protecting students' personally identifiable information, social-emotional learning screeners and the 19th annual School Counselors Conference...

The DOE should not continue using the DESSA screener for all NYC DOE students and schools and should instead reallocate funding allotted to the implementation of the DESSA contract to providing social emotional interventions and support services to...

The Federation of Nurses/UFT is in a pitched battle with NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn over short staffing that the union contends is putting patients at risk.


If you are a paraprofessional, the DOE-UFT contract establishes rights and obligations in terms of when you can be absent from work. Learn about how you accumulate and can use sick days and about excused absences.

A new city Office of Healthcare Accountability will force all New York City hospitals to disclose what they charge for medical procedures and make it harder for them to engage in price gouging.

On May 24, thousands of UFT members showed up at our simultaneous contract rallies in all five boroughs to make their voices heard. We joined together in a sea of blue with handmade signs, rallying cries and a determination to fight for more respect...