Response to the death of UFT founder and former vice president George Altomare.

Thanks to the advocacy of labor unions, including the UFT, each year retired public employees in New York State receive an adjustment to their pensions linked to an increase in the cost of living.

About 70 people learned about online student safety, special education resources and more at the UFT's Staten Island Family Partnership Summit held on Nov. 9 at PS 20 on Staten Island.

The new Teachers’ Retirement System’s Member Education Center has been named after Mel Aaronson, a retired UFT treasurer who served for 35 years on the TRS Board of Trustees, including four as board chair.

If you are eligible for IRMAA, now is the time to file it. Read for more details and important links.

UFT members celebrated Irish American culture and contribution to the mosaic that is New York City during a celebration at UFT headquarters on Feb. 5.

Karen Alford, UFT Vice President for Elementary Schools, submitted testimony before the New York City Council Committee on Women and Gender Equity on establishing an office of child care to oversee free child care for all city residents.

The Edmund O’Neal Middle School of Excellence in Albany has joined the United Community Schools initiative, a network providing school-based educational, emotional, health and social services to children and their families.

For students and teachers at PS 13 on Staten Island, vegetable and meditation gardens provide not only learning experiences but also a respite from pandemic challenges; a place where both students and staff can get some sun, fresh air and a boost to...

In the months leading up to November's momentous presidential election, we can remain on the sidelines and let the bad guys make the decisions, or we can enter the political fray, enlist our friends and allies in the battle and forge victories.

New York State United Teachers’ Representative Assembly in Albany on April 1-2 was a celebration in more ways than one. The delegates commemorated 50 years of working together to elevate educators and healthcare professionals, and they reveled in...

Creating video projects with students is a way to bring the impact and allure of video into the classroom while modeling for them how the medium can be used for teaching and learning.

The Supplemental Health Insurance Program (SHIP), created by the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter to help members pay for out-of-pocket medical costs, continues to grow in enrollment and to enhance its reimbursement for benefits such as private-duty...

Are UFT retirees missing out when they attend union events and courses remotely? The Si Beagle Learning Center now offers remote courses, activities and seminars that were only available in person before the pandemic. But there is growing pressure to...

Members who have spent their professional lives under the academic calendar, even in retirement look at school openings as a pivot point. RTC Chapter Leader Tom Murphy looks at where we have been and, after our summer respite, where we are headed.

The UFT and other education advocates are applying pressure on the Adams administration to have a viable plan for implementing the state’s class-size reduction law. The mayor’s midyear budget cuts and his comments about how he doesn’t believe the...

UFT membership entitles retirees to discounts on everything from clothing, restaurants and Broadway shows to travel, financial services and sports clubs.

Chester “Chet” Edwards, a retired New York City public school teacher and decorated veteran, volunteers his time helping his fellow veterans return to civilian life after serving in the U.S. military.

Having a warm and inviting learning environment will help you connect with your students, especially those who are new to the school or even the country. Here are some suggestions for how to make your students feel welcome in your classroom from the...

At the Delegate Assembly on March 19, UFT President Michael Mulgrew said lawsuits filed by unions and a team of 20 attorneys general had fended off the worst cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security — but he warned that the fight was far from...

If you are a member of TRS or BERS, you have a voluntary, supplemental savings plan in addition to your define benefit pension. This savings plan with low fees allows you to build personal savings on a tax-deferred basis. 


When I began my career as a high school social studies teacher four years ago, I knew I wanted my classroom management to be dramatically different from the “reward and punishment” style.

About three-quarters of UFT members participate in the Tax-Deferred Annuity program. Retirees who are 73 or older must withdraw a certain percentage of funds – known as required minimum distributions (RMDs) — from the tax-deferred annuity each year...

UFT Vice President Leo Gordon writes about the importance of fostering industry partnerships, like this year's $6.1 billion in funding to tech giant Micron as part of a collaborative effort by the UFT and parent union AFT. These partnerships provide...

Instead of spending hours searching for teaching resources, writing parent communications or creating presentations from scratch, AI can help teachers perform these tasks in a few clicks. 


Learn about your pension benefit distribution options.

RTC Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer hails the power of unionists like those of the UFT to preserve democracy and stand up to tyranny in the wake of the killings of laborers Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

UFT Vice President for Middle Schools Richard Mantell writes that one of the most concrete ways schools can help prepare middle school students to take on more adultlike behavior is in how they manage class transitions. The best instructional models...

In the face of the outcry against teaching the horrors of enslavement in the U.S. and the historic fight for civil rights, it’s time the country demonstrates how much civil dissent should be valued by making Aug. 28 -- the date of the 1963 March on...

The UFT supports parents and the community in their desire to advocate for their young people’s fair and just education in New York City’s public schools.

It’s good to read that teachers are once again allowed to teach phonics, so their young students have tools to build decoding and spelling skills.

Nearly two thousand educators and their students logged on for the UFT’s Future in Focus virtual college and career fair on Oct. 21 and 22, when representatives from more than 100 colleges and universities helped participants explore the...

Retirees will see a 1.8% increase in their UFT pension checks due to the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that was hard fought by the union and the rest of New York State's labor movement.

Medicare-eligible UFT retirees will remain in their current health plans for the time being after a state judge’s ruling triggered a delay in the launch of the New York City Medicare Advantage Plus Plan.

Based on current Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures, the September 2022 COLA, which retired members will see in their September pension checks, is 3.0%.

The new administration has taken a hammer to the U.S. Department of Education, wreaking destruction that is sure to hurt the nation’s public schools and students.