The new academic year marks the start of the statewide bell-to-bell ban on cellphones and any other internet-enabled electronic communication devices in schools. The UFT successfully fought for the restriction to help students focus.

More than 30 years ago, Antoinette Messina, now retired, taught an immigrant boy to speak English. In a simple twist of fate, that boy, who grew up to be a physical therapist, today is teaching Messina to walk again.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s core message to the 1,300 UFT members at the union’s Spring Education Conference on May 20 was “Kill hate with love." He told educators at the New York Hilton Midtown, “What we do is powerful. It’s our voice that must...

UFT President Michael Mulgrew testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education regarding meeting the needs of all students with disabilities in our public schools.

Erica Boyce, a 4th-grade special education teacher at PS 677 in Brooklyn, turned to the UFT Peer Intervention Program (PIP) to help her adjust to her integrated co-teaching classroom. Since 1988, PIP has helped educators reexamine, refresh and...

Spring was in the air on March 19 at the UFT’s 14th annual Early Childhood Conference, where laughter, play and learning emerged after a difficult winter for nearly 400 educators — a blend of in-person participants at UFT headquarters and remote...

About 250 school counselors enjoyed a packed day of professional development, networking and some precious camaraderie with fellow counselors for the union's 20th annual School Counselors Conference.

The UFT Welfare Fund provides dental benefits through two programs: the Scheduled Benefit Plan, which provides services through either a designated panel of dentists or a dentist of your choice; and Dentcare, a no-cost dental HMO.

Many of us who retire at age 62 can expect to live longer than our forefathers. But to be safe, it's important to prepare by having family discussions about what to do in the event of a debilitating illness or death. Here is a list of topics to...

Sensory tools that have long helped special education students calm down and stay alert in the classroom are now helping general education students ease back into in-person learning.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew testified before the New York State Senate Committees on Education, NYC Education, and Budget and Revenue to review how school districts are spending Foundation Aid and American Rescue Plan funds.

Pedagogical DOE employees who are injured or made sick on the job are covered by the Line of Duty Injury provision of the DOE-UFT contract — not workers’ compensation. The following Q&A answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Line...

The gaming club has been a hit among students at William E. Grady Career and Technical Education HS in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, since math teacher Peter Cozeolino started it five years ago. The program got a big boost in November 2021 when the...

Thousands of UFT members and parents came together this fall to press the City Council to pass groundbreaking legislation that would reduce class sizes in city public schools by a quarter to a third. The union gathered nearly 40,000 signatures in...

In-service UFT members have the protection of a short-term disability plan that can provide valuable income when personal illness renders them temporarily unable to work.

Federation of Nurses/UFT members who are Licensed Nurses employed by VNS Health overwhelmingly ratified a contract on Jan. 29 that provides a 15% pay increase over two years, additional money for experience differentials and improvements in...

About 300 UFT members from schools across the city attended one of the union's immigration workshops in October and November. The sessions walked members through the steps to establish school-based committees to support and defend immigrant families...

At the Delegate Assembly on Jan. 14, UFT President Michael Mulgrew updated delegates on the union’s work to expand access to affordable child care and addressed a range of national, state and city issues affecting educators.


The September 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), which retired members will see in their September pension checks, is 1.2%. Eligible retirees will receive up to $216 -- or $18 per month -- before taxes from the COLA.

The UFT will urge the Mayor and Chancellor to adopt the Class Size Working Group’s proposals to ensure that schools are able to lower class sizes to the levels required by law.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education regarding the NYC FY23 preliminary budget and the preliminary capital commitment plan for FY23-26.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew submitted testimony on examining the city’s response and delivery of services to migrants to the New York City Council Education Committee’s oversight hearing.

Ninth-graders at NEST+m, a gifted and talented K-12 school on Manhattan's Lower East Side, took their science lessons to new heights during a class trip to the Intrepid Museum.

We are facing a crisis in our school system that we are handling largely on our own: Over the past 18 months, more than 20,000 children from asylum-seeking families have arrived in our schools. Yet no one in leadership seems to be talking about or...

City Council Education Committee Chair Mark Treyger introduced a public health measure today that would update the city’s Administrative Code, raising the minimum per person classroom space to 35 square feet per student from the current 20 square...

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...

Membership in the Retired Teachers Chapter confers many benefits — from social services support and Si Beagle classes to legal assistance — but retirees must sign up to remain UFT members and enjoy the perks.

The DOE released the following guidance in December 2024 about virtual professional development for occupational and physical therapists.

One of the greatest benefits of UFT membership is having a guaranteed retirement allowance when you retire. But for members who joined the retirement system after April 12, 2012, their defined-benefit pension is not equal to what more veteran members...

The following email was sent from School Counselors Chapter Leader Rosemarie Thompson to all school counselors on Thursday, Jan. 27.

The following email was sent from Vice President for Special Education MaryJo Ginese to all school counselors, speech teachers, occupational and physical therapists, social workers and psychologists on Wednesday, Feb. 9.

UFT members who are currently enrolled in the Board of Education Retirement System have the option to transfer into the Teachers’ Retirement System, under a new state law signed by the governor.

Mary Vaccaro, UFT Vice President for Education, submitted testimony before the New York City Council Education and Immigration Committees Oversight Hearing on immigrant students in New York City public schools.

Everything you need to know about the UFT's Student Debt Relief Program and the status of federal student-debt forgiveness.

As AI penetrates public education faster than policy can keep up, educators are being asked to navigate powerful new tools with little guidance. To help fill that void, the AFT has released a framework meant to ensure AI supports teaching and...

A Queens teacher argues the Danielson teacher evaluation process needs an overhaul, with teachers being rated in part on how much they've grown as educators.