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Don’t be fooled by financial fraudsters

Scammers more often target retirees because they're more likely to have savings, good credit and less experience with technology. But retirees can sniff out whether a scammer is at work if they take heed of “the four p’s,” authorities say. Scammers...

Giving a world of learning

Retired high school math teacher Mark Grashow supports the education of thousands of students in rural communities throughout Africa and the Middle East through the nonprofit he founded after retirement, the US-Africa Children's Fellowship.

The state of our chapter

We have a lot to be happy with regarding the state of the RTC chapter. We have debates of retiree issues and an enhanced voting process. But I am concerned that Zoom is hurting the quality of our union engagement.

Getting all jazzed up in Harlem

A group of 2nd-graders at Manhattan's PS 163 take a trip through musical history at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, learning history, culture and how to scat sing like musical icons Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.

Adrianna DeAngelis, special education teacher

Adrianna DeAngelis has taught a pre-K class at Birch Family Services for the past 14 years. She is one of 200 educators and support staff across Birch's four early childhood centers and schools represented by the UFT.

National test results show little progress

Reading scores dropped to a new low on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress while math scores were stagnant for 8th-graders and up slightly for 4th-graders.


Trump guts national labor board

The National Labor Relations Board is at a standstill after President Donald Trump fired board chair Gwynne Wilcox, a Democratic appointee, leaving a total of three vacancies on the five-member panel and ensuring it does not have a quorum to conduct...

Federal workforce under attack

In the latest salvo in its bid to control and reduce the size of the federal workforce, the Trump administration has decreed that union contract provisions permitting telework for federal employees are invalid because they conflict with management...

Clinicians Appreciation Day

About a thousand members of the union's Social Workers and Psychologists Chapter gathered online and another 380 in person for a day of professional development, networking and bonding on Jan. 27.

Manhattan new member event

More than two dozen new members from Manhattan schools turned out for some food, fun and fellowship on Jan. 24 at the UFT's new member event at a Manhattan bowling lounge.

Map out key concepts

Social studies teacher and Big Apple Award fellow Jay Maqsood discusses the merits of concept mapping to help students better retain and synthesize complex information and sets of data points.

Tech tools to bring the arts to class

While technology tools cannot and should not replace hands-on art making, these digital resources can be used to bring the arts, which may be otherwise lacking in your students’ school day, into your curriculum in meaningful ways.

When paraprofessionals choose

Paraprofessionals across the city have embraced the opportunity to participate at long last in Teacher’s Choice.
After years of advocacy by the union, paraprofessionals were included in the program beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Learn how...

Retiring soon?

If you are planning to retire in the next year or two, now is the time to start preparing. It may seem early, but trust us, it’s not. 
The UFT Pension Department is here for you to assist in your transition to retirement.


Fostering healthy ties

Healthy social relationships are a key to greater happiness and life satisfaction. Here are ways to cultivate strong social ties.

Keep the pipeline of CTE teachers flowing

UFT Vice President for Career and Technical Education High Schools Leo Gordon writes that as the Success Via Apprenticeship program celebrates its 40th year, it is imperative that this unique pathway for new CTE teachers receive the support and...

UFT’s large and diverse ‘family’

Union leaders and representatives from the union’s private, nonprofit and Department of Education functional chapters gathered at union headquarters on Jan. 16 to kick off a new union initiative intended to showcase and amplify the work of members in...

Fairness for our paraprofessionals

The fact is our paraprofessionals cannot survive in this city on a starting salary of just under $32,000. Without offering more money, the DOE cannot hope to retain and recruit enough paraprofessionals. 


Lincoln Center teaching artists approve new contract

Teaching artists at Lincoln Center, who are represented by the UFT, have reached agreement on a new five-year contract with significant economic gains and more input to help shape the type of education they provide.

Programs and professional activities

The provisions in the DOE-UFT contract regarding program preferences and professional activity assignments give teachers a voice about which classes they will teach the following year and which professional activities they are assigned.

Member Assistance Program

Established in 2009, the UFT’s Member Assistance Program (MAP) provides tools for coping with the full range of life’s challenges, such as work-related stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, bereavement and substance use disorders. 


Our trans youth

President Trump's executive order to end "radical indoctrination" is devoid of any compassion for the struggles of young people who are living or considering living as a person of the opposite gender. Nor does it acknowledge our role as educators in...

Our undocumented students

We will continue to fight for schools to remain safe zones. Our students deserve an education free from fear, humiliation and trauma. Children should feel safe and protected at all times, and when they are with us in our schools, we will ensure that...

Boilers, begone!

New city legislation requires that city-owned property, including public schools, generate at least 100 megawatts of electricity from solar panels by 2030 and 150 megawatts by 2035. The bill is a boon for the environment, public health, affordable...

Union’s big tent

More than 5,500 UFT members are employed by organizations other than the Department of Education. They are members of the union’s private and nonprofit chapters. Meet the leaders of those chapters.

Relief from the heat

Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed legislation to set a maximum classroom temperature of 88 degrees in public schools following a campaign led by the UFT and its state affiliate NYSUT. The new law takes effect in September 2025.


Give us some room

Educators at Boerum Hill School for International Studies in Brooklyn have banded together with students, parents and PTA leaders to demand the city reallocate classroom space being underutilized by a Success Academy charter school.

Don’t count out summer learning options

For some teachers, summer is the time to take teacher institutes offered by notable organizations across the country that provide practical and unique learning experiences expressly designed for educators. 


Schools jump at class-size funds

After a huge citywide push driven by school chapter leaders, more than 750 New York City public schools applied for funding to lower class sizes next school year.

UFT’s large and diverse ‘family’

Union leaders and representatives from the union’s private, nonprofit and Department of Education functional chapters gathered at union headquarters on Jan. 16 to kick off a new union initiative intended to showcase and amplify the work of members in...

VNS Health nurses OK contract

Federation of Nurses/UFT members who are licensed practical nurses with VNS Health overwhelmingly ratified a contract on Jan. 27 that provides a 7.5% increase in base pay over two years while establishing the employer’s contractual obligation to...

Pension choice for BERS members

More than 20,000 UFT members now have their choice of pension systems after a campaign led by members of the UFT Occupational and Physical Therapists Chapter. 


Kudos to Nicole Keaster, IS 5, Queens

Bringing the staff “together” has been the main objective of Nicole Keaster since becoming chapter leader at IS 5 in Queens three years ago. “If you have a strong community of respect, you can do all of the other things,” she said. 


Optical benefits look sharper

Union members enrolled in the UFT Welfare Fund and their eligible dependents can now get eyeglasses or contact lenses more frequently, for less money out of pocket and from more optical stores than ever.

April 1 deadline for new child abuse workshop

New York State law was recently amended to require that all DOE employees who are mandated reporters, including all classroom teachers, take additional training in the area of identifying and reporting child abuse and maltreatment/neglect.

Educators can deduct $300 on their taxes

Tax time is approaching and here's what educators should know what deductions they can take on their federal income taxes.