Strategies such as journaling, reader’s notes and social-emotional prompts can help students make the leap to making inferences from the fiction and non-fiction they read.

Checks for termination pay will be sent to the address on file with the Department of Education. Here is how to update your address if you have moved since your retirement.

Have an interest or subject matter that brings you joy? Consider teaching fellow retirees as a UFT Si Beagle instructor. Here is how to become an instructor.

In late June, the UFT withdrew its support for the city’s proposed Medicare Advantage plan for New York City’s Medicare-eligible retirees.

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.

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

The RTC’s voice is more powerful than it’s ever been, and the chapter is poised to be more active and engaged than ever before. Longtime retirees’ wisdom and experience combined with newer members’ energy and ideas is a winning recipe for protecting...

Retired Queens teacher Rebecca Owens-Goldhammer staged a theatrical return to her first love in crafting her Second Act in retirement -- as a designer of theatrical headpieces.

The following Q&A answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the teacher evaluation system for the 2024-25 school year.

Oftentimes the leaders of this union are the faces in the media, but we know the real work happens when our members drive the change. This school year, we will again be joining together to form citywide union committees to tackle some of the most...

After the UFT’s dogged advocacy, about 90 long-term substitute teachers received the higher pay and medical benefits they deserved before the end of the school year. In the 2024-25 school year, the UFT plans to keep up the fight to quickly secure Q...

The United Auto Workers filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Tesla CEO Elon Musk after the former president advocated for firing striking workers in a live...

The average student’s ability to make and maintain eye contact has gotten worse compared with a decade ago, according to the majority of the K-12 teachers, principals and district leaders in a recent EdWeek Research Center survey.

Helping students expand their vocabulary is crucial. Technology tools can offer powerful support for vocabulary development by providing multiple methods to encounter, practice and learn new words.


New York City’s Civics for All initiative, started in 2018, provides project-based and culturally responsive civics programs that prepare students to participate in democracy and become positive forces for change. 


Increasing member autonomy was a priority in the negotiations leading up to the 2023 DOE-UFT contract. That’s why in all single-session schools as well as District 75 schools that choose to use the default workday in the contract, teachers and...

Many UFT-represented members have a unique and valuable benefit: the ability to take an extended child care leave and return to their job afterward. This benefit is for those who want to take more time off than paid parental leave or an FMLA benefit...

High school teachers Lisa-Erika James and Marc Martorana, the only two New York City public school teachers to receive the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program award for the 2023-2024 academic year, say they are eager to bring a global...

The UFT is pushing New York State to update the formula it uses to allocate Foundation Aid to better reflect the actual cost of education and the particular needs of each school district’s students.

Our #StartStrong campaign continues. The city and the DOE must do more to put our city’s youngsters on the path to educational success.

Democrat Kamala Harris has earned our parent union’s endorsement because she is pro-public education and pro-union, as is her running mate Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor and a former teacher. 


At its June 12 meeting, the Delegate Assembly passed four resolutions, including one on the overassessment of elementary school students.

A retiree takes issue with Donald Trump’s lack of a sense of personal responsibility.

A pre-K teacher speaks out on the urgent need to restore funding for early childhood education.

A retiree defends Joe Biden’s record on technology and infrastructure investment.

Leah Lin, chapter leader at PS 85 in Queens, keeps her fellow educators informed and engaged about union and contract matters with the short, fun and easy-to-follow Morning Rush videos she posts regularly on her Instagram account.

This summer, the union launched Childcare Connection, a benefit to help UFT members find out if they qualify for free or reduced-cost child care as well as to find home-based child care providers near their home or work.


Membership in the UFT means never having to figure it out all alone, with union support and resources across the spectrum of financial, physical and mental wellness. Here is a list of resources available to UFT members.

Kindergarten teacher Samantha Shekian created a “request a selfie” station to give students the chance to request a photo of themselves and the work of which they are proud. Then she sends the photo to their parents.

New special education teacher Emily Hang Duong, who teaches math and science at IS 234 in Brooklyn, motivates her students by never letting them forget that they have every opportunity to grow.

Harlem 4th-grade teachers Melody Naccarato and Pura Luna let their students get their hands dirty as they learned about plants and biodiversity during a class trip to the historic Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in the Bronx.

Hundreds of families packed the schoolyard at PS 21 on Staten Island for the UFT's third annual back-to-school backpack giveaway, where children received needed backpacks and school supplies, served alongside food and fun.

UFT members and parent volunteers handed out back packs and other school supplies to more than 1,000 students during this year's Harlem Week festivities.

The UFT Pension Department offers an array of services to inform members of their retirement benefits and help them prepare for retirement.


About 1,500 new teachers became proud new members of the UFT at the opening day of the Department of Education’s annual New Teacher Week.


Looking through President Biden's sunglasses, the future's so bright.