The 52nd NYSUT Representative Assembly on May 3-4 was a celebration of recent victories, including Tier 6 pension reform, and a rallying cry for the battles ahead.

The UFT welcomed its newest members this spring with a series of events, from bowling and arcades to nature walks and paint and sips, geared to build community, connection and camaraderie.

The attempt by the United Auto Workers union to gain a stronger foothold in the politically conservative South faltered in mid-May when workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, voted against joining the union.

Performers who play characters like Mickey Mouse and Goofy at the Disneyland Resort in Southern California voted overwhelmingly in May to join the Actors’ Equity Association.

School segregation has been rising over the past three decades, with the greatest increase in large school districts, according to new research from Stanford University and the University of Southern California.


Given the city’s diverse student population, a pressing issue for educators has been how to differentiate instruction to reach all students using one of the new reading curriculum programs.

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. 


The UFT Welfare Fund provides a hearing aid benefit that reimburses UFT-represented employees and their dependents up to a maximum of $4,000 once every three years.

Each year, RoseAnn Victoria and LeeAnne Thristino, art teachers at IS 34 on Staten Island, team up to present an art show, which includes works from about 300 students who selected art as their minor.

In 2021, nurses and patients secured a hard-won victory with the passage of the state Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act. The law, among other provisions, set up safe and reasonable staffing ratios. But New York City hospitals routinely flout the law...

Hundreds of public school educators and families at the Graphic Communication Arts Educational Campus in Manhattan on May 11 to choose from 50,000 free books for children of all ages. The special event, along with four other book giveaways the same...

The roughly 5,500 UFT members who belong to the smaller New York City Board of Education Retirement System want the opportunity to switch to the TRS — and there is a bill in Albany that would give them that choice.


UFT President Michael Mulgrew emphasized in his Delegate Assembly report on May 22 that, besides 2024 being a presidential election year, New York State Congressional races might be just as important.


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 push to ensure New York City implements the state class size law gained new momentum this spring after state lawmakers included a provision in the state budget requiring the city Department of Education to fund class size reduction in individual...

The UFT welcomed City Council members to its annual legislative breakfast on May 9 to educate them about union programs and initiatives that need funding in the upcoming city budget.


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...

Christina McGrath received 69% of the online vote to win the election for TRS trustee. However, since the DOE decided to conduct an electronic election for the position on May 8-9 instead of the paper balloting called for in the election bylaws, an...

As much as you might want to toss all your materials in a box and sprint out the door on the last day of school, consider doing your future self a favor by strategically preparing for September in June, thoughtfully packing up your classroom and...

A 4th-grader teacher in the Bronx sends "happy mail" to let her students know that their hard work and effort is noticed and appreciated.

Candy Jorge, a Spanish teacher at Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School in Manhattan, came to the United States from her native Dominican Republic at the age of 17 with nothing. Now the 9th-grade team leader develops and implements...

Students of NYC, the UFT's social media initiative to highlight the city's amazing middle and high schoolers, celebrated its first year during a fete at UFT headquarters.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew oversaw a panel of UFT Teacher Center literacy district coaches who discussed the progress and pitfalls of Phase 1 of the rollout of new phonics-based literacy curricula in 15 New York City districts.

Several hundred paraprofessionals who contribute to COPE, the union’s political action fund, attended a performance of Suffs, the Broadway musical about women’s battle for the right to vote, as an expression of thanks from the UFT.

The dynamism of New York City’s career and technical education high schools was on display at the exhibit hall during the conference. Teachers and students from 17 schools across the city shared their passions and projects.

The UFT awarded scholarships to 189 public high school and graduate students as part of the annual Albert Shanker College Scholarship Awards Celebration and Reception. The students, many of whom began their high school careers online during the...

The UFT School Nurses Chapter celebrated the "hidden figures" of the city's schools with its annual School Nurses Appreciation Dinner. Held on May 8, which was also National School Nurse Day, the event was a time to "go all out," Chapter Leader...

More than 500 providers and guests gathered on May 10 to celebrate the role that family child care providers play in not only caring for and preparing children for school but also in stabilizing families and, by extension, the city’s economy.

This year's Retired Teachers Chapter Luncheon celebrated the "visionaries" on whose shoulders stand retirees and in-service members alike as some 500 attendees were urged to continue advocating for political change and the rights of educators...

Works of art by 22 UFT members, both active and retired, were showcased at the New York City Art Teachers Association/UFT's Dreams Art Show on Staten Island on May 10.

The Federation of Nurses/UFT honored 21 nurses for their patient advocacy and activism in the face of a health care landscape that puts profits before patients during its annual Nurse Recognition Day awards dinner.

More than 200 Queens middle school students gathered at the Queens County Farm Museum for the fourth annual Let’s Talk About It event sponsored by the UFT’s Member Assistance Program.

Members of the New York City Association of Foreign Language Teachers/UFT gathered to find out best practices in the teaching and learning of multiple world languages and cultures at only the second in-person event the committee has held since the...

"Pete the Cat" author Eric Litwin led early childhood educators in a merry dance as they practiced how to engage the city's youngest learners in a love for reading during the 16th annual Early Childhood Conference held at the UFT headquarters.

U.S Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited UFT headquarters on April 8 to meet UFT members who benefited from the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

The city's speech teachers and their students were honored at the UFT's Better Speeh and Hearing Celebration, where a wide variety of therapies that speech teachers provide were highlighted.