Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to lift the regional cap on charter schools and put the licenses for defunct charters back into circulation resurfaced in the final weeks of state budget negotiations after former Mayor Bloomberg and other Wall Street...

As the pandemic subsides, the Retired Teachers Chapter’s Brooklyn section, like other sections, is welcoming retired members back for line dancing, crocheting, seed beading and other in-person classes while it continues to offer remote classes, too.

Retiree Peggy Keyes establised a model train museum to raise money for pancreatic cancer research in honor of her husband, who died of the disease.

The RTC Executive Board voted to allow the UFT president and the Aetna health care plan presenters to speak with an extended Q&A period at our March and April meetings, deferring other normal business. Many members who wanted information without...

We are at a stronger place as a union than we were a year ago. We are using the muscle of activism. We have engaged our communities in a conversation about what is important to us as a profession. We have used our superpower — the power to educate —...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed legislation to repeal the state’s right-to-work law, making it the first state in nearly 60 years to roll back a law that allows workers to not pay union dues or fees.

Sparking anger and dismay among Houston educators and parents, Texas officials have announced a state takeover of the city’s public school district, the eighth-largest in the country.

Persuading lawmakers to oppose the governor’s proposal to substantially increase the number of charter schools operating in New York City topped the agenda for the nearly 900 UFT members and public school parents who traveled to Albany on March 13 to...

Following a three-day strike that shut down the Los Angeles school system, the second largest in the nation, the union representing more than 30,000 teacher’s aides, bus drivers, school cafeteria workers, custodians and other support staff reached a...

Assistive technology can be a game changer for special needs students. The following resources can supplement any assistive technology you may already use in your classroom.

A lunchtime LEGO club conceived by two paraprofessionals grows into an award-winning career and technical education STEM program at Fairmont Neighborhood Elementary School in the Bronx.

ChatGPT, a new artificial intelligence tool launched in November 2022, has the potential to be a game-changer for both students and teachers.

Cumulative Absence Reserve (CAR) is the formal name for the bank of “sick days” earned by UFT-represented employees who work for the city Department of Education (DOE). All full-time, school-based UFT members may earn up to 10 CAR days for the full...

Union leaders including UFT Vice President for Non-DOE Employees Anne Goldman, spoke in favor of hospital pricing transparency before a hearing on legislation to address the issue.

A student-friendly book and seminar on food allergies was created by Fatima Straughn, a paraprofessional at MS 45 in the Bronx, as a way to teach young children about the effects of food allergies.

The state's new class-size law designated the 2022-23 school year as a planning year, but there is little evidence the city Department of Education has done any planning to implement it. In fact, the city’s recent budget proposal and co-location...

It is a crucial year for New York City public schools as educators continue to help students recover from pandemic learning loss and isolation while welcoming some 14,000 newly arrived migrant children. But for the second year in a row, Mayor Eric...

UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the Delegate Assembly on March 15 that, despite Mayor Eric Adams’ comments to the contrary, the city must comply with new class-size requirements that have been funded by the state.

A social worker and an instructional coordinator from the city DOE's Division of Early Childhood Education provide crucial support to 3K and pre-K teachers at PS 7 in East Harlem.

As part of their fight for a fair contract, educators across the city on March 30 set out to make their heavy workload visible to their school communities and to the city during a citywide grade-in.

Negotiations between the UFT and the city are expected to shift into higher gear now that the members of District Council 37, the city’s largest union, have overwhelmingly ratified a new pattern-setting five-year contract with the city.

In my career, I have shared my classroom with the most wonderful assistants imaginable.

Why are kids bringing guns to school? According to Schools Chancellor David C. Banks, kids are bringing guns to school because they are afraid and want to protect themselves.

We work all day and night. The paperwork and administrative duties are out of control — all while we are trying to teach and control 32 8-year-olds in one class. It’s sad the kids suffer from that.

Kristin Golat-Defendis, the chapter leader at MS 51 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, stood up to an abusive principal. On Jan. 30, 2023, the principal was transferred out of the school.

I attended my first UFT Lobby Day on March 13, and it was quite the experience. Our District 75 group, alongside members from District 79, met with a politician’s aide. We let him know our thoughts regarding charter schools, among other topics. I...

Community School 55 in the Morrisania section of the Bronx has a Success Academy charter school co-located in its building, but the disparity in their resources and the student populations they serve make them anything but co-equal.

Here are some items to take care of right away and others that will help you prioritize and stay on track.

When you retire from teaching, your pension plan guarantees a lifetime annuity of regular payments based on a formula that takes into account your years of service, your salary and your age. Here's what you need to know about this valuable benefit.

Stephen T. Mather Building Arts and Craftsmanship HS's commitment to student well-being is why Sylwia Nosowicz, a first-year teacher whose first career was as a clinical mental health counselor, feels comfortable calling the school “a perfect match”...

The Labor Seder celebrated by the UFT Jewish Heritage Committee and the Jewish Labor Committee Educators’ Chapter on March 30 connected the themes of liberation and redemption in the Passover story of the exodus from Egypt with the struggles of the...

High school health teacher Massiel Sori combined art and science in a student project on the body's immune system.

Helping students learn to cope with anxiety experienced during and after the COVID-19 pandemic was the key takeaway from the UFT's seventh annual Social Workers Appreciation Day event on March 10, which attracted about 900 UFT members both in person...

Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters was packed on March 11 for the 19th annual School Counselors Conference — the first fully in-person conference the chapter has held since school buildings closed during the pandemic — and members relished the...

At their 41st annual Paraprofessionals Festival & Awards Luncheon on March 25, members celebrated the many rights they have gained since their chapter's founding and the trailblazers who led the way while acknowledging there is much more to do.

A capacity crowd attended the UFT Asian-American Heritage Committee’s annual Lunar New Year Banquet at House of Joy restaurant in Chinatown on March 10 to mark the Year of the Rabbit.