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Flower power
The new retreat room at PS 146 in Howard Beach, Queens, has brightly painted walls, fluffy rugs and soft pillows and is a comfortable safe space, alternative learning environment, relaxation and de-escalation area, and club room for students in the...
Ex-Bronx chapter leader gets justice
An administrative law judge has ruled that Bronx teacher Brenda Cartagena had been the victim of retaliation by her school’s principal for standing up for her members’ rights as school chapter leader.
The cat’s out of the bag
Pets in the Classroom, a program that gives financial support to pre-K through 9th-grade teachers for small animals to keep in their classrooms, provides teachers with one initial voucher or rebate to purchase a pet and necessary supplies and then a...
One step closer to smaller classes
Smaller class sizes make parents feel better about their child’s education, makes children feel more seen in class and allows teachers’ hard work to become more effective. The bill passed by the state Legislature on June 2 takes us one step closer.
California embraces community schooling
California is launching a seven-year initiative to convert potentially thousands of schools into full-service, parent-focused community schools.
Starbucks fires 20 union organizers
Starbucks is using aggressive tactics to squash the efforts of workers seeking to unionize at the world’s largest coffeehouse chain.
Conservatives fare poorly in NY school board races
An analysis of preliminary results from New York State’s May 17 school board elections found that the majority of conservative “parents’ rights” candidates, who oppose mask mandates, critical race theory and other policies, were trounced in their...
A mosaic memorial
Colleagues and students create a mosaic mural to remember Rulx Dagus, a paraprofessional at P 369K in Park Slope, Brooklyn, who died of COVID-19.
Schoolhouse heroes
Three New York City public school educators jumped into action when they saw their students in distress, and their help made the difference in each life-threatening situation.
Google Chrome extensions for educators
There are many reasons for using Google’s Chrome browser — it’s generally fast and integrates seamlessly with Google programs you may use such as Google Classroom. But there is another good reason: the ability to add Chrome extensions.
ENL integrated co-teaching
When I began my teaching career in 2007, more than a quarter of the students at my Queens elementary school were English language learners. Each year, our school seemed to shift its strategy for English as a New Language instruction in a fresh...
Stunning Amazon upset
The Amazon Labor Union wins one organizing battle and loses one at two of the company's Staten Island warehouses.
En garde!
Every Friday after school at PS 340 in the Kingsbridge Heights section of the Bronx, 20 students march into the school cafeteria and prepare to attack each other with swords. They are participants in the school’s first-ever fencing club, launched in...
Gun violence
Over and over, we bear witness to these horrors and raise an outraged cry for our elected leaders to keep those weapons out of our schools and off our streets. Each time, those cries fall on ears deafened by the National Rifle Association lobby and a...
Confronting dyslexia
This spring Mayor Eric Adams launched an ambitious $7.4 million literacy initiative targeting children with dyslexia. While it’s an admirable idea, there are still many more questions than answers.
Delegates decry deadly school shooting
Americans were still reeling on May 25, a day after the carnage in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old brandishing automatic weapons shot and killed 19 elementary school children and two of their teachers. And emotions were still raw among the union...
The art of collaboration
Collaboration among three arts teachers and their classes at PS 295 in Brooklyn led to a 90-second commercial. They came up with the idea and designed a product in art class, composed a jingle in music class and wrote a script and acted out the...
Clothes closet ‘fills a need’
PS 52 in Queens, a school with a large population of students in temporary housing, has furbished a room called the community closet fully stocked with children's clothes of all sizes. “We don’t beat the drum about it, but it quietly fills a need and...
Kudos to Emma Gomez, PS 206, Queens
Emma Gomez, a new chapter leader job at PS 206 in Rego Park, Queens, organized an action every single weekday in March 2020 as part of the Queens borough office’s March Madness initiative in schools to help boost morale and build strong chapters.
Survey to inform contract goals
More than 32,000 UFT members responded to an online survey commissioned by the UFT to gauge their primary bargaining goals as the union prepares to negotiate with Mayor Eric Adams and the DOE on a contract to replace the one set to expire in...
Why New York City needs smaller class-size caps
The UFT found that nearly 90% of the system’s current buildings could adopt the new class size guidelines by using administrative and similar spaces for instruction.
UFT fights unnecessary school budget cuts
Falsely pleading poverty, the New York City Department of Education released school budgets that needlessly cut school funding and rolled back the progress made in creating small class sizes. See how much money your school could lose if we don't...
Save the Date for the 19th annual School Counselors Conference
The 19th annual School Counselors Conference will take place on Saturday, March 11, 2023.
UFT awards nearly 200 Shanker scholarships
The United Federation of Teachers will award Albert Shanker college scholarships to nearly 200 public high school seniors at a ceremony at UFT headquarters Tuesday.
UFT on passage of small class size legislation
UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued a statement in response to the passage of class size legislation in Albany.
UFT reacts to proposed Albany legislation
UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued statements in response to two pieces of legislation in Albany, one on governance of NYC public schools and one proposing to lower class sizes.
Resolution to stand against gun violence
The union supports Governor Hochul’s measures in New York, reaffirms its longstanding support for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as other gun safety laws, and will work with the American Federation of...
Decorum resolution
We the members and delegates of the United Federation of Teachers regardless of any caucus or affiliation recommit ourselves to the principles of respectful and open debate; be it resolved, that we affirm our commitment to argue our differences...
Asian American curriculum resolution
The UFT supports the inclusion of AAPIs in the DOE Mosaic Curriculum; and may it be further resolved, that the UFT partner with the Asian American Education Project in moving forward state legislation supporting the inclusion of curriculum...
Recharge this summer
Everyone can benefit from a vacation during the summer months. Allowing yourself to take a true break also gives you the opportunity to cultivate new interests, catch up on reading, exercise (maybe even try a new form), painting, gardening or...
Testimony regarding the New York City FY23 Executive Budget and Capital Commitment Plan
UFT President Michael Mulgrew testified before the New York City Council Committee on Finance regarding the city's fiscal year 2023 executive budget and capital commitment plan.
UFT helps provide sensory tool kits to more than 16,000 NYC classrooms
To help children focus, the Positive Learning Collaborative—a joint UFT/DOE program—provides sensory tool kits to more than 16,000 public school classrooms.
Summer Rising resources for paraprofessionals
These resources for paraprofessionals working in the 2022 Summer Rising program outline protocol for working with students with disabilities.