Learn how much you are being charged in union dues and how they are calculated.

Edward Skyler Deputy Mayor for Operations August 26, 2008 Ms. Randi Weingarten President United Federation of Teachers 52 Broadway New York, NY 10004 Dear Ms. Randi Weingarten, As you know, Mayor Bloomberg announced earlier this year that the City of...

UFT Vice President MaryJo Ginese writes that a half-century after the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which required an "appropriate education" for students with disabilities, the city DOE still has work to do.

Any regularly appointed teacher may apply for a leave of absence. Leaves of absence with partial pay include military leaves and sabbatical leaves for study and for restoration of health.

The UFT in 2018 was the first municipal union in New York City to secure paid parental leave for its members. Parents of any gender may be eligible to take UFT parental leave following the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child under the...

As continuing research confirms that skilled teachers are key to children’s academic success, school districts across the country, often working with their unionized staffs, are scrambling to recruit, reward and retain the most effective educators.

A. Evaluations Employees shall receive a copy of any evaluatory statement of their work performance or conduct which is placed in their permanent personnel folder. Employees shall be given an opportunity to answer any such evaluatory statement placed...

MEMORANDUM TO: All Superintendents, Executive Directors, Principals, Assistant Principals, UFT District Representatives, UFT Chapter Leaders, CSA Chairpersons FROM: Francine B. Goldstein, Chief Executive, School Programs and Support Services SUBJECT...

A. Conversion Charter Schools Pursuant to Article 56 of the New York State Education Law (the “Charter Schools Law”) an existing public school may be converted to a charter school. As modified below, employees of a Conversion Charter School shall be...

Enhanced student achievement based upon high standards and expectations must be the driving force behind every activity of New York City public schools. To accomplish this, we must reinvent schools so that decision making is shared by those closest...

UFT President Michael Mulgrew joined City Council Education Committee Chair Rita Joseph and other Council members outside City Hall on Jan. 30 to announce proposed legislation that would provide a recurring annual payment of $10,000 to full-time...

New York City schools, particularly in District 75, are in dire need of paraprofessionals, who provide essential support services for children with disabilities. The shortage won’t get resolved until the city Department of Education streamlines its...

The UFT has turned up the pressure on City Council leaders to bring the "RESPECT check" bill for paraprofessionals to a committee hearing and a vote. Forty-seven of 51 City Council members have co-sponsored the bill and more than 104,000 people have...

"If you're a paraprofessional, please stand up," UFT President Michael Mulgrew said to the crowd at Teacher Union Day on Nov. 6. As scores of paraprofessionals stood to thunderous applause, he turned to Shelvy Young-Abrams, their just-retired chapter...

Decades of UFT advocacy bore fruit for the union’s paraprofessionals on Oct. 29 as a newly enacted state law guaranteed all UFT-represented full-time paraprofessionals — on the job now and in the future — will automatically become members of the...

Michelle Lowe-Calixte has been an exemplary chapter leader the last three years — all while also serving as the District 23 paraprofessional coordinator.

Priscilla Castro was elected on May 25 as chapter chair of the Paraprofessionals Chapter for the term ending June 30, 2024. Castro had been serving as interim chapter chair since Shelvy Young-Abrams retired in October 2022.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams blocked the “RESPECT check” bill from coming to a vote before the full City Council this year.
But the UFT plans to redouble its efforts to get the bill across the finish line in the new year.

Our paraprofessionals have waited long enough. It’s time for the New York City Council to pass the bill providing a $10,000 annual “RESPECT check” for all New York City public school paraprofessionals.

In the few weeks since the new City Council members were sworn in, we’ve hit the ground running. Our paraprofessionals have met with at least 45 members of the City Council so far, and more appointments have been scheduled.

Thousands of paraprofessionals mobilized throughout 2025 to fight for the $10,000 annual "RESPECT check," only to have City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams block it. The UFT will redouble its efforts in the new year.

As a paraprofessional interested in an education career, the UFT’s Career Training Program helped me obtain a DOE voucher to earn my bachelor’s in early childhood education and psychology

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.