After years of advocacy by the UFT, paraprofessionals will be included in the Teacher’s Choice program for the first time this school year.


Feed from NY Teacher

Special classes offer different levels of staffing intensity depending upon the intensity of a student's academic and/or management needs.

Teaching is a natural fit for the creative and energetic Selinda Edwards of IS 117 in the Bronx. 
Colleagues say her thoughtful and dynamic teaching style is yielding big results with her 6th- and 7th-grade math students. 


The UFT Health & Safety committee offers environmental health workshops to our members on staff development days, extended days, union meetings, etc. If you would like to have one of these workshops offered at your school, please contact us.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew commends members on the new heights of union activism this year, especially in their advocacy for Tier 6 reform among state lawmakers and to push for passage of RESPECT check legislation in the City Council. He urges...

Summer is a good time to check on any outstanding items needed for state certification or to review state education policies if you are being appointed under a different license this upcoming school year. Read answers to common questions below and be...

Ten students from P396 K, a District 75 school in Brownsville, Brooklyn, read books they wrote during a Zoom presentation on Feb. 11, as part of an evening with the Sid Miller Academy Authors, a program begun during the pandemic to foster literacy...

The deadline to complete Special Education Remote Learning Plans has been extended to Wednesday, April 8.

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.

What will the next four years under President Donald Trump mean for public education in New York City? UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the Delegate Assembly on Jan. 15 that many parents are fearful of the ramifications.

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.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew sent a letter to NY State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa outlining concerns with the city's inability to provide mandated special education services.

The requirements for New York State certificates can be found at www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert. There are no separate requirements for a New York City license other than the availability of a vacancy in the certificate area and the recommendation of a...

A Staten Island paraprofessional presses for passage of the "RESPECT" check, reminding the public that she and her colleagues are as deserving as any of greater compensation.

The popular Teacher’s Choice program continues this school year, with eligible UFT-represented educators receiving a reimbursement for some of the supplemental instructional supplies they buy.

Authentic assessment allows teaching teams to gather information about children's development and learning through observation notes, photos, and work samples.

You may take off up to four days for the purposes of bereavement, at any point in the three months after the date of death of a covered family member. Form OP 201 is required.

A Brooklyn teacher expresses her gratitude for the care and dedication paraprofessionals demonstrate for students daily.

You must have New York State certification to be hired for a full-time teaching position in New York City. The position must match the state certificate. New York City no longer issues a separate paper license, but there is still a license...

UFT members at ADAPT Community Network, per diem employees and substitute paraprofessionals and their families now have access to unlimited virtual care through AllyHealth's network of board-certified doctors--absolutely free. Enroll today to take...

UFT leadership delivered testimony before the New York City Council Education Committee on their financial support of various UFT initiatives.

A. Cumulative Absence Reserves and Sick Leaves Regular school secretaries reinstated after retirement will be credited with the cumulative reserves remaining to their credit upon retirement and such reserves as they accumulated as regular substitutes...

Class sizes and staffing ratios (including teachers and paraprofessionals) in self-contained special education classes are determined by the needs of the students as reflected in their IEPs. The ratios are based on state regulations and NYC...

If you started working on the first day of school (for example, on 9/4), your first check (for example, distributed on 9/14), will be less than the regular, full amount. This is because there are days in the pay cycle (in this example, 9/1 through 9...