September is a great time to set your intentions for how you’d like the school year to proceed and put strategies in place to help you achieve your goals.


Department of Education and City Salary Schedules

This Friday, 2/6, thousands of New York City public school educators are turning up the heat for pension reform by sharing their personal stories about why it's needed.

When Catrina Como became chapter leader at PS 376 in Brooklyn, she faced a tricky situation: The principal was demanding, and staff did not know their rights and were reluctant to speak up for themselves. “I work with a lot of amazing teachers who...

The UFT’s COPE — Committee on Public Education — program is one of the benchmarks of Sonja Hill’s chapter leadership.
Hill, a 5th-grade teacher in her 31st year at PS 41 in Brownsville, Brooklyn — and the school’s chapter leader for more than half of...

As a class, we read the book “Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You,” by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. We learned about how everyone is unique even if you don’t see it.

The UFT has an automated system to refund excess dues deducted from the pay of retirees who return to work for the DOE.

The New York State Education Department requires all teachers who are seeking initial or permanent state certification to take this workshop. School staffers learn techniques and practical approaches to avoid and defuse violent situations in school.

All new teachers and school-related professionals applying for New York State certification must take this state mandated workshop. 

UFT founder George Altomare and longtime Bronx district representative Patricia Filomena -- both former chairs of the UFT Italian-American Heritage Committee -- were honored at the committee's first in-person event since before the pandemic.

Medicare Part B premiums and the annual deductible will be reduced in 2023 for the first time in 11 years, the Biden administration has announced. A 3% reduction in the premiums will reduce the monthly payments by $5.20, from $170.10 to $164.90.

Along with police officers and EMTs, teachers must deal with gun violence and its aftermath and should have the opportunity and the time to develop meaningful curriculum around the issue, education activist Amina Brown said at a UFT-sponsored...

The UFT African Heritage Committee Awards Dinner restored music and festivity to its 20th annual event on Feb. 3, reflected in its theme: “Thriving Into Our Future.”

Component Amount Credited (+) Or Deducted (-) Certification (NYSED) Certified +10 Uncertified -10 Overall Annual Performance Rating During the Last Three Years (or from date of hire, if hired more recently) Rated “E” +4 for each E rating (possible...

If you are concerned about possible procedure violations in your Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), ask your chapter leader about the APPR resolution assistance process.

The Union agrees to maintain its eligibility to represent all teachers by continuing to admit persons to membership without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, handicapping...

Like the others who gave up their nights and weekends for the collective bargaining campaign in 1961, June Temple was a dutiful foot soldier. She could live with the long exhausting hours and no pay — not even car fare. But for some there were worse...

Alice Marsh, the UFT's first legislative rep in Albany, was the only child of a working single mother who insisted she go on to high school while the rest of her elementary school graduating class went off to work.

They made for an odd couple. Henry Linville, soft-spoken and almost courtly, with neither the temperament nor talent for personal confrontation. Not so his longtime and much younger sidekick Abraham Lefkowitz. “He was a fighter,” remembers Ruben...

The Union agrees to maintain its eligibility to represent attendance teachers by continuing to admit persons to membership without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex or marital status, sexual orientation...

Some 500 UFT members celebrated Educators Night on Broadway on March 11 at a performance of “Sunset Boulevard” at the St. James Theatre.

UFT members took part in the 40th annual AIDS Walk in Central Park and raised more than $5,000 for research and lifesaving programs for those living with HV/AIDS.

About 25 school staff gathered on Dec. 3 for a "Demystifying Dsability" workshop led by special education teacher David Friedman from PS 69 in Jackson Heights.

Some 500 UFT members enjoyed a performance of Broadway's "Buena Vista Social Club," the featured event of this year's Educators Night on Broadway, an annual collaboration between the Broadway League and the UFT.

The unavailability of a teacher to cover a class (i.e., a substitute teacher) constitutes an emergency.

When Roy Fialkow retired in 2019 after a 29-year career as an adaptive physical education teacher, his life came full circle: He returned to Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, where he had been a dancer in his 20s, as the nonprofit’s education...

Thousands of UFT retirees participate in hundreds of Si Beagle Learning Center courses, seminars, trips and dine-arounds each year.

Over 200 honorees and guests attended the inaugural Middle Schools Awards at UFT headquarters in Manhattan, where some 40 members were honored for excellence in education, collaboration and union activism.

About 300 Retired Teachers Chapter members and guests attended the RTC Luncheon, which featured performances by the New York City Labor Chorus, and Jimmy Hill and the All-starz Band, whose blues, soul and funk music got attendees dancing.
The RTC...

Not far from the UFT’s Park Avenue South headquarters, Al Shanker sits stiffly in the study of his apartment. Physically, he’s not himself.

We can teach students to become critical consumers of information by teaching them information literacy. The goal is not just to help students distinguish between factual and fictional content but to encourage them to think critically about all the...

How often should we assign homework? How much homework should we give? How much should we weigh homework when we calculate grades? Or should we even assign homework? Hear educators who have grappled with these questions.

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.