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NYSUT insurance premiums
Paycheck deductions made for NYSUT-endorsed insurance premiums began again in November and will continue through the last paycheck in June.
English Language Learners (ELL) Complaint Form
This complaint form, for use by educators, parents and other concerned individuals, will ensure English language learners (ELLs) receive the services and supports they need to succeed. Tell us why you feel students are not receiving required...
Parent conferences
More than 300 parents turned out on Nov. 5 at the UFT borogh offices in Queens and on Staten Island for a day of workshops, food and fun at the union’s parent conferences, the first in-person parent conferences in those boroughs since the COVID-19...
Psychologists Appreciation Day
Around 500 members networked and gathered resources at the union’s ninth annual Psychologists Appreciation Day on Nov. 7.
UFT Jewish Heritage Committee Awards dinner
History teacher Sari Beth Rosenberg of the HS for Environmental Studies in Manhattan was named Teacher of the Year at the UFT Jewish Heritage Committee’s annual Tikkun Olam Awards Night on Dec. 2
Invitational Golf Outing
About 100 attendees turned out for a round of golf to raise money for the UFT Disaster Relief Fund on Oct. 26 for the union's annual Invitational Golf Outing.
UFT Asian American Heritage Committee’s Moon Festival
More than 150 members, family and friends gathered at the Queens borough office on Oct. 25 in a celebration of togetherness and gratitude at the UFT Asian American Heritage Committee’s first Moon Festival.
A helping hand is just a phone call away
The UFT Welfare Fund Retiree Social Services' Nationwide Telephone Reassurance Program offers support for retirees that is just a phone call away. Retirees can chat for as long as they need about whatever issue they may wish to discuss or may be...
UFT United Community Schools food pantries 2025
Food pantries run by schools in the UFT’s United Community Schools network are lifelines for hundreds of needy families across New York City. The need was especially felt in late fall as a federal government shutdown delayed SNAP benefits for many and a surge in ICE detentions made immigrant populations wary.
File a Special Education compliance complaint
The goal of the Special Education/English Language Learners (ELL) Complaint process is to make sure students have the supports and services they need to succeed. To support this goal, we are asking you to tell us how the issue you are reporting...
Parent conferences
The three UFT parent conferences offered in the fall shared an organizing aim: to make sure parents are aware of the state law to lower class size and the importance of getting the Department of Education to comply with it.
Parent conferences
More than 500 parents, caregivers and community members poured into UFT borough offices this fall for the UFT's annual parent conferences in each borough.
UFT college and career fairs
Educators from schools across the city exposed their students to a variety of career and college pathways at three fairs hosted this fall by the UFT's Academic High School Division. The Future in Focus event highlighted careers in which the workers...
Thanksgiving luncheon and winter coat drive
Some 150 students living in temporary housing received coats and other winter gear at the UFT's annual Thanksgiving luncheon and coat drive, organized by the UFT Middle Schools Division.
Our fights yield better working conditions
UFT President Michael Mulgrew writes that we will see meaningful improvements in our working conditions — and our students’ learning conditions — this school year as a result of fights we undertook as a union for the changes we need.
A health care reset
We can all agree that our health benefits need a reset. For the past two years, the city and the MLC have been involved in a negotiated acquisition process for a new in-service and pre-Medicare retiree health care plan, which we hope will be the...
We won’t back down
Never in living memory has a new president unilaterally attacked public services, public education and worker rights like is happening now. But no one should underestimate the strength and grit that it takes to be a public school educator in New York...
Fairness for our paraprofessionals
The fact is our paraprofessionals cannot survive in this city on a starting salary of just under $32,000. Without offering more money, the DOE cannot hope to retain and recruit enough paraprofessionals.
Why we support Kamala Harris
Every election is important, but one could argue that the general election on Nov. 5 is the single most important election in our lifetime. As union members and public school educators, we have a clear choice: Kamala Harris.
We are also supporting...
Our power is in our members
A chapter leader on their own can only do so much. The power of our union is in all of its members. That has been provided by the work of our Chapter Action Teams.
Our class size campaign this spring
The state's class size law is our collective opportunity to significantly enhance the quality of education for every child in our city. Yet this historic moment is at risk due to the reluctance of Mayor Eric Adams and the city Department of Education...
The fight to eliminate Tier 6 inequities
One of the greatest benefits of UFT membership is having a guaranteed retirement allowance when you retire. But for members who joined the retirement system after April 12, 2012, their defined-benefit pension is not equal to what more veteran members...
Support for asylum-seeking families
We are facing a crisis in our school system that we are handling largely on our own: Over the past 18 months, more than 20,000 children from asylum-seeking families have arrived in our schools. Yet no one in leadership seems to be talking about or...
Mamdani gives us hope
Zohran Mamdani's election is great news for union members and for the UFT. Never before have we had a mayor who is a stronger champion of workers, labor unions and ordinary New Yorkers.
Linking to Learning resources
Links to online resources cited in "Linking to Learning" columns in New York Teacher.
NYCE PPO coverage begins Jan. 1
With the latest legal hurdles cleared, all city employees and pre-Medicare retirees in the GHI CBP plan and their dependents will be automatically enrolled in the new NYC Employees PPO plan on Jan. 1, 2026.
‘Demystifying Disability’ workshop
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.
Putting our contract into action
Contract enforcement all starts with understanding what the new agreement entails. Everyone should read the new contract — it’s the most important living document we as UFT members have.
Building our power through activism
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 —...
The joy of coming together
On May 24, thousands of UFT members showed up at our simultaneous contract rallies in all five boroughs to make their voices heard. We joined together in a sea of blue with handmade signs, rallying cries and a determination to fight for more respect...
Organizing for a fair contract
Schools across the city led by Contract Action Team (CAT) members joined together during the week of Jan. 30 to hold contract teach-ins that both informed and activated our membership on a whole new level.
At a health care crossroads
Make no mistake, the escalating cost of health care is a national issue that requires federal intervention. But in the meantime, we must figure out a way to stabilize the cost of our own health benefits so we can avoid premiums for at least the next...
We deserve a fair contract
This is our first contract negotiation since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first with this mayor and his schools chancellor. We have been preparing for this round of bargaining for eight months.
Raising our voices for special education
UFT Vice President for Special Education MaryJo Ginese writes that our special education teachers, paraprofessionals and related service providers do incredible work supporting children with IEPs, but the DOE too often has not fulfilled its part.
DOE must give special ed more attention
UFT Vice President for Special Education MaryJo Ginese writes that we have seen how so many of our students with disabilities have lost ground since the pandemic hit. This fall, we have been confronted with the rocky rollout of the DOE’s Special...
Better tool to assure special ed compliance
The new contract establishes school-based Special Education Committees and annual training of all staff on special education rules and regulations. Vice President for Special Education MaryJo Ginese writes that these new rights will empower members...