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We must end the city’s annual budget soap opera
UFT President Michael Mulgrew wrote an op-ed in the New York Daily News calling for an update to New York’s budget process to make it more democratic and responsive to the needs of communities.
Lead Teacher Assistant Q&A for Paraprofessionals
Find out more about the lead teacher assistant (lead educational associate) position for paraprofessionals.
Resolution to remove early voting sites from NYC public schools
The UFT reaffirms the importance of early voting for all residents of New York City and calls on the city Board of Elections not to use schools and instead identify alternative public spaces for early voting.
False Accusations
UFT members have been falsely accused of sexual misconduct or physical abuse involving students.
Clinicians Appreciation Day 2024
Social workers and psychologists gathered virtually and in person at UFT headquarters on Jan. 12 for their chapter’s annual Clinicians Appreciation Day professional development. Between workshops on implicit bias, the 400 in-person attendees and 900 remote attendees offered each other camaraderie and support.
Colorectal cancer resources
Review these resources below to learn more about colorectal cancer and screening tests.
Colorectal Cancer Awareness
Learn more about the importance of getting screened for colorectal cancer and view resources available to UFT members.
UFT, Staten Island Borough President announce lawsuit to halt congestion pricing
The United Federation of Teachers and the office of the Staten Island Borough President, joined by individual plaintiffs, filed a federal lawsuit to halt the implementation of congestion pricing in Manhattan, scheduled to go into effect this spring.
See the Express Scripts preferred formulary
View a list of the most commonly prescribed Express Scripts drugs.
Federation of Nurses/UFT wins another short-staffing case against NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn
Arbitrator James A. Brown found the hospital violated contractual staffing ratios and ruled that the nurses who worked these understaffed shifts were entitled to split the average wage of the missing nurses.
Building financial wellness
Wellness matters, and it’s not just about yoga, meditation and stress reduction. Having your finances in order and managing your money well can improve your overall quality of life both now and in the future.
Are you thankful or grateful?
Thankfulness is a feeling, and like all emotions, it is fleeting. Gratitude, however, is a state of being — an attitude of appreciation — under any circumstance. In this episode of the Brewing Wellness podcast, we welcome Francine Steadman, the owner of BuddhaBooth, which has brought portable meditation spaces to schools and workplaces and is a longtime partner of the UFT Member Assistance Program. She joins Raul Garcia, the UFT Social Workers and Psychologists’ chapter leader, for a discussion of how to cultivate gratitude. They share ways to express and receive gratitude through acts of kindness as well as discuss strategies for improving our own social and emotional well-being.
Climate change overblown
It’s interesting that we, in the United States, are always being asked to change our lifestyle to remedy so-called “climate change.” China and India are where the advocates should be looking for reform. They are far worse polluters than the United...
Biden’s Medicare drug initiative is not revolutionary
In response to Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy’s column about the Inflation Reduction Act giving Medicare the authority to bargain on prescription drug prices [Nov. 2]: This legislation encourages a continuation of financing Big Pharma and...
Burnout is an important topic
In response to a UFT tweet about the Your Well-Being column on healing from burnout [Sept. 7]: I’m so glad that the union put out this post. It’ll help people dealing with burnout know that they are not alone. I’m so grateful for the better working...
Don’t make Regents optional
When any test is made mandatory for graduation, it usually reaches for the lowest common denominator. If scores on such tests are “influenced by a student’s income, cultural differences or other obstacles,” the solution is not to eliminate such tests...
Hexagonal thinking article resonated
I enjoyed Sarah Kuhner’s Teacher to Teacher column headlined “Make connections with hexagonal thinking” [Nov. 2].
Katie Garfield, hospital schools program teacher
As a teacher at a hospital clinic, Katie Garfield instructs K–12 students while they receive treatment for cancer and blood diseases including sickle-cell anemia.
Better holiday habits
As we enter the holiday season, remember to make yourself a priority as well. The end of the year is a good time to reflect on decisions made during the past year: what worked and what didn’t, and how to build better habits.
Giving back to communities year round
UFT Vice President for Elementary Schools Karen Alford writes that our schools are more than academic institutions. They are caring institutions and, as educators, we understand that caring for the communities we work in is part of teaching and...
Three informal assessment options
Sometimes, informal assessments can be more meaningful and less anxiety-provoking than traditional tests for students. Three informal assessments I use in my high school chemistry classes are 10-Point Bingo, a whiteboard activity and “I Can”...
History of the UFT pension plan
New pension plan tiers come into existence when the state Legislature enacts new laws that change benefits, contribution rates and service requirements. But a pension tier is never set in amber. Over the past 40 years, legislative amendments to each...
Dancing to his own drummer again
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...
Our growing role at the AFT
While the national union may seem distant from our activist local in New York City, we are, in fact, an integral part of the AFT. The AFT’s bird’s eye view keeps us involved in national issues and policies that affect the wider labor movement and...
Defend children’s right to shelter
Mayor Eric Adams has introduced a new policy to limit families with children to a 60-day stay in shelters. Sign this petition calling on the mayor to reverse this policy before it creates chaos in our schools and harms families who are the most in...
School safety
School safety is a prerequisite for teaching and learning. The UFT’s Safety and Health Department is dedicated to protecting all UFT members from safety threats that can confront them in schools. Here are answers to some of the most common questions...
Enrollment drive saves Harlem school’s funding
When PS 30, a United Community School in Harlem, found out in early October that it was going to lose $285,000 due to low enrollment, it decided to take the initiative and find 30 more students. By the end of October, PS 30 had 76 new students — more...
At 100, still embracing the challenge
Miriam Krinick, who turned 100 in November, was honored on Nov. 1 at Brooklyn’s PS 108, where she taught for 18 years, at the unveiling of a Little Yellow Library, a charitable donation to the school from the Kendra Scott Foundation.
A chance to speak out on mayoral control
For too long, we have been at the whim of whatever agenda the current mayor decides to pursue. The school budget cuts we are now fighting is a perfect example. What our schools need is not always aligned with what the mayor wants. What is the purpose...
UFT nurses’ arbitration victory
Federation of Nurses/UFT members employed by NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn won a significant victory in their long-running battle with the Sunset Park hospital over short staffing when an independent arbitrator on Dec. 1 sided with the union and...
Noteworthy Graduate: Heather Simms, Broadway actor
Actor Heather Simms is playing Missy Judson in the current Broadway revival of Purlie Victorious. She made her stage debut in 2nd grade at PS 243 in Crown Heights, hamming it up as the mother in “Hansel and Gretel.”
Class-size cap omitted from Portland deal
After striking for more than three weeks in November, the Portland, Oregon school district and the union representing teachers, school counselors and other employees reached an agreement that boosts salaries and planning time. But the new contract...
UAW mounts new organizing drive
The United Auto Workers is targeting nearly 150,000 workers at U.S. factories owned by 13 automakers, including large foreign-owned companies and electric vehicle manufacturers, in one of its largest organizing drives in history.
Bargaining boost affects joint employers
A federal rule that takes effect on Dec. 26 creates new standards for determining when two companies should be considered “joint employers” under the National Labor Relations Act, which could make it easier for millions of franchise employees and...
‘Not the time for budget cuts’
In a terrible blow to New York City public schools still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Eric Adams plans to make three successive 5% cuts to education funding between December and June.
Data literacy essential
Understanding and interpreting data is a fundamental skill of modern life. Learn how to teach data skills using engaging, student-centered strategies and resources.