UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds writes that when it comes to our academic high schools and the broader New York City public school system, we need to lead — not follow — on innovation that affects our practice.

Tom Brown, the assistant treasurer of the UFT, was reelected in May to serve his fourth three-year term as a trustee on the board of the Teachers’ Retirement System. Brown was appointed chairman of the board in January after Debra Penny, the UFT...

Our students, especially those at diverse schools, need to feel like they belong in the school community. I developed a museum unit for my 4th-graders that embeds lessons on cultural awareness into our social studies and writing curricula.

Following passage of a state budget that allows 14 new charter schools to open in New York City, the UFT and other public education advocates are demanding more transparency and accountability from the charter sector.

The state budget adopted on May 2 includes a substantial increase in state aid for New York City schools. City schools will receive an additional $525 million, a 4.2$ increase over last year.

The UFT has a partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK), the top-ranked cancer hospital in the Northeast, that benefits both in-service and retired UFT members. When you or a family member is facing a cancer diagnosis, MSK’s specialists and...

Senior citizens need to be wary of emails, phone calls and text messages designed to get them to hand over money or share personal information, an elder fraud expert told UFT retirees at the Retired Teachers Chapter membership meeting in May. Fraud...

Retired educator Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa has sought refuge in libraries and books her whole life, and now she is contributing her own works to libraries — historical novels that reflect the richness, complexity, beauty and brutality of her Afro-Puerto...

Are UFT retirees missing out when they attend union events and courses remotely? The Si Beagle Learning Center now offers remote courses, activities and seminars that were only available in person before the pandemic. But there is growing pressure to...

Medicare Part B 2022 reimbursements were scheduled to be distributed in mid-April 2023.

Medicare B 2022 IRMAA reimbursements are scheduled to be issued by October 2023. Those retirees who are eligible for the IRMAA reimbursement must submit the IRMAA 2022 application along with the required supporting documents.

Everything you need to know about the UFT's Student Debt Relief Program and the status of federal student-debt forgiveness.

Former Brooklyn elementary school teacher Andy Pallotta, who led the New York State United Teachers for six years, stepped down as union president at the annual Representative Assembly in Albany in April, while the convention honored UFT members with...

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.

In a major reset, New York City is overhauling how reading is taught in early childhood and elementary school settings in public schools throughout the city. Over the next two years, elementary schools will be required to adopt one of three evidence...

Republican state lawmakers around the country have voted in recent months to create or expand programs that provide public funds to families for their children’s private education.


Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 9 signed legislation to prohibit automatic payroll deductions for dues and place other restrictions on public employee unions. The new law, which takes effect on July 1, also requires unions to pay for annual...

Canva is a popular online graphic design platform that has made premium features available to K-12 teachers for free. Canva for Education offers sophisticated designs that are easily customizable with templates created expressly for educators.

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 motion picture, television, digital media and broadcast news writers are not reaping the benefits they are due from the explosion of streaming service content Their wages have stagnated and their working conditions have deteriorated.

This May, New York City joined a nationwide shift in the teaching of reading when Schools Chancellor David C. Banks announced that all elementary schools over the next two years must adopt one of three evidence-based curricula that are grounded in...

UFT President Michael Mulgrew reminded the Delegate Assembly on May 17 that the new state class-size law will begin to be implemented in September, and that there is no excuse for schools to fail to fulfill the mandate.


Maria Ponciano, the chapter leader at PS 280 in Jackson Heights, uses social media, email, WhatsApp, Google Slides and other technology to keep her members engaged and informed.

The UFT made an impassioned case for a city budget that fully meets the needs of New York City’s students at the union’s annual legislative breakfast with City Council members on April 25 at UFT headquarters.

After a months-long push by the UFT and other public school advocates, the mayor and the city Department of Education made good on their promise not to cut individual school budgets in September. Schools will be held harmless for drops in enrollment...

Educators need the summer months to rest and recharge. But it’s also a good idea to fit in a few books about teaching when you have the time and mental space to absorb new information and reflect on your practice.

Fara Shahryary, 2nd-grade ICT teacher, and her co-teacher at PS 58 in Carroll Gardens created a chart that makes student transitions between stations smoother and quicker.

When we as teachers take the time to get to know our students' needs, interests and values, we create a learning environment that is more meaningful and relevant to their lives.

UFT members showed up at five simultaneous contract rallies — one in each borough — on May 24 to turn up the pressure on the city and the Department of Education to agree to a fair contract by the end of the school year.

There was no foot-dragging on the way to PS 372 in Brooklyn on May 3. That morning, pre-K through 5th-graders enthusiastically pedaled and scooted their way to the Gowanus school on National Bike & Roll to School Day.

District 11's annual scholarship dinner on May 5 at Villa Barone celebrated the collaboration between the UFT and school administrations and all they do for the students in the Bronx district.

The morning town hall at the UFT’s Spring Education Conference was devoted to self-care, stress reduction and wellness.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s core message to the 1,300 UFT members at the union’s Spring Education Conference on May 20 was “Kill hate with love." He told educators at the New York Hilton Midtown, “What we do is powerful. It’s our voice that must...

3D-printed dental prosthetics, delectable brownies and a pet adoption app that works like Tinder. These were just some of the handiwork of career and technical education high school students on display at the Spring Education Conference’s bustling...

School secretaries were honored with awards, flowers and festivities at the union’s School Secretaries Awards Soiree on June 2. The theme of the evening was “resilience.”

For school nurses, who are one to a school building, the best part of the School Nurses Appreciation Dinner, held this year on May 10 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan, is often mingling with colleagues.