Here we are in the 2021-22 school year, still dealing with COVID-19,  wearing masks, social distancing and trying to manage stressors created by the pandemic. In this episode of the Classroom Café podcast, mental health speaker and best-selling author Mike Veny will discuss the “next normal” and how to support people where they are.  Listen in for tips on how you can maintain your own mental wellness and support others with compassion and concern.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education regarding changes in the DOE's COVID-19 protocols and implementation of the vaccine mandate.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew testified before the New York State Senate Committees on Education, NYC Education, and Budget and Revenue to review how school districts are spending Foundation Aid and American Rescue Plan funds.

Teacher Union Day offers an opportunity to celebrate our union's recent accomplishments while remembering the brave educators who put everything on the line in the 1960 strike that forged this union. Congratulations to this year's honorees!

On Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, all staff in school buildings will have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which marks a major step to keeping our school communities safe for the duration of this pandemic. We are proud that 97% of our membership has...

Aspiring teachers will find more information about various pathways for certified and uncertified teachers here: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/careers/teachers/aspiring-teachers. You can find more information, including an application, on the NYC DOE...

Yes, the parent can make an audio recording of the IEP team meeting if the parent requests permission to make the recording in writing to the principal or chairperson at least one business day before the IEP meeting. If the parent makes an audio...

Learn ways of identifying students at risk of substance use and how to support them. In this episode of the Classroom Café podcast, the New York Times best-selling author Jessica Lahey will discuss her latest book, The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. She will share her personal story as an educator with addiction, the latest research around youth and substance use and resources to support students and their families.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued a statement in response to a federal panel's ruling that the DOE could begin enforcing its vaccine mandate.

The UFT and the principals union are sounding the alarm that the city has no plan to deal with the looming staffing shortage certain to be triggered by the vaccine mandate.

For more than a century, the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) has ensured that UFT members and their families have a financially secure future, and today the TRS membership includes more than 200,000 in-service members, retirees and beneficiaries.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued a statement in response to Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Mark Cannizzaro's call for the DOE to delay implementation of the vaccine mandate for employees due to staffing issues.

Municipal Labor Committee Chair Harry Nespoli issued a statement in response to a judge's decision to lift the temporary restraining order on the city's vaccine mandate for employees.

A health insurance provider has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York challenging the process used to award the contract for the new NYC Medicare Advantage Plus Plan for New York City retirees who are eligible for Medicare.

The DOE Payroll Portal allows you to see your salary information, pay stubs and other personal information.

To be "F-status" means you are working as a per diem employee engaged for a full term but for less than five full days per week (e.g., 2 days every week). The full/part-time employee receives a salary pro-rated for the time worked at 1/200th of the...

UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued a statement in response to Mayor Bill de Blasio's announcement that schools would resume weekly COVID testing and that unvaccinated students would no longer automatically quarantine after exposure to a positive...

Ever since the mayor announced in late August that the city planned to only do biweekly COVID testing this school year, the UFT has been prodding the city to hire more testing teams to continue the weekly testing that kept our school communities safe...

UFT Hearing Officers (Per Session) Chapter Leader Tony Feldmesser testified before the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings regarding a proposal to amend the rules of practice for the conduct of remote proceedings.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to restore weekly COVID testing in schools.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Laurence Love today signed a temporary restraining order in the case brought by the Municipal Labor Committee against the city’s mandate of COVID vaccines for all city workers.

There were plenty of smiles and a bit of trepidation as the 2021–22 school year kicked off with all students returning to in-person learning in their classrooms for the first time since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Join with other members in a safe space where we will share strategies and resources for support. Together, we can normalize the conversation around substance use and shatter the stigma that harms individuals and families affected by it.

When we’re feeling stressed out, it’s easy to lose sight of our goals and turn to unhelpful behaviors to cope. Learn ways to understand what’s holding you back from building better habits and establish a plan to keep you on track toward achieving...

In this four-week virtual group, you will learn the basics of mindfulness, understanding and regulating your emotions, and how to apply these skills in your everyday life.

An independent arbitrator has upheld the union's position and ruled that the city must offer work outside school buildings to immunocompromised members who — even vaccinated — are at high risk of contracting serious illness from a COVID-19 infection...

An independent arbitrator has ruled that New York City teachers with certain documented medical conditions must be offered non-classroom assignments. Other staffers reluctant to take the vaccine must be offered either an unpaid leave that maintains...

The city’s Department of Education has suddenly begun a “get-tough” policy refusing medical accommodations for teachers with serious illnesses, including those recovering from cancer or from organ transplants, UFT President Michael Mulgrew announced...

More than 323,000 borrowers with significant or permanent disabilities will be relieved of a total of about $5.8 billion in student debt beginning in September, the U.S. Education Department announced.

The worst thing we can do as teachers is to ignore what has happened the past year. How can you start the school year in a way that acknowledges the trauma of the pandemic and sets students up for success as we move forward?

UFT members went door to door in August to speak with parents about their hopes and concerns about the full reopening of New York City schools for in-person instruction.

Bronx teacher Jamala Roper asked her 5th-graders to reveal their emotions “to” their masks. "Every emotion you can think of was shared behind their masks," she says.

Former paraprofessional Sherwin Persaud made the transition to teacher last school year, finding his niche working with autistic children and those with behavioral issues in the early grades at P233 in Forest Hills, Queens.

The UFT Bronx borough office organized a back-to-school celebration on Aug. 26, partnering with the New York Pubic Library and several other community organizations to bring supplies and activities to more than 150 local parents and children.

About 300 local families braved 90-degree weather to attend a back-to-school supplies giveaway organized by the UFT and community partners on Aug. 12 at PS 19 on Staten Island.