New York TeacherSeptember 5, 2025

Volume LXVII, Number 1

The new UFT-backed bell-to-bell ban on cellphones and other internet-enabled electronic devices is a win for both students and the teachng profession. It addresses a longstanding concern raised by teachers: the constant distraction of phones in the classroom. The union also successfully lobbied to ensure educators are not responsible for enforcing the ban.

Cover Story

Cellphone ban takes effect

When it comes to cellphones, New York City public schools are on “silent” mode.

The new academic year marks the start of the statewide bell-to-bell ban on cellphones and any other internet-enabled electronic communication devices in schools or on school grounds. The ban, which will be in place for the entirety of the school day, includes phones, earbuds, smartwatches, laptops, tablets and portable entertainment systems, such as game consoles. See our FAQ to learn more »

The city’s Panel for Educational Policy adopted the chancellor’s regulations on the new state law in late July, and schools had a deadline of early August to submit their implementation plans after consulting with the school leadership team. The ban was in place on the first day of classes in all…

Latest News

News Stories

New city health plan negotiated

The Municipal Labor Committee and the city reached a tentative agreement with EmblemHealth and UnitedHealthcare on Aug. 28 on a new health care plan for in‑service city workers, pre-Medicare city retirees and their families.

News Stories

UFT welcomes new teachers

The number of new teachers who turned out on Aug. 26 for the kickoff of New Teacher Week was about twice as large as last year, thanks to the surge of hiring over the summer to reduce class sizes in some 750 schools. As the new hires lined up outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn early that morning, about 100 UFT reps, including UFT President Michael Mulgrew, were on hand to welcome them and enroll them in the union.  

Feature Stories

Homing in on learning

Following a visit to the Washington Heights Library for a read-aloud about birds, PS 4 co-teachers Lizette Lantigua and Yomayra Gomez and their 1st-graders spied the Morris-Jumel Mansion as they walked through upper Manhattan’s Jumel Terrace Historic District.

“The kids got curious about it, and the teachers as well, because my co-teacher and I had never been there,” Lantigua said. On June 18, they and their students walked from their nearby school to the Georgian-Palladian-style home that is Manhattan’s oldest surviving residence for a class trip.

After venturing guesses from 45 to 100,000 about the mansion’s age, the 1st-graders learned from Caroline Siavichay, the museum’s school and community programs manager, that the mansion is 260 years old. “Oh, my God!” one of the students responded in amazement.

Noteworthy Graduates

Noteworthy Graduate: James J. McBratney, Restaurant owner

James J. McBratney, a product of Staten Island public schools, is a successful business owner and financial adviser best known on Staten Island as the proprietor of Jimmy Max Restaurant, a community staple he dropped out of college to open in 1989.

Who are we?

The United Federation of Teachers represents nearly 200,000 members, including a diverse group of some 78,000 teachers and 26,000 paraprofessionals as well as school counselors, school nurses, social workers and psychologists, occupational and physical therapists and school secretaries. Discover more about who makes up the UFT in this series of charts and graphs.

Member Spotlight

What I Do

Sharon Brown, budget director

Sharon Brown, a member of the UFT’s Administrative Education Officers and Analysts Chapter, supports the principals of 32 Bronx high schools with budget compliance.

Chapter Leader Shoutout

Kudos to Kesha Hopkins, Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment

UFT Chapter Leader Keesha Hopkins successfully led the charge that saved her school, the Brooklyn Academy of Science and Environment, from being merged with another high school co-located in the same building.

Around the UFT

Staten Island Back-to-School BBQ

More than 1,000 families received backpacks and other school supplies at the union's fourth annual back-to-school supplies giveaway and barbecue on Aug. 7 at PS 21 on Staten Island.

Harlem Week

UFT member and parent volunteers handed out about 250 backpacks filled with school supplies to famiiies during Harlem Week festivities on Aug. 18.

Your Rights and Benefits

Know Your Benefits

Transit programs

If you travel to work by public transportation, you can save money by taking part in the City of New York Commuter Benefits Program, which enables you enables you to pay for allowable commuting costs in the city and the tri-state area with tax-free funds.

Know Your Rights

Workplace discrimination and harassment

The UFT-DOE contracts contain protections against a wide range of discriminatory or harassing behaviors, including sexual harassment. Federal, state and city laws also provide protections. Here is what you need to know. 

Your Well-being

Setting yourself up for a great year

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. 

You Should Know

Grants, Awards & Freebies

Grants, Awards & Freebies

See our list of current opportunities for educators to receive funds and recognition for their hard work and dedication.

For Your Information

No more ‘COVID days’

In a sign that the pandemic has drawn fully to a close, the city Department of Education’s special COVID-19 leave policy ends this school year. Absenses related to COVID-19 will be charged to members' sick bank.

Q&A on the Issues

Injuries in the line of duty

Pedagogical DOE employees who are injured or made sick on the job are covered by the Line of Duty Injury provision of the DOE-UFT contract — not workers’ compensation. The following Q&A answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Line of Duty Injury benefits and how to apply for them. 

Secure Your Future

All about your pension benefits

The start of the school year is is an excellent time to make sure you’re taking the right steps to prepare for retirement and secure your own future. Here are the most important things you need to know about your pension benefits as a UFT member.

Opinions

President's Perspective

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.  

VPerspective

Why I am an avid reader

UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds encourages high school educators to continue to expand their own knowledge base through reading a variety of texts. Being an avid reader, she writes, helps educators better guide their students’ choices and widen their knowledge of texts with which they might connect.

Editorials

Taking control of AI

Artificial intelligence is a rapidly evolving field that is affecting every aspect of our lives, including education. It is incumbent on us to add our voices to help shape and develop AI to ensure it is used to support teaching and learning, not to hurt us and our profession.

Editorials

A needed break

With the new ban on internet-enabled personal electronic devices in New York public schools, we are not taking anything away from our students — instead, we are giving something back. We are giving them back their ability to focus, and we are giving them back the chance to have meaningful face-to-face conversations with their friends.  

Editorial Cartoons

Students react to cellphone ban

School nurse is swamped with cases of 'cellphone withdrawal'!

Comments

Teaching Resources

Learning Curve

Building rapport from the start

As any seasoned teacher will tell you, it’s important to start the school year off on a good note. Along with essentials like reviewing classroom rules and units of study, ice breakers play a key role in setting the right tone and building rapport with a new group of students.

Linking to Learning

Doing a technology inventory

The start of the year is a good time to consider what equipment you have on hand, what you may need to obtain, your classroom protocols related to technology, and what technology projects you’d like to pursue. Here is a framework for doing this inventory 

Teacher to Teacher

Making students the evaluators

Queens high school teacher Amy Matthusen explains ways to center students in creating evaluative criteria to help deepen learning.

Building Your Career

Inside My Classroom

My classroom snack cart

Pre-K teacher Melysa Solomon of Manhattan's PS 343 has come up with an innovative way to provide students with their snacks throughout the day.

New Teacher Articles

Two stick figures sitting at a table with puzzle thought bubble

Building strong ties between home and school

Research shows a positive impact on students when teachers and families are able to work together effectively. Here are UFT Teacher Center tips and strategies to establish a solid relationship between home and school.

New Teacher Diaries

Ask and you shall receive

A new middle school teacher in the Bronx learns that her fellow teachers are willing to guide and support her when she broke down in tears in the staff lounge after an overwhelming day. 

Retired Teachers News

RTC Service

Free legal assistance for UFT retirees

The UFT Welfare Fund Retiree Legal Plan with Elder Law Supplement offers many benefits, but the five that UFT retirees use the most are assistance with estate planning, elder law, civil litigation, real estate and matrimonial law.

Recently, a retired UFT member sought assistance after they purchased a snow access ticket from a ski resort in New Jersey for nearly $600, but then could not use it because their family member became ill and could not go on the trip, said Steven Kramer of Feldman, Kramer & Monaco, which provides the legal services for the union. The member requested a voucher, but the resort said no. The resort changed course and provided a full voucher after the law firm contacted the resort to negotiate, he said.

UFT Welfare Fund-eligible retirees are automatically enrolled in the legal plan, which also covers spouses and domestic partners as well as all unmarried, dependent children under age 26 in a household.

Here are…

RTC Chapter Leader Column

We can’t afford to be apolitical

In July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a plan to import the worst part of Medicare Advantage — prior authorizations — into traditional Medicare. Prior authorization requirements will be established for certain traditional fee-for-service Medicare services in six states starting in January 2026.  

RTC Information

City pulls plug on Medicare Advantage plan

The Adams administration has dropped its effort to implement a Medicare Advantage health care plan for the city’s roughly 250,000 Medicare-eligible retirees.