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New York TeacherJune 18, 2026

Volume LXVII, Number 6

Latest News

Tom Brown

Tom Brown reelected TRS trustee

Tom Brown, UFT assistant treasurer and the current chair of the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) Board, was decisively reelected to a three-year term as a TRS Board trustee, according to results released by the city Department of Education on June 2.

A Spanish teacher of 29 years and UFT chapter leader for 18, Brown began working in the UFT Pension Department in 1997. He has served on the TRS Board for the last 12 years and has participated in retirement and pension boards across New York State and the nation.

The reelection vote — which was open only to in-service TRS members — was conducted by the DOE at schools on May 13. Besides UFT members, those represented by the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators and CUNY’s Professional Staff…

Feature Stories

Donna Menna

Donna Menna

Middle school teacher Donna Menna of IS 5 in Elmhurst, Queens, is this year's UFT Middle Schools Division Legacy Award winner.
John Herron

John Herron

Middle school teacher John Herron of IS 96 in Brooklyn is this year's UFT Middle Schools Divison Lifelong Learner Award winner.

Around the UFT

Two women with glasses pose for a photo amongst a crowd of many others in a field with a fence around it, one holding a UFT swag bag

Member Assistance Program’s Let’s Talk About It

Hundreds of middle school students took part in social-emotional learnng at the sixth annual Let’s Talk About It event in Queens, brought by the UFT’s Member Assistance Program (MAP), the MindUP social-emotional learning program and the UFT Teacher Center.
Reflecting three generations of UFT members are Learning Environment Award-winning teacher Jean Pedri (center) of IS 61 in Corona, Queens, flanked by her daughter Shannon Kelly, a per diem substitute teacher at IS 61, and her mother, Margaret Bena, a school librarian at IS 145 in Flushing, Queens, and a UFT member since 1961.

Middle Schools Awards Night

Over 200 honorees and guests attended the inaugural Middle Schools Awards at UFT headquarters in Manhattan, where some 40 members were honored for excellence in education, collaboration and union activism.

Your Rights and Benefits

Know Your Benefits

Legal Services Plan

Learn all the ways UFT members benefit from the UFT Legal Services Plan, which provides trusted legal help exclusively for UFT members. 

Your Well-being

Cultivating joy

Find out how to cultivate joy on a daily basis and create an antidote to feeling miserable.

You Should Know

A teacher with young students

Grants, Awards & Freebies

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

Teaching Resources

Learning Curve
Teacher holding book standing with students at desk following along the book and taking notes

The big lessons of smaller class sizes

Three teachers in Queens – the New York City borough with the most overcrowded classrooms – drive home the benefits of the state's class size law, which mandates smaller numbers of students per class, by sharing their experiences from the front lines.