TRS Elections

About TRS elections

The TRS Retirement Board manages the overall direction, distribution and growth of employee benefits, including pensions, on behalf of TRS members, including those enrolled through UFT. This board is composed of seven members, three of whom are teacher-members that we get to elect for three year terms. The other four are mayoral appointees and public servants in various roles throughout NYC government.

See the UFT's slide deck about the 2026 TRS Election »

Each year, on a rotating basis, one of the teacher-member seats is up for election. TRS has a democratic process to ensure that its members have a say in who oversees their pensions. There are three unions that participate in the TRS elections: the UFT, CSA and PSC-CUNY. Each union is allowed to nominate candidates for trustee, and the position can be filled by a candidate from any of those unions. The election is split into two parts – a petitioning process and a formal election.

Petitioning process

The first part of the TRS election process is conducted via nominating petitions to support a specific candidate. Candidates need 1,000 petition signatures from TRS member-contributors to secure their place as a candidate for election.Those eligible to sign the petition include all regularly appointed in-service members of the school staff who are TRS members.

Election process

These elections are run by the DOE through school administrators, not the UFT, and we are committed to ensuring that these elections are conducted in a fair and transparent manner. The UFT has fought to protect TRS election transparency in the past, and we will continue to vigorously defend our members' right to a fair TRS election, regardless of outcome.