Testimony of Michael Mulgrew, UFT president, submitted before the New York City Council Committee on Governmental Operations, State and Federal Legislation

My name is Michael Mulgrew, and I am the president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). On behalf of our 200,000 members, I want to thank Chair Lincoln Restler and the Committee on Governmental Operations, State and Federal Legislation for holding this hearing today.

The UFT has consistently opposed the Trump administration’s actions that harm our students and public education. With our national union and public education allies, we have been filing lawsuits to stop this executive overreach and working to hold the federal government accountable for providing the resources our school communities have been promised under the laws of our country.

As a new school year begins, we are reminded of how much our students rely on us to provide them with not only a high-quality education but also with social-emotional support, social safety net supports such as meals, and a safe space to be themselves. However, federal funding cuts, specifically those that stem from the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBA), jeopardize our ability to provide this.

According to the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), OBBA will have a significant financial impact on New York State. New York State is expected to lose billions of dollars in federal funding, including the loss of $13 billion in health care funding and as much as $1.4 billion annually in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps feed NYC’s low-income families. Roughly 1.5 million New Yorkers are expected to lose health insurance, which will more than double the uninsured population and increase the number of people that New York must cover with state-funded Medicaid. All these cuts and additional costs threaten New York’s ability to maintain adequate education funding.

Funding cuts are not the only federal actions that hurt our students. Harmful executive orders disproportionately affect vulnerable student populations, including newly arrived immigrants and LGBTQ+ students. The Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement has created a climate of fear and concern for our immigrant students and families.  We have been in continual collaboration with local advocates and the DOE, working together to hold workshops and compile resources on immigrants’ legal rights to help educators assist undocumented students and their families. We also continue to engage with the DOE around communication strategies and school safety planning. Additionally, the UFT has supported New York state and city officials in publicly refusing to comply with federal demands and to push back, via legal channels, against the Trump administration's anti-DEI efforts. We refuse to create school environments where students are unable to be themselves.

Again, I thank you for this hearing and look forward to our continued collaboration as we fight to maintain inclusive, well-resourced schools that serve all children equitably.