UFT 2024 state legislative priorities

Budget

Increase Funding for Critical Services

While we applaud the increase in total school aid for NYC public schools, the changes to Foundation Aid calculations coupled with the expiration of COVID-19 federal aid have created a massive funding gap for community schools, 3-K, preschool special education and mental health services. These critical services need additional support in the budget. 

Literacy Initiatives

We applaud the Back to Basics reading plan and $10M investment to train 20,000 teachers in “Science of Reading” instruction. The UFT Teacher Center has a proven record of providing this training and should be funded as part of this initiative.

Mental Health Supports & School-based Health Centers

We applaud the goal of expanding student access to vital mental health, dental, and primary care services. Our United Community Schools model is proven to achieve exactly this goal, and funding should be directly appropriated in the budget to ensure it reaches these critical community partners. In addition, enhanced reimbursements are necessary to ensure that every school who wants to provide access can do so. 

School Governance

We cannot extend the current model of mayoral control of public schools, which is enabling the city to subvert the mandate of this legislature to reduce class sizes. We must protect against the Mayor reducing and supplanting educational funding.

The legislature should enact these reforms with a two-year sunset period to allow further review of their success:

• Replace 3 mayoral PEP appointees with appointments from the NYC Speaker, Comptroller and Public Advocate 
• Strengthen Maintenance of Effort Law by requiring NYC to meet the minimum annual per-pupil, instructional and DOE funding amounts 
• Restore CEC Authority to screen superintendent candidates and forward names of top candidates for appointment 
• Require CEC Approval for all colocations and re-locations 
• Restore SLT Authority to put forward list of candidates from which new principal is selected 
• Empower PEP to Select Three Finalists for Chancellor from which mayor makes selection for two-year term subject only to good-cause removal  

New Revenue

74% of New Yorkers support raising taxes on highly profitable corporations and the wealthy to fund public programs and services. As the income and wealth gap in New York grows, the state's wealthiest must contribute to the systems that have helped create their wealth. 

What we're asking

• Raise taxes on highly-profitable corporations with $2.5 million in profits (S1980/A3690) 
• Institute a tax on capital gains over $500,000 (S2162/A2576) 
• Create more progressive income tax brackets for top 5% (S2059/A3115) 
• Establish a tax on billionaire's wealth (S1570/A3252) 

Charters

Charters drain resources from public schools, lack financial transparency, fail our most vulnerable students and openly exploit loopholes for financial gain.

What we're asking

• Stop using public funds to pay for private facility space rented by charters (S2137/A5672) 
• Limit charter school grade level expansions (S2974/A6561) 
• Make the Board of Regents the sole authorizer in the state (S1395/A4502) 
• Pass the Charter School Transparency and Accountability Act (S4466/A4458) 

Housing

New York’s leaders cannot afford to go another year without taking action on our state’s housing crisis. Students and their families and educators all face steep rent increases, evictions, and no affordable homeownership opportunities. 

What we're asking

• Strengthen tenant protections 
• Fund the Housing Access Voucher Program 
• Create new workforce housing in the public sector—a Mitchell Lama program for the 21st Century 

UFT Teacher Center 

UFT Teacher Center accelerates learning and empowers educators through award-winning embedded professional development tailored to each school’s unique needs. See the UFT Teacher Center's 2024 priorities & goals »

✓ 160 Teacher Center sites in schools including 34 new sites in 2023–24 
✓ 293,000 educators, principals and parents supported in 2022–23 
✓ 125,000 hours of professional development provided in 2022–23 

What we're asking

•  Fund Teacher Center statewide at $28.5M 

Pensions

We are committed to providing public employees with a comfortable retirement, which means protecting and enhancing pension benefits. Pensions not only help recruit and retain skilled public employees, but they also grow the state's middle class and lessen the income gap. 

What we're asking 

• Allow Tier 6 members to be able to retire at age 55, after 30 years of service, without reductions. 
• Lower the Final Average Salary calculation from five years to three years for Tiers 5 and 6. This change will increase pension earnings for newer public employees and bring greater parity with the benefits of Tier 4 
• Allow all UFT members who work in our public schools to move from the NYC Board of Education Retirement System to the NYC Teacher Retirement System

United Community Schools

United Community Schools (UCS) is a teacher-inspired nonprofit improving outcomes for over 20,000 families at the 39 community schools it operates across NYC and Albany. See United Community Schools' 2024 one-pager »

✓ Higher test scores ¹
✓ Better attendance ²
✓ More credits earned ³
✓ Increased sense of safety ⁴
✓ 6:1 return on investment ⁵
✓ 18,000+ health and wellness visits coordinated 

What we're asking

• $4M grant to sustain our network of community schools 
• $100M of categorical aid for community schools statewide including a $5M allocation to UCS to provide statewide technical assistance and support 
   

¹ 2.5 scale score points higher on NYSESLAT according to an independent evaluation 
² 3 days more/year according to an independent evaluation 
³ 0.5 more high school credits/year according to an independent evaluation 
⁴ Among parents and families surveyed by United Community Schools 
⁵ 6:1 return on the cost of each community school director

Career & Technical Education

These crucial programs ensure our economy has a prepared workforce by helping students transition to college and career. 

What we're asking

• Increase the $3,900/pupil funding cap in the Special Services Aid 
• Expand funding to allow 9th-grade students to participate

Childcare

Our union membership includes 6,000 home-based childcare providers. These educational entrepreneurs provide a safe, nurturing, and educational environment for thousands of the city’s children so their guardians can work. We are supportive of the governor’s proposals to support childcare providers and have recommendations on ways to further improve our system.

What we're asking

• Transition to a cost estimation model—and away from the market rate model—to provide funds to childcare providers based on the true cost of care 
• Pay for enrollment instead of attendance ○ Increase differential payment rate for homeless and nontraditional hours of care (S4079/A1734)
• Continue to support and fund the Facilitated Enrollment Child Care Project

Nurses

The Federation of Nurses/UFT represents 16,000 nurses across New York State and fights for quality care for all and the workplace rights of nurses and other healthcare professionals.  

What we're asking

• Support transparency surrounding the attrition and vacancy rates of nurses 
• Support adequate training & placing newest nurses in lower-intensity units for their first year of work 
• Support nurse preventative mental health care Support placing nurses in management roles