Cara Matthews

Retired bilingual school social worker Eliot Winokur is making a splash in retirement as a competitive swimmer. He holds top 10 rankings on the U.S. Masters Swimming website for the United States and the world and says swimming is both fun and empowering.

Each year, thousands of retirees take advantage of Si Beagle Learning Center in-person and online courses, seminars, trips, and dining and theater experiences. The program is named for the late Si Beagle, who pushed the union to offer continuing education for retirees when he retired in 1968.


Eighth-graders in the United States lost ground on digital literacy between 2018 and 2023, according to the International Computer and Information Literacy Study, which assesses preparedness for the digital world.

More than 50,000 graduate students and other student workers on 51 university campuses nationwide have formed unions since 2022, according to the National Labor Relations Board.


Two Massachusetts families have filed a lawsuit against the creators and publishers of widely used whole-language reading curricula claiming that they engaged in “deceptive and fraudulent” marketing of curricula they knew was ineffective.

Roughly 350 new retirees gathered for the New Retiree Luncheon at the New York Hilton Midtown on Dec. 5 to toast their life after retirement. 


Nurses take an oath to act in the best interest of their patients, but the corporatization of health care and the focus on profits have made it increasingly challenging to keep that vow. Nurses grappled with that challenge and took workshops to enhance their skills and knowledge at the Federation of Nurses/UFT's Professional Issues Conference.

Hundreds of staff and students from Curtis and Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical Education high schools on Staten Island, along with parents and community members, participated in a walk against violence on Nov. 26 in response to two gun-related incidents in September.

As the Dec. 20 deadline approached, several hundred New York City public schools were working on their applications for funding to reduce class size next school year. In late October, principals were invited to create a plan and apply for funds, which will be recurring, if their school had the available space but needed to hire more staff to lower class size to the new limits in state law.


UFT President Michael Mulgrew is calling on the city to fill vacant school-related professional positions in order to fulfill the special education requirements of at least 9,000 students across the city.