UFT President Michael Mulgrew announced at the first Delegate Assembly of the school year on Oct. 16 that the union would like every school district to have a political action team in place to keep friends of public education in office and get adequate funding for schools.

Mulgrew said the political action teams would also make a major push to get all New Yorkers to take part in the 2020 Census so the city receives its proper share of federal funding.

“The majority of money we get for bridges, tunnels and roads comes from the federal government,” Mulgrew said. “We get billions of dollars a year for education from the federal government. And the biggest chunk of funds we get for health care comes from the federal government.”

The formula used to determine how much New York receives comes from the Census, he said.

Mulgrew said slightly more than 60 percent of New Yorkers took part in the last Census 10 years ago, which was the lowest rate for a large city in the nation.

Mulgrew noted that many members of the City Council who have helped champion UFT education programs and initiatives would soon be term-limited out of office.

While he was speaking about the importance of strong political allies, three examples were sitting on the Shanker Hall stage: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Finance Chair Danny Dromm and Council Education Chair Mark Treyger.

“The City Council has become an amazing partner,” Mulgrew said. “And because of this we have been able to do things that are important to us.”

It was a homecoming for Dromm and Treyger, former UFT members who attended the Delegate Assembly before being elected to the Council.

“Has it made a difference for this union that we went out of our way to try to get UFT members elected to the City Council?” Mulgrew asked. “Clearly it has made a huge difference.”

Last June the Council stabilized funding for Teacher’s Choice by making it a baseline part of the annual city budget. It also provided funding for the UFT Teacher Center, United Community Schools, the Positive Learning Collaborative, the BRAVE anti-bullying program and Dial-A-Teacher — all UFT initiatives.

The Council also baselined $30 million in funding to hire 285 additional social workers, an increase in staffing the UFT had demanded for years.

Johnson told the delegates the Council was working with the Department of Education to redesign the Fair Student Funding formula to ensure that schools educating large numbers of homeless students receive adequate funding.

Dromm noted the Council was working to get the DOE to ensure that students with disabilities receive all the services mandated on their IEPs and that teachers have curriculum aligned with the state’s new Next Generation Learning Standards.

Treyger stressed the importance of addressing the social and emotional needs of students with increased support staff like school psychologists, school counselors and social workers.

“You can see they understand our needs and are committed to public education,” Mulgrew said. “And when it was time to stand up, these gentlemen did so and made things happen.”