An Obama-era rule designed to help students cheated by for-profit colleges get relief on their education debt finally took effect on Oct. 16 after efforts by the Trump administration to block it.

About 3,000 UFT members participated in this year's Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk on Staten Island, while walks took place simultaneously in three other boroughs, on Long Island and in New Jersey. The walk each year raises awareness of the disease and funds to fight it.

The overriding theme of the proposed DOE-UFT contract agreement is empowering educators to fight for the working conditions they need to do their jobs.

In the proposed contract announced on Oct. 11, the UFT has negotiated an expedited process to bring relief to teachers facing oversize classes sooner and to address unresolved violations that must go to arbitration faster.

With the UFT’s help, a problem at the International HS at Prospect Heights is now water under the bridge and a state-of-the-art water station is making a big splash.

The UFT reported a modest decrease in the total number of oversize classes in New York City public schools this fall for the second year in a row. By the tenth day of school, 401 schools citywide were out of compliance with 2,056 oversize classes, compared with 437 schools with 2,181 classes the previous year.