UFT members at the six sites that make up District 31 Pre-K Centers on Staten Island are no longer staying silent in the face of mistreatment from their principal, thanks to Chapter Leader Amy Craine.

UFT Chapter Leader Keesha Hopkins successfully led the charge that saved her school, the Brooklyn Academy of Science and Environment, from being merged with another high school co-located in the same building.

Thanks to the efforts of Chapter Leader Debbie Strack Cregan, the members of PS 69 in Jackson Heights found their voice and their collective power in their successful organizing effort to push back against a new and overbearing principal.

IS 383 Chapter Leader Syreeta Dixon refused to back down when her principal violated the DOE-UFT contract in multiple ways in her Bushwick school’s teacher schedule and then threatened to lay off staff when Dixon called her on it.


Bringing the staff “together” has been the main objective of Nicole Keaster since becoming chapter leader at IS 5 in Queens three years ago. “If you have a strong community of respect, you can do all of the other things,” she said.