WHEREAS, the UFT will endorse one candidate for the Office of the New York City Comptroller in the June 22 Democratic primary as there is a vacancy in the City Comptroller’s Office due to term limits; and

WHEREAS, our political team evaluated the candidacies of the 14 individuals running to be the next New York City comptroller to determine the top candidates for our members to screen; and WHEREAS, this evaluation included an informal virtual screening, completion of a 14-page policy questionnaire, examination of policy agendas (and/or record), review of polling and fundraising, and a review of statements made during the campaign; and

WHEREAS, Brian Benjamin, Corey Johnson, Brad Lander, Kevin Parker and David Weprin were selected to be further interviewed by a committee of union members representative of the five boroughs; and

WHEREAS, all union members were encouraged to register and participate in a virtual town hall that featured the top three candidates including Brian Benjamin, Corey Johnson and David Weprin for a final interview conducted by a committee of union members representative of the five boroughs; and

WHEREAS, the next city comptroller needs to have the leadership skills and oversight capability needed to scrutinize federal, state, and local funding made available to our public schools; and

WHEREAS, the next city comptroller must know how to protect and support our city’s pension systems that guarantee safe retirement for public sector employees including UFT members; and WHEREAS, we need a city comptroller who has always served as a champion for our public schools and its educators, students and families; and

WHEREAS, we believe City Council Speaker Corey Johnson stands out as the candidate who meets these standards; and

WHEREAS, Corey Johnson has served as speaker of the City Council since 2018, negotiating and overseeing the city's annual budget, which totaled $88.2 billion in the most recent year; and WHEREAS, in June 2019 he negotiated a city budget that included a significant increase in the number of social workers and health care professionals in our neediest public schools; and WHEREAS, Corey Johnson has been a strong supporter of Teacher’s Choice and has advocated making it a permanent line item in our city’s budget; and

WHEREAS, for the first time in 2019 he added the UFT Teacher Center into the list of programs funded by the City Council, acknowledging the role the UFT Teacher Center plays in providing teacher professional development and its role in helping schools make the transition to remote learning during the pandemic; and

WHEREAS, when the administration proposed cuts to education funding and layoffs among public sector employees at the onset of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, Speaker Corey Johnson fought back to preserve funding for our public schools and eliminate the threats of layoffs; and

WHEREAS, as speaker of the City Council he maintained funding for all five of the UFT’s signature programs—United Community Schools, the Positive Learning Collaborative, the UFT Teacher Center, Dial-a-Teacher and the BRAVE mental health hotline—despite the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic; and

WHEREAS, in addition to his commitment to our union and our causes, the polling and fundraising data show Speaker Corey Johnson as the most viable candidate in the race; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT endorses Corey Johnson for his primary election for Office of the New York City Comptroller.