If you live on the southern side of Nassau County,  the president of the Freeport TA has an offer for you. “Anybody who wants a ride to the June 8 rally in Albany can come,” said Stu Napear. “They reserve a seat with $10 and they will get that $10 back when they step on [...]

The oft-used phrase from ABC Sports about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat so applies to school budget votes. The thrill of victory is for the vast majority of school budgets across the state that passed. NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi called the successful voting day “a resoundingly positive message about public education. [...]

My school district’s proposed budget only increases .74 percent but, because the tax levy is going up 5.4 percent, 60 percent of voters need to approve it today for it to pass. The tax levy on local taxpayers has gone up because the South Colonie schools have lost $13.4 million in state aid over the [...]

At 11:34 a.m. Check this link from the AFL-CIO on disaster relief efforts. Horrifying news last night about the tornado that devastated a suburb of Oklahoma City, killing more than 24 people including a number of school children. If you have relatives or friends in that area, our thoughts are with them. Here’s a link [...]

You hold the future of hundreds of thousands of students across our state. On Tuesday, you get to say whether their school budgets should pass or fail. In so many communities, there are many feel good events (regardless of what some politicians might be telling you.) Here’s photo gallery of just one school district’s efforts [...]

School boards across the state are passing resolutions asking the State Education Department to ease its reliance on standardized test scores in making decisions ranging from student placement to school accountability status to teacher evaluations. The West Irondequoit school board in Monroe County went a step further. Click here for the full letter signed by the [...]

Members from the Yorktown Congress of Teachers recently received the gift of a chocolate bar from their local union. Here’s a photo of the front of a special wrapper for the candy bar. On the back is the following message: The YCT will join with our brothers and sisters from all over New York state [...]

It’s now one week before most school districts submit their annual budgets to voters. NYSUT United brought you the news more than two weeks ago that fewer districts are trying to override the tax cap and that many are staying well within the cap. That story was based on a NYSUT survey of districts before [...]

Jennifer Moore, president of the Sherburne-Earlville TA, notes her members got national attention for their stance against high-stakes testing last week. “I’ve received a number of emails from all across the country, thanking us for what we’ve done and even calling us heroes,” she said. “Some even want to buy our shirts!” You might recall [...]

Perhaps Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” song is one of the most parodied. Here’s another, thanks to Peter DeWitt, a principal in the Averill Park school district, and the Averill Park Teachers Association, led by Michelle Smead. You may recall Michelle Smead has also written the Top 10 reasons to rally on June 8 [...]