Chapter Leader UpdateMay 8, 2025

Expect your second chapter leader stipend in late June

By the end of June, you will receive your end-of-year chapter leader stipend in recognition of all the hard work you have done to support your members and strengthen our union this school year. Unlike your base stipend, which was calculated based on the number of members in your chapter, the amount of this second payment will be calculated based on points you earn for performing specific chapter leader tasks. This year, those tasks include having a special education committee and having your members verify their contact information in the UFT Member Hub. See the full list of the ways you can earn stipend points. Points will be tallied by the end of the day on May 30. If you were elected chapter leader after Sept. 30, 2024, your stipend may be prorated.

May 19 deadline to request a new election ballot

Ballots in the UFT election for leadership positions and convention delegates were mailed to members' homes this week. Any member who has not received a ballot or has received an incorrect ballot should contact the independent Global Election Services (GES) by Monday, May 19, at noon ET at 877‑455‑9367 or helpdesk [at] voteges [dot] com (helpdesk[at]voteges[dot]com) to request a replacement ballot. Each member must call or email personally and provide their full name, union affiliation, division, UFT member ID number and a callback phone number. Ballots must be received by Global Election Services by May 28 at 9 a.m. Caucus statements, voting instructions and other important election information can be found in the UFT Elections 2025 section of the website. If you have any questions about the UFT election process, please contact UFT Election Coordinator Yasmin Colon at ycolon [at] uft [dot] org or call the UFT Election Hotline at 212‑331‑6310.

Five new pre-approved SBOs for the 2025-26 school year

The UFT and the DOE have agreed to five new pre-approved school-based options for the 2025–26 school year. The DOE has also released its city guidance on the contractual workday and all pre-approved SBOs. Now you have everything you need to move forward with the SBO process at your school.

The new pre-approved SBOs:

• Change September parent-teacher conferences to in-person in exchange for other remote time (includes speech teachers, school counselors, school psychologists and social workers).
• Change May parent-teacher conferences to in-person in exchange for other remote time (includes speech teachers, school counselors, school psychologists and social workers).
• Six-hour and 45-minute instructional day, additional PD and an additional remote evening parent-teacher conference.
• Departmentalization of 4^th- or 5^th-grade ELA/social studies or math/science.
• Six-hour and 50-minute instructional day (middle and high schools only).

See all the pre-approved SBOs and sample ballots.

Your school chapter's vote for all proposed SBOs must be conducted on the same day, using the online platform ElectionBuddy. Schools with session-time SBOs should hold their SBO vote before June 13, the deadline that the DOE set for principals to submit their session times. The SBO vote deadline for schools that are not conducting session-time SBO votes is June 26.

You should only conduct an SBO vote for a modification that your members want and has been approved by the UFT district representative. For an SBO to pass at the school level, at least 55% of the UFT members who vote must support the modification.

Find comprehensive information about the SBO process, including an updated SBO manual, an updated PowerPoint presentation, all pre-approved ballot templates and other sample SBO ballots. If you have questions, reach out to your district representative.

UFT certificates for graduating students

UFT officers and the chairs of the union's professional committees have a long tradition of supporting and rewarding our schools' graduates by awarding certificates for excellence in academic achievement. Certificates may be presented to the most deserving students in each subject area. There are certificates for specific subjects and school divisions. Download the certificates of excellence in academic achievement and extraordinary effort from the UFT website. For more information, read the letter from UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

UFT members demand on May 6 that Albany fix Tier 6

UFT members in all five boroughs participated in our May 6 Day of Action to turn up the heat on state lawmakers to fix Tier 6 of the pension system. Members in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan held simultaneous after-school rallies; Bronx members passed out leaflets at three major transit hubs in their borough; and Staten Island members held in-school actions. Our top demand this year: Allow public school educators to retire with an unreduced pension at age 55 with 30 years of service. Currently, Tier 6 members must wait until they are 63 to get full pension benefits. Tuesday's Day of Action was part of a coordinated set of mobilizations by NYSUT locals across the state on the sixth of each month in 2025 to keep the pressure on Albany to bring Tier 6 benefits (for educators hired after April 1, 2012) more in line with Tier 4 benefits. Improved Tier 6 benefits will give these newer public school educators an incentive to continue to work in public schools for their entire careers. Pensions are governed by state law; they are not a subject of collective bargaining. See our website photo gallery, our Instagram reel and our Facebook post for our Day of Action coverage.