Real Change Comes from Real Organizing: How ‘A Better Contract’ Candidates Delivered for NYC Math Teachers
By Racquel Blair McPherson, UFT Vice President of Education Candidate – A Better Contract!
This school year, NYC’s high school math teachers have been forced to implement the DOE’s citywide rollout of Illustrative Math Algebra I — a rigid, scripted program that strips educators of autonomy and deprives students of meaningful instruction.
Let’s begin with a distinction that matters: this is not a curriculum.
Curriculum is adaptable, aligned to standards, and developed with students and educators in mind. What the DOE has forced into classrooms is a purchased program — scripted, inflexible, fundamentally out of sync with the needs of our students, and costing millions of dollars. Yet, despite repeated concerns from educators and school communities, the DOE didn’t pause to listen or adjust.
They didn’t have to. To my knowledge, the UFT wasn’t paying much attention.
Last year’s pilot revealed glaring problems:
Misalignment to Regents
Impossible pacing that left no room for remediation
Assessment overload
A top-down approach that prohibited teacher judgment or supplementation
Instead of using this feedback to rework the approach, the DOE doubled down — expanding IM citywide, even as student performance fell. Meanwhile, UFT leadership stood by while teachers were micromanaged, frustrated, and actively seeking support. Members weren’t just raising concerns — they were looking for their union to fight back.
That work wasn’t initiated by leadership. It was wrested from inaction by rank-and-file organizing. I was one of the educators asked to participate, as was Katie Anskat, our candidate for Treasurer. Alongside full-time classroom teachers from across the city, all of us currently teaching IM Algebra I, we spent a week reworking the scope and sequence for Units 5–8. With support from the highly skilled professionals at the UFT Teacher Center, we created Regents-aligned guidance, realistic pacing, and tools grounded in classroom realities.
And when the DOE ignored the work? When UFT leadership refused to share the letter we wrote to accompany it — a professional, student-centered statement outlining the necessary instructional flexibility? We kept pushing.
💥 Today, that advocacy forced a breakthrough.
On March 12, 2025, the DOE released updated NYC Solves Algebra I materials. And make no mistake: they reflect the very work we created and fought to have recognized.
Included in the update:
✅ A “Pacing at a Glance” document that frames the pacing guide as support, not mandate
✅ Deprioritized lessons to allow time for reinforcement and Regents alignment
✅ A full-course mapping to NY Next Gen and Regents standards
✅ Revised unit overviews including “Misconceptions” and “Things to Remember” — drawn directly from our work
✅ Focus activities recommended by the UFT now built into the guides
✅ Updated implementation guidance that finally acknowledges teachers as decision-makers in instruction
This didn’t happen because the DOE had a change of heart. It happened because we didn’t stop. It happened because educators — including candidates running with A Better Contract! — pushed relentlessly for the DOE to recognize our professional expertise and the UFT to fight for it to be respected and implemented.
But let’s not confuse this with a full fix.
Here’s what’s still missing:
🟡 No clear directive to principals requiring them to implement these changes
🟡 No removal of outdated implementation checklists still being used in classroom walkthroughs
🟡 No public acknowledgment or accountability for the DOE’s original rollout failures
🟡 And still, no recognition from UFT leadership of the teachers who made this progress possible
This was a step forward — but only because educators kept the pressure on. Without enforcement and clear messaging, these new materials risk becoming another optional PDF that gets ignored while rigid compliance continues in schools.
As your next UFT Vice President of Education, I will:
🧭 Demand that the DOE provide real curriculum — a coherent, flexible scope and sequence, not just a contract with a vendor
🚦 Ensure that teachers are in the driver’s seat, making the professional decisions that impact student learning
📢 Elevate and defend member-created solutions
💥 Back the UFT Teacher Center with organizing strength — so their work isn’t undermined, buried, or ignored
Katie Anskat and I joined with our math colleagues to get this work done. We stepped up because our students and our colleagues needed us to. When educators come together, they make an impact.
And that’s exactly how we’ll lead.
Let’s win a better contract — and a better union.
