Twenty Years: The Lost Generation

From Tier 6 to our Welfare Fund benefits, it’s time to end this pattern of reactive, transactional leadership that leaves members waiting in line.

I have always believed that union leaders should begin every single day with a simple, powerful question: Today, how can I improve the lives of our members and their families? That belief is part of what inspired me to devote my life to public education and union work. I’ve witnessed how a strong, principled union can make a tangible difference in people’s lives and help cultivate the schools our students truly deserve

Unfortunately, the current UFT leadership isn’t operating with that mindset. Instead, their central focus seems to be on maintaining power for themselves—often at the expense of their members. Our wages haven’t kept pace with the cost of living. Our pension system has been allowed to shrink in value for our newest members. Our welfare fund benefits have been allowed to stagnate. And paraprofessionals, who serve such a critical role in our schools, have been expected to survive on salaries that deny them the respect and security they deserve.

Over the past two decades, we’ve watched as these problems piled up, unaddressed. Now, after losing key elections in the Retiree and Paraprofessional chapters, the leadership is suddenly pivoting—trying to fix issues that should have been tackled years ago. Their scramble to provide better benefits, champion Tier 6 reforms, and talk about meaningful raises for paraprofessionals didn’t come from a genuine epiphany; it arose because their positions of power are under threat. That’s not the fearless, member-centered advocacy our union deserves.

Take Tier 6 as one glaring example. It arrived in 2012, with no resistance. Tier VI brought higher contributions, lower payouts, and a raised retirement age. For ages, leadership brushed off every concern with, “Be lucky you have a pension,” and only now, years later, do they see the need for change. Think about the cost to our members—thousands of dollars that could have been saved or invested if the UFT had truly fought Cuomo and prevented Tier 6.

Then there’s the Welfare Fund. Improved optical and hearing-aid benefits materialized this school year seemingly out of nowhere. In the Spring of 2024, members were told that the director of the Welfare Fund and its trustees should not be questioned and that our benefits were superior to all other unions. Fast forward to September 2024, and our leadership tells us enhancements are now crucial—which the members have known for awhile—so why did the leadership wait so long? Why should members have to wait for crisis or political backlash to get the benefits they deserve every single day?

Paraprofessionals, too, have been left behind, even as they play an indispensable role in supporting our students. Their wages remain woefully inadequate, and the leadership’s current, last-minute push to secure new funds from the city council feels more like a cynical campaign strategy than a genuine, long-term solution. This payment comes once a year and is not pensionable. How does this yearly payment really help our paraprofessionals make ends meet week by week?

Through all of this, the leadership wants you to forget the decades of inaction-years of ignored issues and half-measures. They’d have you believe everything they’re giving now is proof of progress. But real union strength shouldn’t happen at the eleventh hour. It shouldn’t require an electoral scare for members to receive the compensation, pensions, and benefits they deserve.

This is why A Better Contract chose to run. We want to restore a union culture that wakes up each morning ready to fight for real salary increases, robust pensions, quality healthcare benefits, and meaningful support for educators in every role. We’re ready to end this pattern of reactive, transactional leadership that leaves members waiting in line. Our future can be different. We can—and must—elect leaders who see every day as an opportunity to champion educators and public education.

A entire generation of educators have lost these opportunities. Your families have lost out too. We can’t recover those years, but we can stop the clock on further delays. If you share this vision for a union that’s forward-thinking, transparent, and fiercely committed to our members’ best interests, I urge you to vote for A Better Contract in the UFT election. Together, we can ensure that every day—and every decision—starts with the question: How do we deliver the respect, compensation, and security that educators deserve? Let’s move past decades defined by lost opportunities and embrace a future where our union empowers its members, respects our profession, and fights tirelessly for the schools our students and communities deserve.

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