Tier 6 became law in 2010, currently 50,000 teachers are Tier 6 members in NYC and each year all new teachers become Tier 6 members, read summary of Tier 6 here (fixtier6.org), at the top of the Fix Tier 6 list is reducing retirement age with full benefits from 63 to 55, matching Tier 4.
Who funds public employee pensions?
Every year, the City of New York makes deposits, called pension obligations, into each of the five pension funds – Teachers Retirement System of New York City (Teachers), New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS), New York City Police Pension Fund (Police), New York City Fire Pension Fund (Fire), and New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) – as determined by the City Actuary.
Comptroller Brad Lander,
The NYS Constitution prevents pensions from being “diminished or impaired,” changes in the pension tiers which “diminish or impair” benefits can only be prospective.
A full summary of Tier 6 benefits here. Fix Tier 6 – FixTier6.org
Governor Cuomo created Tier 6 after the 2006 Recession, he explained the change as assisting communities in recovering from the recession by reducing public employee pensions for newly hired employees and at the UFT Spring Conference he explained why Tier 6 was created and acknowledged it was time to fix tier 6, Cuomo introduces Tier VI pension reform bill – Capitol Confidential although his detailed Cuomo’s 25 point Education Plan, released at the UFT Spring Conference, makes no mention of Tier 6.
The actual 2010 story, Mulgrew called the creation of Tier 6 “shameful” and “an attack on future public workers. “1
This was a deal cut at 3 o’clock in the morning, and it was cut on the backs of the future workforce of New York City and New York State.”
He was furious that Cuomo did it behind closed doors, during state budget negotiations, without proper hearings, and that the final bill was posted online at 3:00 AM and voted on by 5:30 AM in a must pass state budget, and in a lengthy and detailed post the author details the role of Cuomo, depressing …. Unmasking Tier 6: The Hidden Agenda Behind NYC’s worst Pension Tier : r/nycpublicservants
Mamdani specifically addressed the need to pass Tier 6, Watch here Zohran Mamdani shares his vision for public education.
I don’t believe Adams has made any public statements re Tier 6.
Fixing Tier 6 requires changing the state law, approval in both houses of the legislature and the governor. Legislators who are elected after the commencement of the law are Tier 6 members, Mamdani is a Tier 6 member, The legislature does not return until January, facing The Big Ugly Law budget cuts, plus a governor facing a probable primary in June and definitely a Republican challenger in November, and, an all-out NYSUT-UFT campaign to support Hochul, crucial, perhaps, just perhaps, Fixing Tier 6 is possible.
The costs of funding Tier 6 changes and the fiscal impact of the Big Bad budget cuts are challenging,
Cuomo’s somnambulant Primary campaign was embarrassing, he counted on name recognition and many millions in Independent Expenditures, can he build an actual campaign? Listen to an interview with Cuomo in which he explains why he lost and how he intends to change his campaign Cuomo tells WINS he’s out to fix ‘broken’ NYC government
The polling in the Primary race was way off, it predicted a close race with Mandami winning in the final round, Mamdani won by 12% and the race was decided in the first round.
The November 4th election is plurality election, most votes win and a Harris X poll sees a statistical tie between Cuomo, Mamdani and Sliwa HarrisX.
A Data for Progress poll, a week ago, different,
The Data for Progress poll shows Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic primary winner, leading the field with 40% of polled individuals marking the 33-year-old as their top choice for mayor. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who appears to be nearing a decision on an independent campaign after losing to Mamdani and is expected to commit to the race in the coming days, is polling in second place with 24%.
Mayor Eric Adams, who is running on an independent line, polled third at 15%, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa is in fourth at 14%. Independent candidate Jim Walden is in fifth place with 1%; 5% of polled individuals remain unsure.
At this point, polling is meaningless, the race to the finish begins after Labor Day.
Mamdani’s supporters include many younger teachers, Tier 6 members, Cuomo supporters older teachers, the UFT stayed on the sidelines and endorsed the winner of the Democratic primary, the overwhelmingly Democratic state legislature must pass the Fix Tier 6 legislation and a governor needing NYSUT-UFT support in what will be a very contentious election in November. Will a Mayor Mandani or a Mayor Cuomo be better able to assist Governor Hochul in her November gubernatorial election?
With the control of the House of Representative. and maybe the Senate at stake the November 2026 elections are enormously consequential. Who will be a face of the party, a thirty-three old Democratic Socialist who brought hordes of younger voters to the polls or a familiar face who led a state through COVID?
Stay tuned
Ed in the Apple: Blogging on the Intersection of Education and Politics Title 