Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Board of Regents predates the approval of the Constitution, established in 1784 Board members included John Jay and Alexander Hamilton. Over 200 plus years the Board has gone through many changes and currently is a seventeen member Board “elected” by both houses of the state legislature for five year terms. New York State isContinue reading “Selecting Members of the Board of Regents”

As we move closer to the April 1 budget deadline one battle will dominate, the issue is totally bi-partisan, the issue is school funding.  New York State both leads the nation in per capita school funding and the inequality of the funding, with little interest in repairing, or more accurately defining what you want toContinue reading “Where is Robin Hood When We Need Her? The Battle Over Equitable School Funding in New York State”

This weekend hundreds of folks advocating for a wide range of policy initiatives trekked up to Albany for the annual Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislators weekend conference, panels, workshops speeches and parties and the opportunity to meet with legislators and advocate for your issue. CUNY college presidents concerned with perhaps dramatic cuts inContinue reading “Lobbying: Communicating with any Public Official for the Purpose of Influencing Legislative Issues”

The closing days of the Albany legislature session are called “the Big Ugly,” hundreds of bills are passed with no debate. The leadership, the Speaker in the Assembly and the Majority Leader in the Senate and key committee chairs control the flow of legislation. If you’re a legislator in the minority party you’re lucky toContinue reading “Is Threatening a Strike the Best Strategy to Fix Tier 6?”

The Delegate Assembly, since COVID, is a hybrid meeting, you can attend in-person or on-line and most delegates choose the online option. The technology was wonky in the beginning and now we’ve gotten used to it, you register choosing the in-person or online option, if you chose online your phone rings at 4:15 and you’reContinue reading “Should the UFT Take a Position on the Hamas-Israel War?”

Governor Hochul, in her 2022 Preliminary Executive Budget included a four-year extension of Mayoral Control in New York City. The legislature flexed their muscles and rolled back the ability of the governor to include non-budgetary issues in the budget (2001 NYS Court of Appeals approved the process in a number of decisions, See Pataki vContinue reading “School Governance in NYC: A Step Closer”

January 18, 2024 Pursuant to Chapter 364 of the Laws of 2022, the New York State Education Department shall conduct a comprehensive review and assessment of the overall effectiveness of mayoral control of New York City schools. All members of the public—including students, parents, teachers, school administrators and staff, and individuals with experience and expertiseContinue reading “NYC Mayoral Control Hearing Testimony”

“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” (1866, Gideon Tucker, Surrogate Court Judge) At the December Delegate Assembly UFT President Mulgrew began the meeting with the President’s Report: a compilation of national, state and local do-ings, mostly political. On the state level, improvements in Tier 6 of the TeachersContinue reading “How Does a Bill Become a Law in Albany?”