ocated in Valhalla, the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Services enrolls 851 students from 32 component districts in 20 different CTE programs. With the programs’ curricula informed by the latest industry needs and articulation agreements with 10 different colleges, students who graduate from these programs are ready for bright futures.

Thanks to NYSUT’s ongoing advocacy, last year’s state budget included significant increases in BOCES aid, making it possible for even more students to have access to these increasingly popular programs.

“This is the most significant legislative change for BOCES in three decades,” said NYSUT President Melinda Person at the annual Southern Westchester BOCES Legislative Advocacy breakfast. “We’re going to be able to meet the demand for Career and Technical Education that we haven’t been able to. It’s also going to enable us to meet the changing dynamics of public education. When you talk about the future of public education, you can’t not talk about CTE.”

ebecca Healy has been a science teacher in the Morrisville-Eaton Central School District for 21 years and has watched successive rounds of spending cuts gut the two schools in this proud, tight-knit community.

“We don’t have electives anymore. We haven’t had AP courses since the early 2000s. We used to have enrichment classes and reading programs, but they all had to be cut, and now we’re just down to bare bones,” said Healy, president of the Morrisville-Eaton Faculty Association.

She hopes a proposed merger with neighboring Cazenovia Central School District is the solution. The state aid that comes with mergers could restore programming and help boost teacher pay, Healy said, and she has been assured by her superintendent that Morrisville-Eaton jobs would be safe.

ith the ratification of their latest contract, the East Williston Teachers Association achieved a major step forward for members and their families, securing 20 days of paid parental leave for all new parents, regardless of tenure status.

“This provision reflects a shared vision between the union and administration, one centered on fairness, family, and the understanding that strong schools depend on educators who feel supported both personally and professionally,” said East Williston Teachers Association President Ron Roaldsen.

“It felt like a big success here on Long Island,” said Roaldsen. “It’s been a national issue, but we don’t always see the advancements that we’d like to see nationally. So, we were willing to take it on locally.”

ccording to the latest U.S. Census figures, more than 90 percent of residents in Saranac Lake are categorized as white. But those statistics hide a beautiful mosaic of diversity in the small North Country community.

Temnit Muldowney, an elementary school teacher and member of the Saranac Lake Teachers Association, has been teaching in the district for nearly 20 years. “As the only Black educator in the Saranac Lake Central School District, I have worked hard to lead efforts around diversity, inclusion and social justice.”

Temnit Muldowney, an elementary school teacher and member of the Saranac Lake Teachers Association, has been teaching in the district for nearly 20 years. “As the only Black educator in the Saranac Lake Central School District, I have worked hard to lead efforts around diversity, inclusion and social justice.”

rom beginning to end, the second annual NYSUT Members of Color Conference was a vibe. #IYKYK.

More than 400 NYSUT members from across the state convened under the theme, Reclaiming Our Joy: Building Power Through Hope.

“Joy is resistance. Hope is our strategy. Power is the result,” declared NYSUT Board member LeRoy Barr, United Federation of Teachers secretary, who served as conference host. “As union members of color, we know what it means to carry a lot. We carry our work, our families; we carry our histories. Many days we carry the weight of systems that were never designed with us in mind.”

The conference, held Dec. 6–7 in Albany, was part of the union’s Members of Color Affinity and Action initiative and sponsored by the NYSUT Many Threads, One Fabric program. NYSUT Secretary-Treasurer J. Philippe Abraham noted the conference was taking place just after the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ historic arrest.

I provide technical assistance to teachers and help students learn how to use and take care of their Chromebooks. I assist teachers, especially the library media specialist, deliver lessons with a focus on technology integration, as well as teach lessons in digital citizenship and typing.

The most wonderful part of my job is helping our third-grade students with Royal Comet Television. Each week a group of third graders deliver news and information to the school via our Crane YouTube channel. Seeing the growth our students achieve through this amazing enrichment opportunity is a highlight of my career as an educator.

In the spring of 2019, with the approval of the president, I took over as building rep and finished out the term of our retiring unit vice president. I was anxious to learn more about the union and how I could help make our unit more active with NYSUT and in our community. In the spring of 2020, I was duly elected vice president and began my first term on July 1, 2020. When elections came back around in 2023, I ran for president and won a contentious election.

e celebrate our SRPs every day, but 2025 SRP Recognition Day was truly special. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, NYSUT members across New York honored the incredible School-Related Professionals who make our schools run every single day. From early morning bus routes to after-school cleanup, from bandaging scraped knees to serving nutritious meals, from maintaining safe buildings to supporting our classrooms — our SRPs continue to Rise to the Challenge.

The response from locals and members across the state was overwhelming! We received hundreds of submissions showing how you celebrated your SRPs and highlighted the difference they make in your schools and communities. Your stories and photos are a powerful reminder of why these dedicated professionals deserve recognition throughout the year.

The Kenmore Tonawanda School Employees Association, led by Josh Frasier, submitted many great photos of SRP members in action at work, including the bus maintenance workers at right. They captured the inclusive spirit of SRP Recognition Day and the theme “Our Work Makes Schools Run.” KTSEA will receive $250 to be spent on a 2026 SRP Recognition Day celebration.

To see the full compilation, visit nysut.cc/SRPrecognition.

Why Do I Teach?
I’ve been asking myself this question quite a bit lately. Why do I keep showing up, day after day, putting my heart and soul into a job when I haven’t received a raise in two years?

As I write this, my colleagues and I, members of the Vestal Teachers Association, are without a successor agreement, which expired at the end of the 2024 school year. What complicates things further is that I’m not just an educator in this district; I’m also a community member with two children in my building.

Despite the low morale that has come with an unsettled contract, never mind the additional burdens it has created, like navigating creative family budgeting, attending informational pickets, and frequent board of education meetings, it always comes back to one thing: the kids.

ith many students having a hard time distinguishing between newscasts and political ads, and too many falling prey to misinformation and propaganda, media literacy and civic readiness are more important now than ever.

NYSUT President Melinda Person talked about the essential work our members are doing to prepare the next generation of citizens at this year’s New York State Bar Association Convocation, Media Literacy Education: Safeguarding Democracy in a Digital World.

“Today, media literacy is literacy. There’s no distinction,” said Person. “And so, I think it’s really important that it is taught across all subject areas, and that it’s not an add-on; it’s a foundation.”

Educators often face an uphill battle, with many reporting that students arrive in middle school without the skills needed to separate facts from fiction, Person said.

A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 68 percent of high school students don’t have confidence in their ability to evaluate the credibility of online information.

“It used to be you told students ‘don’t believe it till you see it’, and now you can’t even believe what you see, right?” asked Person.

NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN THAT NOMINATING PETITIONS FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH 5 P.M., FEB. 2, 2026 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CRITERIA AND PROCESSES OUTLINED BELOW.

5 Questions for Anabel Darini

I grew up in a town called La Villa, way down at the tip of Texas. It’s very close to the Mexican border, so Mexican culture is very big there, and Spanish was my first language. Many families, including mine, have lived in the area since before it was part of the United States. We often say that we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us. It’s very agricultural, and that’s what my first memories are about.

My mother and father were both farmworkers — they met in the fields — and their work was a big part of my childhood. In the summers, we traveled to Michigan so they could work seasonally there. The conditions were tough, with multiple families sharing one house that didn’t even have a bathroom. When I was 7 or 8, my father became a truck driver for a local sugar mill, and my mother went to school and became a teacher, and that gave us more stability. Seeing my parents pursue new careers for themselves inspired me to follow my own passion and become a teacher.

s we begin 2026, it’s a natural time to reflect on where we are and consider how to prepare for the year ahead. NYSUT Member Benefits offers a variety of endorsed programs that can support members in planning for their financial, legal and personal well-being.

One of the most important items on your list should be to regularly evaluate your legal and financial needs. Our Legal Service Plan (provided by the law firm of Feldman, Kramer & Monaco since 1980) offers access to a panel of attorneys for personal legal matters; unlimited telephone consultations and letter writing; and a legal security package containing a simple will, health care proxy, living will and power of attorney.

Note: NYSUT members in a non-full dues category or split dues category can participate in our Legal Assistance Plan at no cost, providing eligible members with free telephone access to attorneys along with a limited number of legal documents.

hen you join the New York State and Local Retirement System, you are assigned to a tier. If you joined on or after April 1, 2012, you are in Tier 6. Your tier — along with your retirement plan — determines your eligibility for benefits and how they are calculated.

The short answer is yes. How much depends on your specific circumstances. Member contributions help fund your pension.

As mandated by New York state law, Tier 3 and 4 members made pension contributions of 3% of their salary until they had either 10 years of membership or 10 years of service credit. Tier 5 members must make pension contributions of 3.5% of their salary throughout their active membership. Tier 6 members contribute 3–6% of their salary based on the amount of their salary. If you leave service and withdraw your membership, the contributions you made (plus 5% interest) are refunded to you.