UNION ACTIVISM
Teachers at the Table: Union Activism and the Anxious Future of Public Education By Dean Bacigalupo
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n an era when public education, students' needs, teachers’ professional rights, and the integrity of teacher unions are all under mounting pressure, the role of teachers as activists has never been more critical.¹ Today’s schools are strained by shrinking budgets, overcrowded classrooms, shifting policies, and political interference. These realities threaten both educational quality and the well-being of students and school staff. As teachers, we refuse to remain silent or confined to classroom walls. Our firsthand insight into students’ lives compels us to demand fair funding, safe and supportive learning environments, and equitable treatment for every student and staff member. Through our unions, we hold the megaphone to amplify what would be isolated voices into a unified call for justice and dignity in education.
I have taught social studies since 1997 on the middle and high school levels first in New York City public schools and since 2001 in a small suburban community in Island Park, Nassau County. Alongside my classroom work, I continue as an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Education at Hofstra University. I hold multiple roles as a leader of my local union, the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), and American Federation of Teachers (AFT). These include serving as President of my local union the Island Park Faculty Association (IPFA), representative to the Long Island Presidents Council (LIPC) and the NYSUT Committee of 100; contributer to NYSUT’s More Teaching, Less Testing Task Force; Chairperson of NYSUT’s Social Studies Subject Area Committee (2023-2026); and delegate to both NYSUT and the AFT. These experiences as a teacher, professor, and union leader have grounded me firmly in the conviction that teacher-union activism is not optional. Educators must reclaim their voice and their agency for themselves and for every child whose future depends on the health of public education.
Public education remains the foundation of equal opportunity and informed citizenship. Therefore, our unions must insist that resources and community support mobilize to sustain and uplift our public schools. From inside classrooms and school hallways, teachers witness how policy decisions, budget cuts, and structural inequities shape children’s futures long before they are reported. When teachers demand fair pay, smaller class sizes, adequately resourced schools, support services such as counselors or specialeducation staff, and health and safety for all, they are advocating for their profession and demanding the conditions under which students can learn. The activism of educators through collective action and union solidarity is, at its core, a fight for our children’s futures.
I- Teacher union activism on a local level New York City school unions are organized through the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Each school elects a Chapter Leader to be their union spokesperson. Within each school, the UFT Chapter Leader plays a crucial role in advocating for teachers’ rights and improving working conditions in that school. A vital and often overlooked part of their duty is participating in school-level decision-making processes. These include an active role in the schools budget development, curriculum planning, or policy initiatives that improve the school community. In this role, a Chapter Leader shares a voice in addressing issues related to teaching and learning and advocates for policies that improve pedagogy and practice with school administrators. In addition, the UFT recognizes the unique challenges of each school and in response supports school-based decision-making (SBDM) as a way to empower teachers and improve schools through School Leadership Teams. Their decision-making authority can include developing and implementing school-wide improvement plans, allocating resources within the school budget, and creating or revising school policies. The call and response at meetings and rallies, “Who Are We…UFT!” became a constant reminder of teachers' collective power to create change.
To succeed this activism must extend far beyond school buildings. In New York City’s 2025 race for Mayor, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) made a risky, but influential endorsement of newcomer Zohran Mamdani – the eventual winner. This illustrates how teacher unions are reawakening to this broader mission of shaping policy to advance educational equity, foster student wellbeing, and strengthening the future of schooling in cities like New York City.² By endorsing a mayoral candidate who explicitly pledged to partner with students, parents, and educators as key stakeholders in the education system, the UFT signaled that its role extends beyond labor negotiation to championing educational environments where students thrive and school staff can teach with dignity and professionalism.³ These important issues and more will become central to Mayor Mamdani’s agenda when he assumes office on January 1, 2026. Kathy Hochul, the Governor of New York State, and teacher unions across NYS have already begun to listen.
Outside of NYC each school district has the ability to negotiate their own collective bargaining agreements (CBA). In 2001 I 8
accepted a position as a middle-school teacher of social studies in the community where I live. Here, as with most suburban Districts outside of NYC, school staff including teachers are represented by a “Faculty Association”. Each association has a Constitution that identifies officers, their responsibilities for negotiating and maintaining the Collective Bargaining Agreement (aka “the Contract”), their term, and a process for their election. Collectively, the President of the Association and all officers are named an Executive Board. I was elected to the Executive Board of the Island Park Faculty Association in 2004 as the Grievance Chairperson and from there to also serve as our Associations representative to the NYSUT Committee of 100 in 2006. I continued in both roles until I was elected President of the Island Park Faculty Association in 2021, a position I continue to hold today. Though leading a local teachers’ union in a small suburban district differs in structure from a large city-wide union such as UFT, both are in fact affiliates of the same statewide union, NYSUT. What remains the same is our commitment to creating the best schools for our students, teachers, and community. In this regard, being an effective school-level leader remains a core responsibility.
More Teaching, Less Testing Task Force, which later issued a report that informed the Regents’ Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures (November 13, 2024). From these opportunities I was elected to serve as the Chairperson of the NYSUT Social Studies Subject Area Committee for a three-year term (2023-2026). These roles have allowed me to amplify the voices of my members and advocate for my students, community, and profession. It is an additional time commitment I encourage the next generation of leaders to invest in. NYSUT aims to create a more fair, equitable, and supportive system that better reflects the complexities of teaching and learning. Although NYSUT has often clashed with various public officials, our opposition to Andrew Cuomo was unusually intense. Under Cuomo’s leadership, the State Legislature created Education Law §3012‑d. NYSUT condemned this 2015 overhaul of teacher-evaluation laws and organized to reform it. For teachers and parents across New York state this new system was defined as a “sham”⁶ that “undermines local control, disrespects principals and school administrators, guts collective bargaining … and further feeds the testing beast.”⁶ NYSUT also criticized Cuomo’s push to more than double the weight of state standardized tests in teacher evaluations, arguing the “test-and-punish” approach was irresponsible, research-defying and harmful to students, educators, and communities.⁶ Moreover, NYSUT objected to Cuomo’s plans to put chronically underperforming schools under state “receivership” and warned that it would strip communities of local control and jeopardize teacher job security. NYSUT, with parents’ support, argued that the tests weren’t designed to measure teacher performance and cautioned that schools would over-emphasise “teaching to the test.”⁶ On March 20, 2024, NYSUT President Melinda Person walked together with Dr Betty A. Rosa, Commissioner of Education & President of the University of the State of New York, to the Legislative Office Building to hand-deliver a new bill rewriting New York’s flawed teacher evaluation system. In June Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law S9054/A9849, which corrected the onerous APPR system fourteen years after its enactment. The recent reform of the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) in New York State will significantly change how students are taught and how teachers and principals are evaluated and supported.⁷
II- Teacher union activism on a state level At the state level, our collective power broadens. In 1972 the merger of two rival statewide teacher unions; the New York State Teachers Association (NYSTA) and the United Teachers of New York UTNY, brought together a significant portion of New York’s educators under one umbrella organization known as New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). Over the past fifty-plus years NYSUT has grown to represent nearly 700,000 educators, including more than 95 percent of teachers in New York’s public elementary and secondary schools, organized through a federation of more than 1,300 local unions, of which the UFT has the largest membership and delegate allocation.⁵ As the elected President of the Island Park Faculty Association (NYSUT Local 18-045), I also serve as the NYSUT Local 18-045 Delegate and AFT Local 2751 Delegate. I attend the NYSUT Representative Assembly each year and am assigned to a committee where proposed resolutions and amendments are read, voted on, and possibly adopted into the next year's legislative and advocacy agendas. NYSUT uses special task-forces and standing committees to gather information on timely issues and to initiate policy and position statements for submission to the NYSUT Board of Directors and the Representative Assembly. I serve on the NYSUT Committee of 100 (a standing committee). This is a politicalaction committee where I meet throughout the year with other members of NYSUT Election District 18 to discuss the needs of our area, monitor proposed state spending and bills, plan meetings with our state legislators, and recommend candidates for endorsement to NYSUT. Additionally, NYSUT content-area committees advise the organization regarding standards and assessments in pre-K-12 schools. They help NYSUT provide a professional response to initiatives by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. I was a member of the NYSUT
NYSUT's current legislative agenda includes a long-range plan to “Fix Tier 6” pensions. The Tier 6 reform refers to changes made to the pension system for public employees hired on or after April 1, 2012. A key early victory in this campaign was reducing the vesting period for Tier 6 members from ten years to five. This year NYSUT achieved its biggest pension-reform victory in twenty years by lowering the Final Average Salary calculation from five to three years for Tier 6 members. This is especially important because educators usually earn more later in their careers, and this gives Tier 6 members parity with Tiers 4 and 5. In addition to these structural reforms, NYSUT has championed student-well-being initiatives that extend beyond traditional labor 9
matters. For example, the union played a high-profile role in the campaign for universal free school breakfast and lunch in New York State that culminated in the state’s decision to provide free meals to all 2.7 million public-school students beginning in the 2025-26 school year.⁸ This effort spoke directly to the principle that a hungry child cannot focus on learning and underscored that unions can advocate for basic student needs as essential to educational success. Simultaneously, NYSUT has launched the “Power of Play” campaign, pushing for elementary schools to restore at least 30 minutes of unstructured recess each day and reduce passive screen-time during the school day.⁹ Research on child development and learning supports NYSUT’s advocacy that unstructured play is a fundamental component of emotional, social, and cognitive development, and that the over-reliance on screens and testdriven instruction undermines children’s capacity to regulate their emotions and engage in learning.
Supreme Court of the United States ruled that public-sector employers may not deduct “agency” or “fair-share” fees from nonunion employees unless those employees give their consent.¹² By overturning the prior precedent, the court undercut a longstanding revenue base for public-sector unions. Under the old rule, even non-members of a union were required to pay “agency” or “fairshare” fees because they still benefitted from the union’s collective bargaining and representation.¹² Without those fees local unions now risk representing many non-members without receiving compensation. As a result, unions including the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and its local affiliates face the prospect of significant revenue losses. That financial pressure reduces each local's ability to fund daily operations, member services, legal support, advocacy, contract administration, grievances, and collective bargaining efforts.¹² In response to the Janus v. AFSCME decision, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) has intensified efforts to engage members and clearly demonstrate the value of union membership. NYSUT has recommitted to the grassroots organizing that helped build its strength decades ago in part by encouraging each local to form a political-action team to meet with lawmakers, lead letterwriting campaigns, and run phone banks during school-budget and election seasons. NYSUT coordinates this work through a network of political-action members that include at least one in every New York State Senate district. NYSUT also sponsors VOTE-COPE, a vibrant non-partisan political-action fund that coordinates voluntary contributions from members and supports NYSUT endorsed candidates and campaign committees that are propublic education and pro-labor. To support local outreach, NYSUT sends rebates to local unions based on a percentage of their contributions, thus enabling locals to invest these rebates in local activities such as school-board races or budget campaigns. Finally, NYSUT is building infrastructure to respond to future threats to education. NYSUT will provide support for pro-education candidates who run for school boards, local offices, state legislatures and even national office. Those efforts appear to be bearing fruit. In the May 2025 school-board elections, 245 of 274 NYSUT endorsed candidates won (an 89 percent success rate). A summary of the November 2025 general election highlighted more than 100 NYSUT-endorsed candidates winning public office races, including at least 31 who are union members. Additionally, five pro-education congressional candidates marked as priorities were elected in key districts.
New York State United Teachers NYSUT played a key role in endorsing the “bell-to-bell” cellphone ban recently signed into law. In September 2024, NYSUT’s Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution calling for “bell-to-bell” restrictions on smartphones and other personal devices in schools, arguing that unrestricted device use undermines social development and student well-being.¹⁰ After months of lobbying, coalition-building, and public engagement, the law was enacted as part of the 2025–26 state budget. Kathy Hochul signed the amendment on May 9, 2025 making New York the largest U.S. state to require statewide “bell-to-bell” cellphone restrictions in K–12 schools.¹⁰ Under the new statute, all public school districts, charter schools, and BOCES must adopt a written policy prohibiting students from using “internetenabled” personal devices including smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches during the entire school day (including class time, lunch, hallways, and passing periods).¹⁰ NYSUT framed the ban as more than a disciplinary measure. NYSUT argued it promotes distraction-free learning, protects student mental health, strengthens social interactions, and restores classroom focus. This change provides students and educators a real chance to engage without constant digital interruptions.¹⁰ These are a few choice examples of recent efforts that reflect how NYSUT’s mission continues to proactively shape environments that support whole-child development.
III- Teacher union activism on a national level Local unions are not immune from federal policies and anti-union agendas. Although The Constitution of the United States delegates responsibility for public education to each individual state and their many localities (via the Tenth Amendment), the national government still wields substantial influence over local school agendas through funding programs, civil-rights regulations, accountability mandates, and other policy incentives.¹¹
Engaging a large and diverse organisation with 700,000 members linked to over 1,300 local unions presents significant challenges. These include balancing a wide range of policy issues (education funding, teacher evaluation, healthcare, social justice), accommodating the diverse interests of member groups and regions, adapting to evolving educational landscapes (technology, demographic change, new instructional models), and addressing emerging challenges such as teacher shortages and student mental-health needs. Effective advocacy requires skillful political manoeuvring, a nuanced and strategic approach, and strong
In this broader context of federal influence, the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision dealt a major blow to public-sector unions’ financial stability. In a 5–4 decision in Janus v. AFSCME, the 10
relationships with elected officials. NYSUT can continue to effect change by ensuring effective internal communication and decisionmaking processes. Local leaders must also continue to build capacity for the next generation of leaders to organize effectively and confidently share their experiences with NYSUT committees, task forces or the Representative Assembly.
delegate-assembly-endorses-mamdani-nyc-mayor
4 Gregg, N. (2025, July 14). United Federation of Teachers
endorses Zohran Mamdani. New York Family. Retrieved from https://www.newyorkfamily.com/uft-endorses-zohranmamdani 5 Hartney, M., & Flavin, P. (2011). From the schoolhouse to the statehouse: Teacher union political activism and U.S. state education reform policy. State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 11(3), 251–268. 6 “Education stakeholders reach agreement on fixing teacher and principal accountability.” NYSUT News Release, March 2024. Retrieved from https://www.nysut.org/news/2024/ march/media-release-appr-fix 7 “New APPR law returns local control to teacher evaluations.” New York State United Teachers, July–Aug 2024. Retrieved from https://united.nysut.org/issue/july-august-2024/newappr-law-returns-local-control-to-teacher-evaluations 8 “Universal school meals program fulfils promise to feed all students.” New York State United Teachers, May 2025. Retrieved from https://www.nysut.org/news/2025/may/ universal-school-meals 9 New York State United Teachers. (2025, September 24). The power of play: They're not just playing; they're developing skills for life. NYSUT. Retrieved from https://www.nysut.org/ news/2025/september/the-power-of-play 10 New York State United Teachers. (2025, June). 2025 State Legislative Session Victories. NYSUT. Retrieved from https:// www.nysut.org/news/2025/june/legislative-wrap-up 11 National Conference of State Legislatures. (2025, March 21). FAQ: The Education Department and the Federal Role in Education. Retrieved from https://www.ncsl.org/statelegislatures-news/details/faq-the-education-department-andthe-federal-role-in-education 12 See Janus v. AFSCME, 585 U.S. (2018) U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding public-sector union agency fees.
Teacher union activism is not a side job. It is central to our professional identity. Whether you serve as a chapter leader, sit on a committee, advocate at the Capitol, or simply support union efforts you have a stake in the bigger picture. We are the union. We shape the schools our students attend, the conditions under which we teach, and the profession we pass to the next generation. I encourage all teachers to get involved, stay informed, engage with the structures (school-based teams, local unions, state associations, national federations) and work deliberately to ensure our union voice remains strong, representative, and effective.
Dean Bacigalupo, Ed.D., is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Teaching, Learning and Technology at Hofstra University. He has taught social studies since 1997 on the middle and high school level, both in NYC and Long Island. He has held numerous positions within the AFT and NYSUT, including as President of his Island Park union local. REGIONAL LABOR REVIEW, vol. 28, no. 1 (Fall 2025). © 2025 Center for the Study of Labor and Democracy, Hofstra University
NOTES 1 Morsy, Leila, and Richard Rothstein. 2015. “Parents’ Non-
Standard Work Schedules Make Adequate Childrearing Difficult: Reforming Labor Market Practices Can Improve Children’s Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes.” Economic Policy Institute Issue Brief No. 400. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/parents-nonstandard-work-schedules-make-adequate-childrearing-difficultreforming-labor-market-practices-can-improve-childrenscognitive-and-behavioral-outcomes/ (accessed 9/22/2025). 1 Gunter, H., Huddleston, P., & Rudduck, J. (2024). Full article: Public education and teacher professionalism in an age of accountability. Journal of Education Policy. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17508487.2 024.2392609 2 National Education Association. (2022, January 28). 5 Ways Strong Educator Unions Help Public Schools. NEA. Retrieved from https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/5-waysstrong-educator-unions-help-public-schools 3 United Federation of Teachers. (2025, July 8). UFT Delegate Assembly endorses Mamdani for NYC mayor [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.uft.org/news/press-releases/uft-
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