As we head into 2026, NYSUT is ready to advocate for the policies and budget priorities that will strengthen our public schools and support the educators who make them work. We fight for what you, our members, have told us matters most. Every policy we advance, support, or oppose reflects our shared vision—built on the needs of our members, students, families, schools, and communities.
Strong public schools are the centers of our communities. Together, we'll keep fighting for the resources that set every student up for success. With everything we do, we seek to:
- Support schools where students and educators can thrive.
- Ensure our members’ professions are enticing and sustainable career choices.
- Build the power of our union, so we can better represent our members and support our students and public schools.
These are just some of the things we’ll be working on this year:
Funding Foundation Aid
Ensuring our public schools are fully funded: After a 30-year fight, in 2023 NYSUT helped get the state to finally meet its full funding requirements to New York’s public school students.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “Fully funding Foundation Aid is about keeping a promise to our kids that no matter their zip code, their public school will have what it takes to help them thrive. When we invest in schools based on what they really need, we strengthen entire communities and build a fairer, stronger future.”
NYSUT wants: We remain laser-focused on ensuring the state continues to fully fund Foundation Aid. NYSUT will also continue to work with lawmakers on common-sense changes to the Foundation Aid formula to better support our students and our schools in every community.
Learn more:
Fair Share New York
Addressing wealth inequality: New York state has the highest concentration of ultra-wealth in the nation. While the richest New Yorkers (including 136 billionaires) have lined their pockets and added billions to their fortunes in just a few short years, more and more New Yorkers are struggling just to make ends meet. To make matters worse, the 2025 federal reconciliation bill has gifted another $12 billion to the richest New Yorkers.
With historic levels of inequality and 48 percent of New Yorkers struggling to get by, NYSUT is calling for modest tax increases on the wealthiest individuals and most profitable corporations, to help fund public services and rebalance the tax code after unfair federal cuts.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “We’re not asking for charity. We’re asking for justice. When everyone pays their fair share, every child has a fair shot.”
NYSUT wants: Small changes that will make a big difference, including:
- 1 percent increase in income taxes on New Yorkers earning more than $5 million annually
- 1.9 percent increase on corporate taxes for corporations earning more than $5 million annually
- Recapture New York’s share of corporate taxes that are currently being avoided by multinational corporations doing business in the state but shifting their profits to overseas tax havens.
Learn more:
Pushing Back on Private School Vouchers
Stopping federal attacks on public schools. A new federal private school voucher scheme would funnel billions of tax dollars away from public schools and into private schools with no oversight and no guarantee of quality education. In 2026, Governor Hochul must decide: Will New York opt in to this privatization scheme, or will we protect the public schools that serve 90 percent of our children?
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “Why are we talking about funding private schools when we’re not fully funding all of our public schools? Vouchers would pull billions from public schools to subsidize private education, with no accountability. We need to strengthen public education, not strip our schools’ resources.”
NYSUT wants: For Gov. Hochul to refuse to opt in to this federal voucher scheme. She alone decides and can set the course of federal weakening of our New York's public schools.
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Expanding Community Schools to Help Fight the Scourge of Child Poverty
Every child deserves a chance. 2.7 million New Yorkers live in poverty. That includes 760,000 children, or 1 in 5 — a rate that exceeds the national average and overall poverty rates in both the state and country. These children don’t have access to sufficient food, housing, or healthcare, which has a profoundly negative effect on their ability to learn, their potential and their outcomes. Childhood poverty doesn’t just affect poor families and children; it affects entire communities.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “In the richest state in the richest nation on earth, this is unacceptable, and we can do something about it. Poverty is not inevitable. It is a policy choice, and we can choose better.”
NYSUT wants: To expand proven and effective community school programs across the state. Currently, less than one-third of New York school districts utilize the community school model, despite proven returns on investment and improved outcomes for both students and families. NYSUT is asking for $100 million to expand community school programs across the state and $5 million to United Community Schools.
Learn more:
Website: 1in5NY.org
Civics Education and Media Literacy
Educating the next generation of citizens. Civic education is how we pass down the habits, values and knowledge that keep our democracy alive. But across the country, that civic foundation is eroding because decades of policy decisions that have narrowed what schools are asked to prioritize.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “Media literacy is literacy. Prioritizing civics education is not about adding another standardized test; it’s about preparing kids to participate as active citizens in our democracy. It’s about giving young people the skills to spot disinformation, understand how power works, and believe that their voices matter.”
NYSUT wants: Increased focus on civics education, access to the Seal of Civic Readiness, expanded social studies instruction, and stronger digital media literacy initiatives for students across the state.
Learn more:
Pushing for Play and Recess Time
Play is essential to learning and development. Since the early 2000s, driven largely by pressure to maximize instructional time and test preparation, many school districts have reduced recess or eliminated it altogether.
In the 1970s, children averaged 90 to 120 minutes of recess time daily. A 2025 NYSUT survey of early childhood educators found that over 90 percent of students receive less than 30 minutes of outdoor recess daily, and more than 42 percent of educators reported that recess time has decreased over the past three to five years. That’s in spite of the fact that research shows that physically active children have better grades, attendance and focus, and that play builds critical skills, including problem-solving, cooperation and emotional regulation.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “Across the state and the country, recess is too often treated as optional — or as a distraction from learning. But educators know what our students show us every day: Play IS learning, and it’s essential for our students to succeed.”
NYSUT wants: To join other states in establishing minimum playtime standards in schools; we recommend at least 30 minutes of daily, protected recess for our youngest learners.
In 2025, we pushed for a law requiring the State Education Department to conduct an official study of recess and playtime standards in schools across the state. This bill passed the Legislature with unanimous support in 2025, but the governor declined to sign this massively popular measure into law. We’ll continue to advocate for the Power of Play this year.
Learn more:
Charter School Accountability
Public dollars deserve public oversight and voter input. Charter schools receive public funding but operate with limited transparency and no accountability to the taxpayers who foot the bill. Unchecked expansion of corporate charter schools drains resources from public schools and often excludes students with the highest needs. Additionally, local voters should have a say as to whether a charter school should be able to open in their community.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “If charter schools claim to be public, they must play by public rules. That means transparency, accountability, and serving all children — not just the cherry-picked students that fit a specific business model.”
NYSUT wants: For state law to hold corporate charter schools to the same level of financial transparency and public accountability that is required of our public schools.
Learn more:
Fixing Tier 6
Equal work must mean equal retirement security. New York’s pension system for Tiers 5 and 6 is fundamentally unfair, forcing newer educators and public employees to pay more and work longer for far less.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “Fixing Tier 6 is about basic fairness. It’s about keeping our promise to those who dedicate their lives to public service.”
NYSUT wants: Full parity with members currently in Tier 4 of the retirement system. Together, we’ve already achieved several important wins, and we’ll be back at it this year. There are many ways to get this done, and in 2026 NYSUT will be working with lawmakers who support these changes and our partners representing public sector workers.
This year, NYSUT members turned out in all seasons to rally to Fix Tier 6. On March 8, we’ll be holding our biggest rally yet in Albany. Make sure you’re signed up!
Learn more:
Website: FixTier6.org
Higher Education & Research Funding
Strong campuses, strong communities. NYSUT supports full funding for SUNY, CUNY, and community colleges; additional support and protection for institutions like SUNY ESF that produce beneficial, life-saving research; and expanded access to higher education for adult learners.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “CUNY and SUNY are world-class institutions that open doors, fuel our economy, and serve as anchors for communities in every corner of New York. We must invest in them accordingly, because when we strengthen public higher education, we strengthen opportunity, innovation, and the future of our state.”
NYSUT wants: For our state’s public higher education system of SUNY, CUNY and community colleges to be funded properly and to be treated as the essential public good that it is — one that meets the needs of our communities and reflects the tremendous talents and potential within our state.
Learn more:
Addressing the Opioid Crisis
The opioid crisis touches every corner of our state, and educators see its impact daily as students cope with family trauma and loss. In schools across New York, teachers and counselors are on the front lines supporting students whose lives have been upended by addiction — whether their own struggles or the devastation it brings to their families and communities.
NYSUT wants: Opioid-related emergencies are unpredictable, and our schools must be prepared to respond. All schools should have naloxone on hand and staff trained to save lives in an emergency.
Protecting Students from Vaping
Vaping has become an epidemic in our schools. These products are deliberately designed and marketed to appeal to young people, and educators see the impact daily – on student health, focus and classroom behavior. It is time to protect children from vaping and e-cigarette products that threaten their health and well-being.
NYSUT wants: Support for legislation that would ban vaping devices that are commonly used in schools such as those that are made to resemble pens, pencils and other school supplies.
Ongoing Support for CTE Programs
Career and Technical Education programs work. Students are able to earn industry certifications that put them in high demand in high-paying fields from day one. Students want these programs, schools want to offer them, and employers across our state are desperate for more skilled workers.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “For students, Career and Technical Education programs open doors to confidence, purpose, and opportunity. For educators, it’s a powerful reminder that when learning is relevant and hands-on, it can change lives.”
NYSUT wants: Continued state support for career and technical education programs that prepare students for good-paying, in-demand jobs in the trades and other high-need industries is vital to our students’ success and our state’s future.
Learn more:
Carbon-Free, Healthy Schools Bond Act
Healthy classrooms, resilient communities. The average school building in New York was built more than 50 years ago. We cannot continue to ask mid-20th-century facilities to meet 21st-century climate and learning demands.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “Clean air, stable temperatures and reliable heating and cooling are not luxuries; they are basic conditions for learning. If we’re serious about student health, academic success and meeting New York’s clean-energy goals, we need a statewide investment that matches the scope of the challenge.”
NYSUT wants: A new Carbon-Free and Healthy Schools Bond Act to fund infrastructure upgrades and reduce emissions.
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End Receivership
Schools need support, not takeovers. New York’s receivership law is an ineffective policy that punishes schools in high-need districts and disempowers educators and families.
NYSUT President Melinda Person says: “Shaming schools with a failing label only discourages communities that are facing enormous challenges. Schools improve when the people in them are given resources and a voice.”
NYSUT wants: A repeal of the receivership system, to be replaced with a policy that supports — not shames — schools that need it most.