New Action – UFT

Every two weeks, union dues and voluntary COPE donations come out of the paychecks of more than 100,000 active UFT members. Millions upon millions of dollars of our hard earned money go to maintaining, strengthening, and empowering our union. Union dues are not allowed to be used for political action, although a sizable portion of our dues (over 25%, according to this old Chalkbeat piece) goes to affiliates such as New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT), where the distinction between regular union activity and political activity seems less clear cut. To make things simple, we will not be looking at NYSUT and AFT political donations since there’s no way of knowing exactly how much of our money was used.

For the purpose of this short series of articles, we will only look at UFT COPE contributions, which are used to lobby legislators and political groups, among other things, such as phone banking, political flyers, buses, rallies, etc.

Hopefully, the following breakdown of the recipients of our COPE donations alleviates some of the mystery as to who benefited most from our contributions in 2024 and 2025. This is not meant to be an exposé by any means; it is simply meant to help our membership see where some of our money is going because we deserve to know.

Some of the dollar amounts may not be exact. These are all minimum figures. All research was done through the NYSBOE Public Reporting System and the New York City Campaign Finance Board. The UFT donates money under several names (UFT, United Federation of Teachers, UFT COPE, etc.), making it somewhat difficult to pin down exactly how much (and to whom) they donated.

All that being said, hopefully this information helps clarify where our COPE donations are going as we delve into Part 2. All dollar amounts are for 2024 and 2025, combined.

6. Democratic Committee of Richmond County: $15,500

Contributions: 2024 United Federation of Teachers: $10,000; 2025 UFT COPE: $5,500

Self-explanatory. Staten Island’s Democratic Party whose members include NYS Assemblyman Charles D. Fall, NYS Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, NYC Council Member Kamillah Hanks, and District Attorney Michael McMahon.

In her time as senator of the 23rd district, representing the North Shore of Staten Island, Scarcella-Spanton has sponsored two noteworthy bills favoring public school teachers. One of the bills aimed to extend student loan forgiveness to SUNY and CUNY graduates that go into the public sector. The bill would grant qualified applicants $5,000 per year to pay off their student loans. Like many bills, it is still in committee, so it may be some time before we get wind of any progress.

Scarcella-Spanton was also one of many co-sponsors on a bill that would have “amend(ed) the education law in New York State to include arts and music education as necessary components of the public school curriculum.” This bill would have really helped out teachers of the arts, who often find themselves first on the chopping block when schools lack sufficient funding. Unfortunately, both bills died in 2024.

Scarcella-Spanton received $19,300 from NYSUT from 2022-2023. Fall and McMahon will both be featured in part three.

7. Eric Gonzalez (District Attorney, Kings County): $15,000

Contributions: 2024 United Federation of Teachers COPE: $5,000; 2025 United Federation of Teachers COPE: $10,000

The UFT and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez have a working history. The UFT Delegate Assembly endorsed Gonzalez in 2025. According to the 2025 Delegate Assembly resolution, Gonzalez’s “2020 Office Action Plan indicates his plans to collaborate with the Department of Education so that school-based offenses can be dealt with using restorative justice practices that allow young people to take responsibility for their actions, make amends to the people they have harmed, and avoid prosecution entirely.” The resolution goes on to acknowledge Gonzalez’s efforts to protect immigrant families and refers to him as a “strong ally for working people, our schools, and our community.”

8. Democratic Organization of Queens County: $13,800

Contributions: 2024 United Federation of Teachers COPE: $6,000; 2025 United Federation of Teachers COPE: $7,800

The name gives it away. Members Stacey Pheffer Amato, Edward Braunstein, Vivian E, Cook, David I. Weprin, Toby Ann Stavisky, and John Liu all received sizable contributions from NYSUT in 2022 and 2023.

Senator John Liu is the chairperson of the New York City Education Committee. He was also the former comptroller and one of the “key architects” of the class size law. Liu has been a beneficial ally in the fight against charter schools and has been an ardent supporter of public education.

Senator Stavisky has been in office since 1999. She currently serves the 11th district in Queens and is the Chair of the Committee on Higher Education. During the 2021-2022 legislative season, Stavisky also served on the Senate Education Committee.

Stavisky has co-sponsored several bills impacting educators and students alike. Stavisky is one of the co-sponsors on a bill that would make art and music courses compulsory. Stavisky has also co-sponsored bills that recognize Lunar New Year, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and Diwali as school holidays in districts with significant populations of students and families that celebrate those holidays.

Additionally, Stavisky lent her support to a bill that “aims to reform the processes of performance reviews, probationary terms, tenure assignments, and removal protocols for educators in the state of New York.” The bill, which unfortunately died in 2024, would have placed less emphasis on performance reviews for teachers and principals and focus more on educators “maintaining proper certification and effective overall service.”

9. Bronx Democratic County Committee – Housekeeping: $12,000

Contributions: 2024 UFT: $12,000

According to the mission statement on their website, the BDCC “represent a set of values that largely reflects that of the National Democratic Party. Our main goal as an organization is to help elect progressive Democratic candidates all across the borough of The Bronx that will be integral to fighting for the progress our communities deserve… we have steadfastly become the party that has fought for healthcare as a human right, increased minimum wage, union labor rights, and comprehensive immigration reform that includes a solution for our DREAMers both locally and nationwide. Our democratic elected officials, both on the local and national level, have been progressive champions of LGBTQIA+ rights, women’s rights and their reproductive rights, climate change, and the scientific evidence that supports it, as well as being strong proponents of criminal justice reform.”

The BDCC is comprised of dozens of elected officials, chief among them being Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ritchie Torres, Speaker Carl Heastie, Senator Robert Jackson, Senator Gustavo Rivera, Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, Council Member Eric Dinowitz, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. To do a deep dive into all of them would be a bit much, but many of the elected officials from the Bronx have been very supportive of public schools and educators. Some examples:

Senator Jackson represents the 31st District of New York. In 1992, as President of Community School Board 6 in Manhattan, Jackson led a lawsuit against the State of New York in order to get equitable funding for NYC students. Jackson felt NYC students weren’t receiving proportionate funding, and he was right. Despite comprising 39% of the student population of New York State, they were only receiving 32% state education aid (source: Baruch case study).

In 2008, Jackson, then serving in New York City Council’s 7th District, co-sponsored a resolution to reform city school planning to address overcrowding.

Most recently, to the benefit of all Tier 6 members, Jackson served as the primary sponsor on a bill that amended the calculation of our Final Average Salary (FAS). As a result, our three highest consecutive years of earnings will be used to calculate our FAS instead of our five highest consecutive years. In other words, future retirees can expect a little bit more money when they receive their pensions.

Furthermore, Jackson is an advocate for public schools. In 2022, pro-charter super PAC, New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany, spent nearly $100,000 in an effort to defeat Jackson in his re-election bid. Jackson still managed to trounce his opponent, Angel Vasquez, “a former teacher, who later worked as a deputy political director for the United Federation of Teachers.”

Gustavo Rivera has represented the 33rd Senate district in the Bronx for the last 15 years. Senator Rivera has also served as the Chair of the Senate Health Committee since 2018. As such, Rivera looms large as a person of tremendous importance.

Rivera is the sponsor of the New York Health Act (NYHA), a bill that twice has been approved by the Delegate Assembly (DA). While there are still some questions and moving parts that must be pinned down before unconditional support can be given, as long as NYHA offers all members – active and retired, in-state and out-of-state – equal or better healthcare without an increase in cost, it could be something worth considering in the future..

In addition, Senator Rivera has co-sponsored bills that benefit educators and students. Rivera supported the class size bill intended to reduce the maximum number of students per class. He also co-sponsored the SAFE for Kids Act, focused on limiting addictive social media feeds to students under 18 without parental consent. Finally, Rivera also advocated for the bill that would reform teacher and principal evaluations and removal procedures (see Toby Ann Stavisky above).

Rivera is also an ardent supporter of public schools. Rivera opposes the expansion of charters and pushes for increased funding to public schools. In 2022, New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany, a pro-charter super PAC, spent well over $100,000 to try to unseat Rivera in his bid for re-election. Rivera still defeated his opponent, Miguelina Camilo, despite the super PAC’s best efforts.

Some of the larger recipients of UFT, NYSUT, and/or AFT contributions went to Bronx legislatures in 2022-2023. Senator Heastle received $51,125 ($50,000 of which came from NYSUT) during that time period. NYSUT gave $19,800 to Senator Jackson in 2022. Senator Rivera was on the receiving end of $17,300 combined from NYSUT and the UFT. DA Clark received $10,000 in contributions from the UFT in 2023.

10. Alvin Bragg (District Attorney, Manhattan): $10,000

Contributions: 2025 United Federation of Teachers: $10,000

The most prolific DA in New York City best known for indicting Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Bragg successfully prosecuted High Volt Electric Corp. for stealing worker’s wages and defrauding the School Construction Authority. Bragg has been receiving UFT support since 2021 when the union first endorsed him. Bragg also received a $5,000 contribution from the UFT in 2023.

Please check back for the third and final installment of this series next week.