New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) is a left-of-center labor union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA), and the AFL-CIO. The union includes 600,000 teachers, administrative workers, and health-care workers in the state of New York. NYSUT notably includes the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the main New York City teachers union which includes over 140,000 teachers and other education employees. ¹

NYSUT engages in grassroots initiatives to support left-of-center public policy implementation through its Member Action Center (MAC). The union has organized community action in support of a number of political initiatives, including the implementation of a high wealth tax to fund public education and the regulation of charter schools.¹ NYSUT also exercises influence in New York electoral politics, frequently supporting Democratic candidates for state and federal office through its political action committee, VOTE-COPE.² In 2020, NYSUT also sued the state of New York for withholding school funding during the COVID-19 pandemic. ³

Background

NYSUT is a federation of over 1200 local labor unions which include over 600,000 educational and health care workers in the state of New York.¹ The local unions affiliated with NYSUT range from small local unions of fewer than 10 members to the United Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 140,000 teachers and other school employees in New York City. NYSUT is affiliated with both the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), two of the largest labor unions in the United States.¹ NYSUT notably includes the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the main New York City teachers union which includes over 140,000 teachers and other education employees.¹ Aside from its affiliation with other education-specific unions, the NYSUT is affiliated with the left-of-center AFL-CIO.¹

History

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) was created in 1972 through the merger of the New York State Teachers Association (NYSTA) and the United Teachers of New York (UTNY). NYSTA had been affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA)while UTNY was affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). At the time of the merger, UTNY was the statewide union under which the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the predominant teachers’ union in New York City led by notable labor leader Albert Shanker, was organized. Since the merger resulted in the new NYSUT organization being affiliated with the AFT, the new union became an affiliate of the AFL-CIO. ⁴

In 1976, NYSUT voted to disaffiliate with the NEA, which caused some local unions to leave NYSUT and create the NYEA (New York Educators Association) and affiliate with NEA. In the early 1980s, NYEA changed its name to NEA-NY. ⁴

According to a history of the NYSUT published by the Cornell University Library, which housed the NYSUT’s records, the “NYEA/NEA- NY viewed association with the AFL-CIO’s industrial unions as undermining the professional image and independence of teachers. The two organizations also differed strongly on aspects of the governance structure, particularly with respect to ethnic minority representation, with NYSUT opposed to mandatory minimums. The rivalry between NYSUT and NYEA/NEA-NY in organizing new locals expended a great deal of resources for both labor organizations.” ⁴

While competing with the NYEA/NEA-NY “was a constant focus of NYSUT’s organizing efforts for teachers,” the NYSUT also organized college faculty members, nurses, and other non-teaching personnel in the 1980s and 1990s, further expanding the union’s ranks.  During this time, “NYSUT continued to advocate for teachers’ and other workers’ rights through contract support and legal services at the local level and political involvement at the state and federal levels, supporting candidates and legislation that protected funding, due process, and working conditions.” ⁴

NEA-NY merged with NYSUT in 2006, by which time NYSUT had grown to more than half a million members, becoming the largest union in New York State. It maintained affiliation with the NEA, AFT, and AFL-CIO. ⁴

Initiatives

Aside from engaging in membership training and collective bargaining initiatives, NYSUT is heavily involved in political action. NYSUT has advocated for a number of left-of-center education policies, including high publicly funded pensions for teachers and increased taxes to fund public education.⁵

NYSUT maintains most of its political organizing through the Member Action Center (MAC), an online organizing community for its members to directly promote left-of-center policy goals. MAC runs a number of digital campaigns which call on its members to contact state legislators, email United States Senators and Representatives, and use social media to support public policy initiatives.⁶

MAC has campaigned extensively to promote increased public-school funding in New York, encouraging members to support initiatives to raise taxes on New Yorkers to fund education and requesting additional school funding from the existing state budget.⁶ MAC has also spearheaded initiatives to encourage lawmakers to regulate charter schools and change state testing requirements. MAC has also led left-of-center campaigns that are ostensibly unrelated to education, including initiatives to impose heavier regulations on companies that employ independent contractors, end subsidies to businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and implement left-of-center immigration reform to grant permanent residency to beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. ⁶

In 2023, the NYSUT was opposed to New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s (D) proposal to expand the number of charter schools. Andrew Pallotta, the then-NYSUT president, said that while he appreciated Gov. Hochul’s significant investments in public education: “We don’t like to see billions going right out the back door to the charter industry.” ⁷

Election Advocacy

VOTE-COPE and Progress NYS

NYSUT organizes VOTE-COPE, a political action committee that coordinates member contributions to support NYSUT’s endorsed candidates. During the 2020 election cycle, VOTE-COPE made over $8 million in expenditures, reporting its primary recipients as NYSUT ($5.6 million) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) ($2.1 million). ²

In June 2020, VOTE-COPE made a $100,000 donation to Progress NYS, a Brooklyn political action committee, in support of New York State Assemblyman Harry Bronson (D-Rochester), an NYSUT-endorsed candidate.⁸ VOTE-COPE was the sole funder of Progress NYS during the summer of 2020, which had just $60 in the bank at the time of the donation.⁸

Bronson’s primary election opponent, Alex Yudelson, argued that VOTE-COPE had used Progress NYS to skirt campaign finance regulations.⁸ While VOTE-COPE donated twice to the Bronson campaign directly, its donations were legally limited to $4,700. Nonetheless, most of VOTE-COPE’s $100,000 gift to Progress NYS went to support Bronson’s campaign directly, sparking allegations that the gift was made in an attempt by VOTE-COPE to give more than the legal maximum to Bronson’s campaign.⁸

In September of 2020, NYSUT gave a $1 million donation to Progress NYS, which it then used to support NYSUT-endorsed candidates for the New York State Senate and Assembly.⁹

2024 Election

During the 2024 election cycle, the NYSUT, through the American Federation of Teachers, supported then-Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign for president. The group stated that NYSUT President Melinda Person, acting in her capacity as an AFT vice president, “made a historic motion during a special order of business to endorse Harris the day after President Joe Biden stepped out of the race.” ¹⁰

The NYSUT also noted that “Harris has since picked Minnesota governor and lifelong educator Tim Walz as her running mate, creating a presidential ticket that has invigorated NYSUT members to engage in elections with an energy [NYSUT president Melinda] Person can’t remember in her lifetime.” ¹⁰

“It has definitely infused a whole new level of excitement into our membership, which is 75 percent women,” Person said. “The excitement over the possibility of electing the first woman president of the United States of America is enough to have my phone ringing off the hook with people who want to volunteer and work on campaigns. I’ve never seen anything like it.” ¹⁰

NYSUT held a 2024 election bus tour called “Common Ground Over Chaos” which stated, “We are New York state’s teachers, and we’re calling for a return to politics where democracy, compromise and healthy debate are valued once again… just like we teach our students in the classroom.” ¹¹

The NYSUT also endorsed candidates for congressional and state legislative seats in New York in 2024, endorsing almost exclusively Democrats such as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). ¹²

2020 Election

During the 2020 election, NYSUT endorsed a slate of left-of-center candidates, encouraging its members to create a plan to vote for those candidates during the 2020 election.¹³ NYSUT also published a voter guide for its members, advocating for them to vote in favor of Democratic candidates.¹³

The voter guide encouraged its members to follow the AFT and NEA’s recommendations to vote for then-former Vice President Joe Biden (D) in the 2020 Presidential election. The recommendation included a number of Biden’s left-of-center policy proposals as reasons to support his candidacy, including increased public funding for higher education, mass student loan forgiveness, and support for increased unionization.¹⁴

NYSUT endorsed several Democratic candidates for various positions across the state of New York, whose policy proposals included publicly funded early childhood education, mass government funding to fight climate change, the implementation of wealth taxes, and increased public funding for postsecondary education.¹⁵ Aside from endorsing specific candidates, the voter guide railed against charter schools and alleged that Republicans in Congress “have done nothing to support public education and access to healthcare.”¹⁵

2018 New York Elections

In 2018, NYSUT declared that it would remain neutral in the New York gubernatorial election.¹⁶ Nonetheless, during the election cycle, NYSUT gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to organizations that opposed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), instead supporting far-left candidate Cynthia Nixon in the Democratic primary.¹⁶ These included contributions to the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and New York Communities for Change (NYCC).¹⁶

In 2018, NYSUT also spent roughly $1.4 million in support of a bill that would reduce the use of student test scores to evaluate teacher performance in New York. The bill passed in 2019.¹⁷

COVID-19 Initiatives

Funding Lawsuit

When New York began to withhold payments to school districts over the summer of 2020, due to a fall in tax revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic, NYSUT immediately called on the state government to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to make up for the losses.¹⁸ In September of 2020, NYSUT sued the state of New York in the Albany County Supreme Court for cutting $5.2 billion of funding originally intended for elementary and secondary schools.³ NYSUT called the budget cuts “unconstitutional, illegal, and a violation of the separation and distribution of powers under the New York State Constitution.”³

The lawsuit came after Gov. Cuomo gave Robert Mujica, director of the New York Division of the Budget, the authority to withhold appropriated state funding due to budget imbalances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.³ In response to the lawsuit, the Division of the Budget claimed that the amount withheld was far less than the 20% of funding that had been alleged, coming in at around $2.5 billion instead.^{3 19}

Even after the Division of the Budget agreed to fund all New York public schools in full, NYSUT continued forward with the lawsuit, claiming that the power given to the Division of the Budget was still unconstitutional. No ruling has been announced as of November 2020.¹⁹

Policy Demands

When the COVID-19 pandemic first reached the United States, NYSUT called for mass shutdowns, arguing in early March of 2020 that schools should be closed in all counties with even a single case of COVID-19.²⁰ As the state struggled with layoffs and difficult financial forecasts due to hundreds of millions of dollars in lost tax revenue, NYSUT demanded increased pay for educators, the implementation of a wealth tax, and the prevention of any teacher layoffs.²¹

In May of 2020, Gov. Cuomo announced a partnership with the then-called Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to “reimagine” online education, including initiatives to share education between schools, provide educators with increased access to technology, and implement social distancing in the classroom.²² NYSUT panned the proposal, criticizing the partnership for not directly involving teachers and instead demanding left-of-center education reforms, such as wealth taxes to increase school funding.²²

Closure Demands

In August of 2020, Gov. Cuomo announced that public schools would be allowed to reopen for in-person education after closing them in March during the COVID-19 pandemic.²³ NYSUT responded to the announcement by demanding a rule that schools shut down immediately for two weeks if any student or staff member contracted the virus.²³ NYSUT further demanded a statewide mask mandate for all public schools, rather than leaving it up to each district, and defended the ability of teachers to abstain from working due to health concerns.^{24 23}

In November of 2020, NYSUT launched an online website for teachers, community members, and other school employees to report COVID-19 safety concerns across the state of New York.²⁵ Through the site, individuals can submit safety complaints regarding cleaning, masks, ventilation, and district communications surrounding COVID-19 policies, which NYSUT then makes available for general viewing.²⁵

Funding

In 2017, NYSUT reported $170,996,886 in revenue, 83% of which came from membership dues from teachers and other employees across the state of New York.²⁶ The group made the vast majority of its expenditures on salaries, pensions, and benefits, totaling over $108 million and accounting for 64% of NYSUT’s total expenses.²⁷ NYSUT also spent over $600,000 on grants in 2017, primarily to other labor unions and left-of-center nonprofit organizations. NYSUT grant recipients included United University Professions ($250,000), the AFT ($20,000), and the Education Law Center ($50,000).²⁸

Leadership

President

Melinda Person is the president of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) as of January 2025. Prior to this, she worked in several positions with NYSUT since joining in 2006. Before joining, she worked in the New York State Assembly and the New York State Division of Budget, as well as teaching sixth grade public school teacher in Boston. ²⁹

Andrew Pallotta is the former president of NYSUT.³⁰ Prior to joining NYSUT, Pallotta worked as an elementary school teacher in New York. NYSUT has credited Pallotta with dramatically scaling up NYSUT’s left-of-center political activism work by founding the Member Action Center and collecting more in donations to VOTE-COPE than ever before.³⁰ Pallotta has also extensively encouraged union members to run for public office, developing a program to train candidates within the union.³⁰ Pallotta has additional ties to left-of-center labor organizing, working as vice president of the New York State AFL-CIO and as vice president of the American Federation of Teachers. (AFT).³⁰ Pallotta also previously worked as a Bronx representative for the UFT.³⁰

Executive Vice President

Jamie L. Ciffone is the executive vice president of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) as of January 2025. Prior to NYSUT, she taught in an “English as a New Language (ENL) classroom, was a “school-based Literacy/Instructional Coach,” and served in several positions with the UFT Teacher Center in New York City (NYC). In addition, she previously worked with the American Federation of Teachers‘ (AFTs) Center For School Improvement Leadership Institute. ³¹

Jolene DiBrango is the former executive vice president of NYSUT.³² DiBrango was a long-time teacher and union organizer, working as president of the Pittsford District Teachers Association, a local labor union, before taking on a leadership role in NYSUT. DiBrango also works as a vice president and executive board member of the New York AFL-CIO and as an AFT vice president.³² DiBrango has donated over $5,000 to VOTE-COPE over the four years from 2017 through 2020.³³

Other Leadership Positions

NYSUT’s other top leaders are also involved in left-of-center labor organizing. Second vice president Ronald Gross has held positions with the AFT while secretary-treasurer J. Philippe Abraham previously worked as president of United University Professions and held positions with the AFT and the NEA.^{34 35}

NYSUT also reports 24 executive committee members and 67 “directors,” each of which received compensation between $5,000 and $20,000 from the NYSUT in 2017.³⁶ Most of these employees have extensive ties to left-of-center labor organizing, including Adam Urbanski, vice president of the AFT and the Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN); Barbara Bowen, AFT vice president and president of the Professional Staff Caucus (PSC); and Evelyn DeJesus, vice president of education for UFT.³⁷

1. “About NYSUT.” New York State United Teachers. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.nysut.org/about.
2. “New York State United Teachers PAC Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/new-york-state-united-teachers/C00021121/expenditures/2020.
3. Pampuro, Amanda. “New York Teachers Sue Over $5.2 Billion Budget Cut.” CNS, September 16, 2020. https://www.courthousenews.com/new-york-teachers-sue-over-5-2-billion-budget-cut/.
4. “NYSUT ‘Teachers United: The Rise of NYSUT.’ Research Notes., 1928-2006. Collection Number: 6174/012.” Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives. Cornell University Library. Accessed January 10, 2025. https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/KCL06174.html
5. Spector, Joseph, and Sean Lahman. “School Pensions in New York: Check Who Got Them and How Much They Received.” Democrat and Chronicle, January 27, 2020. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/albany/2020/01/27/database-school-teacher-pensions-in-new-york/4563615002/.
6. “Issues.” MAC NYSUT. New York State United Teachers. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://mac.nysut.org/issues.
7. Ferré-Sadurní, Luis. “Bail Law Is a Key Stumbling Block as New York’s Budget Deadline Lapses.” The New York Times. March 31, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/nyregion/hochul-budget-bail-law.html
8. Andreatta, David. “Bronson Campaign Gets $100,000 Boost from State Teachers’ Union.” WXXI News, June 16, 2020. https://www.wxxinews.org/post/bronson-campaign-gets-100000-boost-state-teachers-union.
9. Lewis, Rebecca C. “Which Super PACs Are Spending on State Senate Races?” CSNY. City and State NY, October 23, 2020. https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/campaigns-elections/what-super-pacs-are-spending-state-senate-races.html.
10. Gronewold, Anna. “AFT leads labor in historic Harris endorsement.” New York State Teachers United. Accessed January 10, 2025.  https://united.nysut.org/issue/september-october-2024/aft-leads-labor-in-historic-harris-endorsement/
11. “Home.” Common Ground Over Chaos. Accessed January 10, 2025. https://commongroundoverchaos.org/
12. “Endorsements.”New York State Teachers United. Accessed January 10, 2025. https://www.nysut.org/resources/special-resources-sites/voter-guide/endorsements
13. “What’s Your Plan to Vote?” NYSUT. New York State United Teachers. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.nysut.org/resources/special-resources-sites/voter-guide/plan-to-vote.
14. “NYUST Voter Guide. NYSUT. New York State United Teachers. Accessed November 16, 2020 https://www.nysut.org/~/media/files/nysut/news/2020/nysutvoterguide2020.pdf
15. “NYUST Voter Guide. NYSUT. New York State United Teachers. Accessed November 16, https://www.nysut.org/~/media/files/nysut/news/2020/nysutvoterguide2020.pdf
16. Campanile, Carl. “’Neutral’ Teachers’ Unions Funded Cuomo’s Foes.” New York Post. New York Post, February 3, 2020. https://nypost.com/2020/02/02/neutral-teachers-unions-funded-cuomos-foes/.
17. Vielkind, Jimmy. “Outside Spending for New York Political Races Tops $14 Million.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, October 22, 2020. https://www.wsj.com/articles/outside-spending-for-new-york-political-races-tops-14-million-11603406176.
18. Precious, Tom. “New York Withholds Millions in Funding as Schools Struggle with Reopening.” The Buffalo News, August 20, 2020. https://buffalonews.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/new-york-withholds-millions-in-funding-as-schools-struggle-with-reopening/article_c2ac6494-e255-11ea-a12a-f3dc52631a73.html.
19. Vielkind, Jimmy. “New York State to Fund School Districts in Full After Withholding Money.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, September 17, 2020. https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-state-to-fund-school-districts-in-full-after-withholding-money-11600348927.
20. Harding, Robert. “NY Teachers Union: Close Schools in Counties with Confirmed Coronavirus Cases.” Auburn Citizen, March 14, 2020. https://auburnpub.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/ny-teachers-union-close-schools-in-counties-with-confirmed-coronavirus-cases/article_5ad74548-88d3-53fb-8665-cf8c078cc46c.html.
21. Lewis, Rebecca C. “Remote Teaching Is Hard. Will Teachers Get Paid Accordingly?” CSNY. City and State NY, May 10, 2020. https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/policy/education/remote-teaching-hard-will-teachers-get-paid-accordingly.html.
22. Harding, Robert. “Gates Foundation Will ‘Reimagine’ NY Education. Teachers Union Has Ideas.” Auburn Citizen, June 10, 2020. https://auburnpub.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gates-foundation-will-reimagine-ny-education-teachers-union-has-ideas/article_2c7a1842-fbcc-5bf1-8114-138cf51ce7d7.html.
23. Hurst, Cameron. “Cuomo Says Schools Can Reopen in New York State.” observertoday.com. Observer Today, August 8, 2020. https://www.observertoday.com/news/page-one/2020/08/cuomo-says-schools-can-reopen-in-new-york-state/.
24. “New York State United Teachers Calls for Mandatory Mask Wearing at School.” The Daily Gazette, August 27, 2020. https://dailygazette.com/2020/08/27/new-york-state-united-teachers-calls-for-mandatory-mask-wearing-at-school
25. Erbacher, Megan. “New York Teachers Union, NYSUT, Launches Its Own Website to Track COVID-19 Safety Concerns in Schools.” WKBW, November 9, 2020. https://www.wkbw.com/rebound/keeping-you-safe/new-york-teachers-union-nysut-launches-its-own-website-to-track-covid-19-safety-concerns-in-schools.
26. “New York State United Teachers.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 2017. Part VIII, Line 2a.
27. “New York State United Teachers.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 2017. Part IX, Lines 7-9.
28. “New York State United Teachers.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 2017. Schedule I, Part II.
29. “Melinda Person.” NYSUT, Accessed January 29, 2025. https://www.nysut.org/about/officers/melinda-person
30. “Andrew Pallotta.” NYSUT. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.nysut.org/about/officers/andrew-pallotta.
31. “Jamie L. Cliffone.” NYSUT, Accessed January 29, 2025. https://www.nysut.org/about/officers/jaime-ciffone
32. “Jolene T. DiBrango.” NYSUT. New York State United Teachers. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.nysut.org/about/officers/jolene-dibrango.
33. “Browse Individual Contributions: Jolene DiBrango.” FEC.gov. Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Jolene+DiBrango.
34. “Ronald Gross, Second Vice President.” NYSUT. New York State United Teachers. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.nysut.org/about/officers/ronald-gross.
35. “J. Philippe Abraham.” NYSUT. New York State United Teachers. Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.nysut.org/about/officers/j-philippe-abraham.
36. “New York State United Teachers.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 2017. Part VII.
37. “New York State United Teachers.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 990. 2017. Part VII.