{"id":264281,"date":"2026-08-13T00:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/264281\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T00:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:30:07","slug":"nyc-teachers-union-threatens-to-withdraw-support-for-literacy-curriculum-overhaul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/264281\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC teachers union threatens to withdraw support for literacy curriculum overhaul"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n

When New York City officials launched a big shakeup in reading instruction three years ago, they had a key ally at their side: the city\u2019s teachers union.<\/p>\n

Now, shortly after a plunge in reading scores<\/a>, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew is threatening to drop the union\u2019s support of the curriculum overhaul. <\/p>\n

That could complicate Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plans to expand the initiative, known as NYC Reads<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Ed. is completely incompetent and irresponsible in its implementation, and we are not going to stand by,\u201d the union chief said in an interview, pointing to a series of tasks piling up for teachers as they adopt the curriculum changes. Without reforms, \u201cwe\u2019re going to just have to pull our support for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mulgrew\u2019s criticism of the reading curriculum is the latest point of tension between the union and City Hall. Mamdani recently backtracked on campaign pledges to support a boost in pay for paraprofessionals<\/a> and swiftly reduce class sizes<\/a> \u2014 both major union priorities. <\/p>\n

Mulgrew said he still thinks it is a good idea to require common reading curriculums in all elementary schools instead of giving each principal the authority to pick their own, the biggest shift under NYC Reads. But other burdensome requirements have been layered on top of the mandate, he said.<\/p>\n

He criticized the number of student assessments \u2014 at least three every year<\/a> in reading \u2014 as excessive. Another point of contention: As of last year, schools must use additional city-approved intervention programs for struggling readers<\/a>, a major priority of Chancellor Kamar Samuels. Those programs, however, don\u2019t always line up with the reading curriculums, Mulgrew said.<\/p>\n

Mulgrew also accused the city of rolling back earlier promises to give teachers flexibility to implement the curriculum<\/a> at a pace that makes sense for their students and schedule. <\/p>\n

An Education Department spokesperson said the union\u2019s claims are untrue, noting there were no changes in the district\u2019s assessment or pacing policies last year. The only change was to require that schools use approved intervention programs, officials said.<\/p>\n

We’re on a need-to-know basis.<\/p>\n

Every weekday morning, Chalkbeat New York is bringing thousands of subscribers the news on public schools and education policy that they need to start their day. Sign up for our free newsletter to join them.<\/p>\n

Mulgrew\u2019s comments came days after officials revealed that just half the city\u2019s students in grades 3-8 were proficient in reading<\/a> on the state tests administered in the spring, a decline of 6 percentage points from the year before.<\/p>\n

Even as union officials initially blamed the test score decline on flaws with the Education Department\u2019s implementation of NYC Reads, Mulgrew said he does not believe the tests accurately measure student learning. (Some experts have raised questions about whether the unusually large fluctuations reflect problems with the test<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The reading curriculum overhaul has won mixed reactions from educators. Some have welcomed the changes as long overdue, while others have been frustrated with the programs city officials have required them to use<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, Mulgrew\u2019s comments came as a surprise to some teachers. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he\u2019s saying is coming out of nowhere,\u201d said Kate Gutwillig, who retired from Manhattan\u2019s P.S. 134 in June. <\/p>\n

She agreed with Mulgrew\u2019s criticism that schools are being asked to assess students too often using tools that don\u2019t map well onto the school\u2019s curriculum.<\/p>\n

Still, the notion that there were major changes in how NYC Reads was implemented last year \u201cdoes not ring true to my experience,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Other observers said it would be a significant blow if the union dropped its support of the initiative, which includes union-supported and city-funded centers<\/a> that offer training connected to NYC Reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, they are a core implementation partner,\u201d said Evan Stone, CEO of Educators for Excellence, a teacher advocacy group that supports the curriculum changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it stops the program\u201d if the union pulls its support, Stone said, noting that the city has pressed ahead with a math curriculum overhaul over the union\u2019s objections<\/a>. \u201cBut it certainly doesn\u2019t make the work easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Zimmerman is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[111592,80382,1169,5045,128,130,129,111594,111593,18151],"class_list":["post-264281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-employment-issues","tag-mamdani","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-united-federation-of-teachers-uft","tag-utf-president-michael-mulgrew","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}