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In a striking reversal, the city’s teachers union has declined to endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary for mayor, officials announced Friday afternoon.
The United Federation of Teachers’ stamp of approval is widely coveted, as the union is the city’s second largest with nearly 200,000 members, including about 60,000 retirees.
But Michael Mulgrew, the union’s president, said there were deep divisions between union members about which candidate has the right experience to manage the city and their positions on issues other than education, including Israel and the crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Debate became so tense that it was impossible to forge a consensus.
“People are just like, ‘We don’t care what other people are saying. We have dug in and we’re not moving,’” Mulgrew said in an interview with Chalkbeat. “When you get these greater societal issues, that’s when … it becomes a little dicey.”
He added: “There’s not even somewhat of a consensus on this race. It is split all over the place.”
In a union poll, three issues — proper city management, affordability, and responding to the Trump administration — placed ahead of public education, which Mulgrew said was unusual.
Members who prioritized stronger city leadership and responding to Trump tended to favor former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to the union chief, while those who worried about affordability supported Zohran Mamdani, a Queens state assemblymember. Those who prioritized public education leaned toward former Comptroller Scott Stringer, whom the union has previously endorsed, Mulgrew said.
The union has previously refrained from endorsing mayoral candidates, including during former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s reelection bids in 2005 and 2009 — and twice during the 1990s.
Amanda Vender, a Queens educator who teaches students who are learning English, said she was glad the union polled its members but wished they had weighed in on the race.
“I’m disappointed there’s no guidance to at the very least not rank Cuomo,” she said, citing his record on education funding and cuts to public employee pensions.
Mulgrew said the union will likely issue an endorsement in the general election this November, even as it is possible that Cuomo and Mamdani could once again face off in that race. He said an ultimate decision would rest with the union’s delegate assembly, which includes staff from every campus.
The UFT had initially called on candidates to compete for its endorsement by spending a day in a public school classroom. But under pressure from City Hall — and amid allegations that the visits violated rules against using public schools for personal political purposes — the union dropped the requirement.
Some candidates had already participated in the visits, complicating the union’s endorsement process. The union also held a candidate forum.
Even if the UFT had issued an endorsement, there would have been little time to mobilize its members, as early voting begins on Saturday. Many other major labor unions issued endorsements weeks ago. District Council 37, the largest municipal union, endorsed City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams nearly two months ago.
The teachers union does not have a strong track record of electoral success with its endorsements. Stringer won the UFT’s stamp of approval in 2021 more than two months before the primary, though he finished in fifth place after facing sexual misconduct allegations. (Stringer is running again but his campaign has struggled to gain traction.) In 2013, the union endorsed Bill Thompson over the eventual winner, Bill de Blasio.
In the run-up to the Democratic primary, Mulgrew had been tied up in a fierce reelection battle of his own, which he won late last month with his lowest margin of victory since earning his first full term in 2010.
The teachers union isn’t alone in sitting out the mayoral race. The union representing school principals and other administrators has also so far declined to weigh in. A spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether an endorsement is forthcoming.
The mayoral candidates have largely refrained from releasing detailed plans for improving the city’s public schools, and education has received little attention during the campaign.
But the mayor controls the nation’s largest school system, which is facing many pressing issues, including a union-backed state law that requires sharp class size reductions. (You can find the candidates’ positions on class size reduction as well as several other critical education issues in our election guide.)
Mulgrew was tight-lipped about which candidates he personally believes would be the best stewards of New York City schools, noting that he does not always agree with the union’s endorsements.
“I never tell anyone who I’m planning on voting for,” he said. “Even my wife doesn’t know.”
Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex atazimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
