Rachel Paguaga for VP of Elementary Schools

I am a second grade teacher, chapter leader at PS 32 in District 15, and a proud graduate of the NYC public school system. Elementary educators build the foundation for our students' educational journeys, yet we are simultaneously overworked and demoralized by our employer and often overlooked by our union’s leadership. Throughout my time as a classroom teacher, I’ve watched the autonomy of our teaching staff be eroded by NYCPS, with the complicity of our union’s leadership, as they choose to prioritize developmentally-inappropriate curricula and outside consultants over our expertise and the needs of the students we serve. I’m running with ARISE to build a stronger union that fights not only for the needs of all of its members, but builds toward a brighter future for our youngest learners.