We previously covered the FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence, including with an interview with one of the teachers who received this honor. Each year, Senator Lanza hosts a Teacher Appreciation ceremony. Paraprofessionals, also known as teaching assistants, who became disabled during their careers and cannot work are facing legislative hurdles to getting the promised fair pension that wouldn’t put them at poverty wages.
Nominations are now open for the FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence, NYC’s largest teaching awards program, which will award $400,000 total in prizes, including $25,000 for each grand-prize winner.
Staten Island students, parents and school staff can nominate a teacher through Nov. 29.
Staten Island Residents Invited to Nominate Teachers for NYC’s Largest Teaching Awards Program: $400,000 in Prizes to Celebrate Teachers Who Inspire
Public school teachers from 3-K through 12th grade are eligible
Nominations Open Through Nov. 29
Winners and finalists to be honored in June 2027 with $400,000 in cash prizes
(Staten Island, NY)—Now entering its 8th year, the FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence announced that nominations are open for its annual awards program, which recognizes and celebrates extraordinary public school teachers who inspire learning through creativity, passion, and commitment.
Six grand-prize winners—one from each of New York City’s five boroughs and one 3K-through-5th-grade educator from any borough—will each receive a $25,000 cash prize, and their schools will each receive $10,000 for arts-based initiatives designed by the winners. Finalists will each receive $10,000, and their schools will receive $5,000 to support arts programming.
In the 2025-2026 awards cycle, Jason Passalacqua, a social studies and law teacher at Tottenville High School, won Staten Island’s $25,000 grand prize. Over seven years, Passalacqua transformed Tottenville’s Law and Justice Academy from an elective into a rigorous three-year legal studies program covering constitutional and criminal law, legal writing and civic engagement. With his grant funding, Passalacqua would create a student-curated “Justice Gallery” blending law, visual art, performance, spoken word, documentary filmmaking, and civic engagement.
“Almost everyone can point to a teacher who changed the way they saw themselves or the world around them,” said Glenn Fuhrman, Co-Founder of The FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence. “My fifth-grade teacher sparked my interest in math and numbers, which stayed with me long after I left his classroom. We created the FLAG Award because teachers have lasting influence every day, far too often without receiving the recognition they deserve.”
“Exceptional teachers do more than help students succeed in the classroom. They help young people imagine possibilities for themselves that they may not have seen before,” added Amanda Fuhrman, Co-Founder of The FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence.
“The teachers who stand out through this process don’t just have an impact on the students sitting in front of them. They start programs, create opportunities and bring ideas to their schools that can have ripple effects for years,” said Risa Daniels, Co-President of The FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence.
“Nominations give students, families and colleagues the chance to tell us about the teachers creating that kind of change in their own communities,” added Laura Twersky, Co-President of The FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence.
Winners are selected by a prestigious independent jury of education and civic leaders. The 2026-2027 awards cycle jury will once again include Dr. Betty A. Rosa, Commissioner of Education & President of the University of the State of New York, who has served on the jury since its inception. The other members of the jury are Shaude Tyson, FLAG 2026 3K-5th-grade Grand Prize Winner; David Dvorkin, CEO and Founder of Hire Cause; Kareem Farah, Chief Executive Officer of The Modern Classrooms Project; and Cris Scorza, Helena Rubinstein Chair of Education at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The deadline for nominations is November 29, 2026.
Students, parents, school faculty, and other school community members can nominate teachers at flagaward.org/nominate-your-teacher.
Citywide, the grand prize winners for the 2025-2026 cycle, which concluded in June, were:
- Alexa Gutterman, journalism teacher, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, Queens
- Deborah Reich, biology and environmental science teacher, World View High School, Bronx
- Ian Weissman, social studies teacher, Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts, Manhattan
- Jason Passalacqua, social studies and law teacher, Tottenville High School, Staten Island
- Rayhan Ahmed, chemistry teacher, Gotham Professional Arts Academy, Brooklyn
- Shaude Tyson, special education teacher, P.S. 262 El Hajj Malik El Shabazz Elementary School, Brooklyn – recipient of the award for educators in the 3K–5th grade category
About the Nominations Process
Timeline: Nominations are open now through November 29, 2026. Semi-finalists will be notified in February 2027; winners will be announced in June 2027.
Who is Eligible: Fulltime teachers in NYC public schools, grades 3K through 12, with a minimum of five years of teaching experience.
Who can Nominate: Students, students’ family members, principals, or fellow teachers and colleagues.
Criteria: Teachers are evaluated on the FLAG Award’s CREATE framework:
- Challenges and inspires students of all abilities, utilizing innovative teaching techniques and approaches to curricula and activities.
- Reaches out beyond the classroom, making a positive impact on the school and the community.
- Embraces their role as an educator with tireless, devoted dedication.
- Acknowledges the full spectrum of potential in each and every student.
- Teaches through example, as a leader and role model both inside the classroom and out.
- Engages in opportunities for self-improvement and continues to learn, grow, and develop as a teacher.
For answers to frequently asked questions about the FLAG Award program and the nomination process, visit flagaward.org/faq.
Banner Image: A previous FLAG Award recipient. Image Credit – FLAG Award
