AFT members feel like political pawns in Trump shutdown
Many government employees already live paycheck to paycheck, without their government salary, it’s getting hard to feed their families.
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The AFT calls for an end to the government shutdown
This shutdown has plunged thousands of Americans, including many AFT members, into economic uncertainty and put critical services at risk. It’s time to end this pain being inflicted on American families.
Our Conversation with Steven Spielberg
To commemorate the 25th anniversary and rerelease of “Schindler’s List,” Steven Spielberg joined AFT President Randi Weingarten to discuss the legacy of the movie, its impact on Holocaust education and how to teach kids to understand and respond to hatred in our communities.
Brown grad employees cast historic vote to join the AFT
The AFT is thrilled to welcome Brown University graduate employees to our union family, following their historic vote this week to join the AFT, with 60 percent voting to unionize.
Georgetown University graduate employees cast historic vote for the union
Graduate employees at Georgetown University made history Nov. 9 when they finished tallying an 83 percent vote to join the union, the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees. The overwhelming victory is the first that circumvents the Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board. Instead it is certified by the American Arbitration Association, and it decisively frames graduates not as students but as workers, with all the rights that title commands.
AFT members are taking Navient to court
A class-action suit filed in federal court sets out serious allegations that student loan servicer Navient has misled borrowers in public service professions from accessing a loan forgiveness program to boost its own profits. The landmark complaint, which seeks millions in damages and class-wide injunctive relief, details a spate of systematic misrepresentations, untruths and misdirection pedaled by Navient to stop borrowers from enrolling in Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a 10-year payoff plan administered by rival servicer FedLoan.
EdWeek blogger: NAEP must get standards right
Here’s a damning report from Education Week blogger Marc Tucker that rings true in Louisiana as well as many other states: “From the beginning, the leaders of our state education systems have invited testing experts to help them set the cut points for passing or not passing the state tests. They listen gravely to the advice of the experts, then ask them how many students will fail at the recommended cut point and set a new one at a point that is politically tolerable.”
Tucker writes as the Nation’s Report Card’s governing board sets out to write new proficiency standards. He is president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, and he believes that current NAEP standards do not align to real-world college and career readiness. That, he says, must change.
Billionaires and privatizers hijack Louisiana elections
In the last two election cycles, out-of-state billionaires, hedge fund managers and school privatizers have poured millions of dollars into Louisiana school elections.
Louisiana graded “F” on support for public education
Louisiana is one of more than 30 states to be graded “F” on our support for public education in a new report from the Network for Public Education and the Schott Foundation for Public Education.
“Grading the States: A Report Card on Our Nation’s Commitment to Public Schools,” tracks the growth of private, for-profit charter and voucher schools that divert funding from public schools.
A Decade of Neglect
“A Decade of Neglect: Public Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession” details for the first time the devastating impact on schools, classrooms and students when states choose to pursue an austerity agenda in the false belief that tax cuts will pay for themselves. The comprehensive report offers a deep dive into the long-term austerity agendas and historic disinvestment that sparked the wave of nationwide walkouts this spring.