http://www.aft.org/presscenter/index.htm Official press releases of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT represents over 1.4 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and healthcare workers, and state and local government employees. Please note that ALL press inquiries should be directed to the Public Affairs department by calling 202/879-4458. en-us Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:21:13 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss OmniUpdate (OU Publish) http://www.aft.org/sandbox/andy/andy33.htm All new students accepted for Fall 2009 are welcome to join us on campus October 31st for our back to campus welcome night. This is a great new way to get to know Gallena University. We host a reception to give you the chance to get to know us. Admissions Officers will talk about the uniqueness of our undergraduate and graduate MBA programs and give an overview of the application process. You'll hear about the Gallena experience from students and alumni, and learn how attending Gallena University will transform you from an underachieving scrub to an outstanding, productive member of our community. Our admission events give you a comprehensive look at what makes GU a thriving and challenging intellectual community. George Jackson <g.jackson@aft.org> March 30, 2009 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/062607a.htm This is a test of trying to add a second item to an existing file. Dave Berver <dberver@aft.org> Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:38:47 -0500 http://www.aft.org/rss/test3.htm This is a sample description for a sample RSS item, etc. etc. Andrew Soderberg department@aft.org Tue, 3 Feb 2009 11:25:16 -0800 http://www.aft.org/rss/test2.htm Description number two... Andrew Soderberg Tue, 3 Feb 2009 11:00:08 -0800 http://www.aft.org/rss/test.htm This is a sample description for a sample press release Andrew Soderberg <asoderberg@omniupdate.com> Tue, 3 Feb 2009 10:53:14 -0800 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/062607a.htm Thousands of preK-12th grade teachers will hear lively discussion about how unions, working in partnership with superintendents, political leaders, parents and others, can strengthen public schools, at the American Federation of Teachers' QuEST educational issues conference in July. AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 26 Jun 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/062607.htm America's workers and those who support them should be heartened by the fact that a majority of members of Congress in both chambers support EFCA and the freedom it would give workers to form unions. However, we must take notice of the Senate Republicans who used procedure to block a vote on this critical legislation. AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 26 Jun 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/061907.htm As long as New Orleans continues with its dual and unequal school systems, students in the district of last resort--the Recovery School District--will be shortchanged because of policies perpetuating an acute shortage of experienced teachers, according to a new report from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) and United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO). AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 19 Jun 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/061407.htm By taking major steps to support America's students and their families, the College Cost Reduction Act holds great promise for our entire nation. The bill will ensure that available funds are used exactly as intended--to help more students attend and complete college. The 1.4 million members of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) commend Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) and the members of the Committee on Education and Labor for their leadership and action on this issue. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 14 Jun 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/060507.htm We applaud our country's teachers and students for the upward trend in test scores, noted in the report released today by the Center on Education Policy (CEP). However, as CEP's Jack Jennings points out in the press release accompanying the report, "There should be no rush to judgment as there may be many factors contributing to the increased achievement." We agree. Test results reflect the accumulation of many years' work. The upward trend dates from before the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and we believe it is likely that these results primarily reflect standards-based reforms put in place in the 1990s. AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 05 Jun 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/053107.htm The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the largest union of college and university faculty and staff in the United States, has called on its higher education brothers and sisters across Great Britain to consider the moral and practical implications of supporting a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 31 May 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/052507.htm Proposals in Congress that would allow existing state limitations on charter schools to be exceeded represent an inappropriate expansion of federal power. It is simply inaccurate to interpret our conversations with the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools on measuring student growth and innovative educational practices to mean that we support an agenda to pre-empt state laws governing charter schools. AFT Public Affairs Department Fri, 25 May 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/052307.htm Now that state legislators have passed legislation to fund Gov. Brian Schweitzer's full-time kindergarten proposal, Montana is on the leading edge of early childhood education. Thanks to the steadfast support of the MEA-MFT and the forward-thinking leadership of school superintendent Linda McCulloch, for the first time all school districts throughout the state will have the option to provide full-time kindergarten for their students. AFT Public Affairs Department Wed, 23 May 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/052107.htm Sen. Hillary Clinton knows what we at the AFT know: Children's success in school starts long before they enter a kindergarten classroom. Our country has long needed--and the AFT has long called for--a universal prekindergarten program. We commend Sen. Clinton for choosing early childhood education as the focus of the first major education initiative of her presidential campaign. AFT Public Affairs Department Mon, 21 Apr 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/050807.htm Thousands of teachers will become students this summer when they descend on Washington, D.C., to attend the American Federation of Teachers' 35th anniversary QuEST conference. AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 08 May 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/043007.htm In recognition of National Charter School Week, the American Federation of Teachers today reaffirmed its commitment to quality, accountable public education, pledging it will intensify its nationwide effort to organize charter schools. AFT Public Affairs Department Mon, 30 Apr 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/042707a.htm This Saturday, we honor and remember those sisters and brothers killed and injured on the job, and renew our commitment to ensure worker safety. Even though it has been more than 30 years since Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), thousands of workers are killed on the job each year, and millions more are injured or made ill. AFT Public Affairs Department Fri, 27 Apr 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/042707.htm We are pleased that these honorees are demanding that Congress listen to teachers as it prepares to reauthorize No Child Left Behind. AFT Public Affairs Department Fri, 27 Apr 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/041607.htm From those of us in the education community, our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the Virginia Tech victims, their families and the community at large. Academic campuses--from preschool to higher education--must be havens for peaceful learning. Today, we see the painful evidence that this is not always so. AFT Public Affairs Department Mon, 16 Apr 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/041307.htm The members of the Rutgers women's basketball team have, by their dignified response to inappropriate and offensive remarks, provided an important teachable moment for our entire nation. We should seize that opportunity. As Lisa Klein, president of the AFT's affiliate at Rutgers University, notes: "It is time for all of us to recommit ourselves to challenging racism and sexism and its effects on our society." AFT Public Affairs Department Fri, 13 Apr 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/040207.htm New Mexico's unique program to lengthen the kindergarten year for high-poverty children saw such measurable progress in literacy and social skills that the state has expanded the program to include disadvantaged students through the third grade, building on an initiative first promoted by the American Federation of Teachers. AFT Public Affairs Department Mon, 02 Apr 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/032907a.htm With today's introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) in the U.S. Senate, millions of working Americans are a step closer to achieving fair wages, fair treatment and a voice on the job. The U.S. House of Representatives helped pave the way for this historic legislation when it passed EFCA earlier this month with strong bipartisan support. We look forward to a similar outcome in the Senate and applaud the leadership of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the growing number of senators co-sponsoring this legislation. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 29 Mar 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/032907.htm Anemic growth in teacher salaries is making it increasingly difficult for teachers, especially new ones, to find affordable housing in their communities and to pay off student loan debts, according to the latest teacher salary survey released today by the American Federation of Teachers. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 29 Mar 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/032707.htm The recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) guidance for determining who is a supervisor would classify more than 800,000 registered nurses and licensed practical nurses as supervisors under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA excludes those with genuine managerial or supervisory authority from union protection and the right to collective bargaining. NLRB members Wilma Liebman and Dennis Walsh dissented from the majority ruling, saying the decision "threatens to create a new class of workers under federal labor law--workers who have neither the genuine prerogatives of management, nor the statutory rights of ordinary employees." AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 27 Mar 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/030907.htm The American Federation of Teachers today announced it has signed, with 110 others, the Forum on Educational Accountability's Joint Organizational Statement on the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. AFT Public Affairs Department Fri, 09 Mar 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/030807.htm Congress has taken an important step to help rebuild the public school systems in areas devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for establishing a collaborative process for teachers, their unions, parents and other stakeholders to be a part of that revitalization. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 08 Mar 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/030107.htm Today's historic, bipartisan vote sends a powerful message that the U.S. House of Representatives stands on the side of working Americans. The U.S. Senate and the White House should now display an equal commitment to the rights of working people by doing their part to enact the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) into law as soon as possible. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 01 Mar 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/022307.htm American Federation of Teachers President Edward J. McElroy today invited Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs to join him for a discussion with educators across the United States, in an attempt to clear up any misconceptions Jobs may have on the role of unions in education. AFT Public Affairs Department Fri, 23 Jan 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/022207.htm The data released today underscore the challenges that AFT members face every day. Addressing those challenges will take the joint effort of everyone from parents and teachers to state and federal legislators. It is the only way to meet the needs of students responsibly. We have no time to waste. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 22 Feb 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/021307.htm The "Highly Qualified and Effective Teachers" recommendation in the commission's report should be a nonstarter for the congressional committees dealing with reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 13 Feb 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/020607.htm Every year, millions of American workers want to form a union but are denied this fundamental right due to employer harassment and intimidation. The Employee Free Choice Act would remedy this injustice and restore to workers the basic freedom to join a union without fear of retaliation. AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 06 Feb 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/020507.htm Each year since taking office, the president has proposed a budget that ignores the needs of the vast majority of Americans and instead lines the pockets of the ultra-rich. This year's budget is no exception. AFT Public Affairs Department Mon, 05 Feb 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/012507.htm By a ratio of 4-to-1, teachers in seven charter schools in Pembroke Pines, Fla., voted today to become part of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The seven charter schools are the first in the state of Florida to be unionized. The official election result was 181-46. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 25 Jan 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/012307.htm Two months and 16 days since his policies took a self-described "thumpin'," President Bush continues to press the politics of division. Tonight, in his State of the Union Address, President Bush mostly spoke in broad terms about the need to support our students, teachers and schools. However, with his proposed education initiative that will include two voucher schemes as part of the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, President Bush has clearly decided to invite partisan bickering rather than bipartisan progress. AFT Public Affairs Department Tue, 23 Jan 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/012207.htm The American Federation of Teachers today released a report titled "The 'Faculty Bias' Studies: Science or Propaganda?" The report finds that the most frequently cited research on alleged political bias in college faculty is severely flawed in its methodology and makes sweeping assumptions that invalidate its "findings." AFT Public Affairs Department Mon, 22 Jan 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/011707.htm Today the U.S. House of Representatives showed it recognizes that making college accessible begins with making it more affordable. Instead of giving tax breaks to the rich, Congress is rightly supporting the needs of working families. We applaud this effort. AFT Public Affairs Department Wed, 17 Jan 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/011107.htm Federal and state education policy has often relied more on political maneuvering than on the professional opinions of teachers, and the consequences are evident in the law's flawed approach to English language learners, described in today's Washington Post. AFT Public Affairs Department Thu, 11 Jan 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/011007.htm The road to ending the national shame of poverty wages begins with a higher minimum wage. This is a matter of basic fairness for the millions of low-wage workers who contribute every day to the welfare and prosperity of our nation. AFT Public Affairs Department Wed, 10 Jan 2007 http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2007/010807a.htm The Education Sector's report is a misguided attempt to cast certain teacher union contract provisions as obstacles to improving public education. While "Frozen Assets" makes an effort to calculate the costs associated with these provisions, it provides no evidence to suggest that they hinder education reform, and fails to offer solutions for the problems facing our schools. AFT Public Affairs Department Mon, 8 Jan 2007