Strong out of the gate
Members logging on to AFT's 'You Decide 2008' site

Members by the thousands have logged on to the new AFT Online section called AFT: You Decide 2008 (www.aft.org/youdecide) to share their views on the biggest issues facing the nation—the types of issues they want the next U.S. president to tackle head-on.

The new section was launched during the first week of March under the banner:

“It’s your vote. It’s your voice. You decide.”

The online section allows the union to go beyond just gathering members’ views and concerns: These opinions, questions and ideas from the field will be taken directly to 2008 presidential candidates who have accepted an invitation to meet with the AFT’s executive council in May and July. In fact, the latest installment of the You Decide 2008 survey asks members to submit the one question they would ask candidates—questions that our union leaders will take directly to the presidential hopefuls.

Look for You Decide 2008 to promote substantive discussion in the coming weeks and months. Still to come will be information about how the AFT and the AFL-CIO arrive at political endorsements, reviews by AFT members of books written by the candidates, and much more.

AFT Grandma, U.S. Soldiers Need our children’s books

Cleveland Teachers Union school nurse Diane Adloff might be 9,000 miles away from home serving as an Army nurse in Iraq, but she stays connected to her grandchildren through the “United Through Reading” program, in which soldiers send home videos of themselves reading to their young relatives.

Adloff says the program needs more books for kids ages 1-8. AFT president Edward J. McElroy is asking AFT members to help expand this program, as it practices what we preach—reading with your children makes a big difference, no matter how difficult the circumstances.

What to do: Organize book drives asking for new or used books for ages 1-8.

Very important: Write on the inside cover the appropriate age for each book and the following: “Donation from AFT.”

Send the books directly to:

Major Steve Hopper
25th ID Task Force Lightning
Unit #72111
APO AE 09393

Please let the AFT public affairs department know you’ve done this by e-mailing public affairs director Chuck Porcari, cporcari@aft.org.

Call on Congress now to fix public school buildings

America’s schools are falling apart. To address this problem, the AFT is working to enact legislation that will provide
$25 billion in interest-free bonding authority to school districts, with all decisions about how to use that money staying at the local level.

We need your help in getting your members of Congress to join this effort. Send an online letter to your representative and senators today, by going to www.aft.org/betterclassrooms.

This letter-writing effort is part of an AFT campaign, “Building Minds, Minding Buildings,” stressing the need to provide better environments for learning. To find out more, visit www.aft.org/topics/building-conditions.