The AFT's national back-to-school tour wound up on Sept. 10 after stops in St. Louis; Houston; Baltimore; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; Kenmore, N.Y.; Boston; and Philadelphia. The tour included visits to successful schools, community forums, and meeting with educators, congressional members, and other top federal, state and local officials.

Watch video of tour highlights here.

"The beginning of a new school year is always a time of anticipation for students, teachers and school staff," AFT president Randi Weingarten said before the tour began. "Each day presents new opportunities to learn and grow, but for too many, each day also presents challenges to be overcome. It takes both a commitment to working collaboratively and a real sense of shared responsibility to support the good work being done in our schools and to make needed improvements."

Launch the interactive tour map.

Many of the tour events highlighted what Weingarten calls "the 4 C's"—children, community, collaboration and curriculum—which she believes must be a focus of any successful education plan. Along with that notion is Weingarten's call for elected and school officials to do school reform "with us, not to us," so that teachers are part of creating change rather than having it imposed upon them. AFT secretary-treasurer Antonia Cortese and executive vice president Lorretta Johnson joined Weingarten at different points during the tour.

The links at the right include stories, photos and video from each of the tour stops.