AFT Announces Five-City Compact to Support Career and Technical Education Pathways
Educators, school districts, community colleges, city governments and business groups will collaborate to support career and technical education to provide powerful links between high school, well-paid jobs and higher education, under an American Federation of Teachers multicity initiative announced today.
Under “Promising Pathways,” the AFT Innovation Fund will invest approximately $500,000 to support four local AFT affiliates’ work with their local partners to expand career and technical education opportunities. The cities are Peoria, Ill.; Pittsburgh; San Francisco; and Miami. In each city, the career pathways will be closely aligned with the local job market. Read more.
AFT grants will give teachers a voice on Common Core
The AFT has awarded AFT Innovation Fund grants for teachers in New York and Connecticut to offer solutions to problems with their state's rollout of the Common Core State Standards. The New York State United Teachers and AFT Connecticut were awarded the grants in a competition that was announced in July at the AFT convention.
"These grants are about giving educators some seed money to take their ideas about educational standards and convert them into practice," says AFT President Randi Weingarten. "Many educators support higher standards but are concerned about particular aspects, especially the Common Core standards' poor implementation and their developmental appropriateness, particularly in the early grades. We wanted to give the people closest to children a chance to do something different, as long as we were all focused on how to help students secure the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that the Common Core standards are supposed to be about." Read more.
The Results of Our Work
Our grantees are focused on producing innovations in their schools, districts, and communities that can be shared nationally. Click here to read about what they've done and to view and download their materials.
News & Highlights
Enrollment up at rescued Pittsburgh Woolslair school (9/11/15)
Program offers pathway to GED, college degrees (9/17/15)
Teacher’s union initiative focuses on funding tech education (6/11/15)
Weingarten, de Blasio to announce five-city ‘compact’ (6/9/2015)
AFT Releases 'How-To' Manual on Expanded Learning Time (12/03/2014)
Smooth morning for first day of school at Roger Sherman (8/27/2014)
Advice from Alabama: To Really Learn CCSS, Dive In and Collaborate (3/14/2014)
Union President helped start extended day in Meriden schools (1/13/2014)
Meriden Teachers Showcase Progress of "Solution-Driven Approach, Improved Outcomes for Students (12/20/2013)
Meriden Schools Reap Benefits From Longer Days (11/12/2013)
Meriden schools look to expand longer day to Sherman, Putnam (8/27/2013)
AFT panels focus on sound Common Core rollout (5/17/13)
AFT President Weingarten Lauds Teacher-Led, Collaborative Education Model (2/8/13)
