News from AFT Teachers Archive

In her latest column, AFT President Randi Weingarten warns that our democracy is under serious strain as elected officials test the limits of power and threaten fundamental rights. She highlights troubling reports from members about aggressive immigration enforcement and the undermining of civil liberties. Americans are pushing back through protests and by breaking with leaders when necessary, she writes. Weingarten frames this moment as a critical test of our democratic traditions, and she calls on people to defend freedoms and act before it’s too late.

The AFT and Texas AFT filed a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency Jan. 6, challenging investigations against teachers in the state over comments they made after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. More than 350 educators have been subject to investigations that AFT President Randi Weingarten calls state-sponsored attacks. “Even if we think some of this speech is noxious, defending one’s right to speak is the essence of our democracy,” says Weingarten. “You don’t lose your constitutional rights when you decide to become a teacher.” Read more here.

Recently, we have witnessed unconscionable acts of violence by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, including the murder of Renee Nicole Good, unjust detention of an AFT-member educator and use of pepper spray on school property. ICE’s reckless operations are endangering the safety and well-being of students, educators and families, and our members are fighting back in a myriad of ways. You can help students understand this tragedy with a free lesson on AFT’s Share My Lesson; sign a petition with Minnesota educators; and/or write your members of Congress to demand ICE respect sensitive locations and stay away from schools. Photo: MFE 59 - Minneapolis Federation of Educators.

 

At United Educators of San Francisco, members care about the usual union issues: salaries, benefits and working conditions. But the real heart of the organization is elsewhere, building strong schools for students—with all the necessary resources—and supporting kids and their families in whatever way is most needed. Read about how the union is working with unhoused families and immigrant communities.

 

North Carolina ranks 43rd in the nation for teacher pay and is second to last in per-pupil funding. Educators are regularly disrespected, and students have had to make do with untrained substitutes instead of robustly supported, highly educated teachers. Educators could move across the state border and make thousands more per year, but instead they are organizing. Read more about their fight here.

 

Students today are reading fewer whole books, and the consequences are showing up in classrooms from elementary school to college. As education writer Natalie Wexler explains in the Winter issue of American Educator, brief excerpts and skills-focused instruction have replaced the deep, sustained reading that builds knowledge, vocabulary and learner engagement. Immersing students in whole books strengthens their comprehension and confidence, and many discover the pleasure of getting lost in a story. Whole books don’t just improve academic outcomes, they also help build empathy, community, curiosity—and joy. Read more here.

 

Agricultural education teacher Sara Casto knows how much farms can teach young people: She grew up on her family farm doing chores, working with family members and always remembering to close the gate and turn off the water. Today, she is passing on that knowledge to her students in Ohio, whose course of study includes soil science, technology and animal husbandry along with so much more. Read Casto’s vivid account of life at an ag school on AFT Voices—and how it's led her students to productive, successful careers in and outside the field.

 

The National Academy for AI Instruction is taking educators beyond the basics into the next phase of artificial intelligence with a new webinar on Feb. 4 for AFT members. Learn how AI can make grade-level learning more accessible by supporting language development, differentiation and individualized instruction, and explore how to use AI tools for scaffolding texts, adapting materials and creating visual and multimodal supports while maintaining student privacy and data security. You’ll leave the webinar with practical strategies, classroom-ready examples and AI resources that empower every learner to thrive, particularly multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Register now.