Teachers News | May 2026

In a major address, AFT President Randi Weingarten unveiled “Devices Down, Eyes Up, Hands-On: 10 Points to Boost Student Learning and Success in the AI Era,” a bold plan for schools in a rapidly changing world. The plan calls for a renewed focus on human relationships, active learning, critical thinking and student well-being, while putting guardrails around screens and AI in schools. As Weingarten said, “We need a relentless, intentional focus on what our young people need: greater literacy, numeracy and civic engagement, and active learning that excites and engages them — all while ensuring their social and mental well-being and ability to form healthy relationships."

In her latest column, AFT President Randi Weingarten writes that the race to redraw congressional maps in several southern states, such as Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee, is an affront to the fundamental values of the United States of America. This "race to redistrict" subverts power from the American voter, who should decide who their elected representatives are — not the other way around. It also peddles back decades of progress our nation has taken to ensure that all Americans have proper voting rights.

Sixth-graders discover the world in their backyard  

At Freedom 7 Elementary in Cocoa Beach, Fla., sixth-graders aren’t just learning about the world’s biggest challenges—they’re doing something about them. Using the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as a framework, students research global issues, identify how they show up in their own community and take action. The project, rooted in experiential, inquiry-based learning, builds research, writing, collaboration and public speaking skills and meets Florida academic standards. But its deeper lesson may be the most durable: As one sixth-grader put it, “one person can make a difference.”

AI can write students’ essays, solve their math problems and turn long texts into podcasts they never have to read. So what’s left for students to learn? According to AFT educators on the frontlines, everything that matters. At the AFT’s National Academy for AI Instruction, teachers are learning to redesign their lesson plans so students still have to think for themselves, find their own answers and engage in the productive struggle of learning.

Artificial intelligence is transforming education at a speed that outpaces policy, regulation and preparation, and the stakes for students could not be higher. At a recent panel hosted by Microsoft and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, AFT President Randi Weingarten joined diplomats, technology leaders and education specialists to confront a central question: How can schools use AI to support learning without replacing the human relationships and critical thinking that learning requires?

Over the past decade, we’ve learned that smartphones and social media are harming our youth, increasing anxiety and depression while causing distractions that reduce learning. In the new American Educator, professor and bestselling author Jonathan Haidt argues that the problem isn’t with kids, teachers or parents: it’s tech’s profit model. Online platforms use algorithms, autoplay and social feedback systems to keep young users engaged as long as possible—and away from the face-to-face interactions and free play that healthy development requires. But schools, families and policymakers can fight back. From phone-free schools to stronger protections for children online, Haidt outlines practical steps to reclaim childhood and restore students’ focus

• Defending Democracy: South Africa: The Legacy of Youth Activism in the Fight for Global Democracy.
• AFT Book Club: A Conversation with Sharon McMahon.
• Register for your free affordability clinic.