PSRPs Fund Our Future
AFT's para-educators and school-related personnel believe, fundamentally, that public education is foundational for our democracy and public schools are about equity for all kids. We must provide funds for the resources they need to succeed.
Educators, parents and community rally in Austin!
Texas's Fund Our Future campaign demands those in power invest in public schools and in the resources students need to succeed—particularly children of color, children with special needs, children who are vulnerable and children who live in poverty.
PSC Rallies to Fund Our Future
At the City University of New York (CUNY) faculty and staff worked more than a year with an expired contract. The union is demanding that CUNY management and funders of CUNY to do better.
Fund Our Future: Community College of Philadelphia
At the Community College of Philadelphia, union faculty were at the bargaining table to reach an agreement that eases one of the heaviest workloads in the area and provides a living wage to staff.
Puerto Rico is Forcing Schools to Charterize
Teachers, students and parents are fighting back against charter operators with poor or non-existent track records who want to take over their beloved public schools.
Teacher Activism Spreads Across the U.S.
West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, Puerto Rico, Colorado: The movement to fund our public schools is growing.
Failing Brown v. Board
A new report highlights inequity in educational opportunity.
‘A Decade of Neglect’
This report details the devastating impact on schools, classrooms and students when states choose to pursue an austerity agenda in the false belief that tax cuts will pay for themselves.
‘A Decade of Neglect’ (video)
Schools, classrooms and students suffer devastating impact when states choose to pursue an austerity agenda and deny them the resources they need.
#RealCollege
AFT member Sara Goldrick Raab describes the realities of poverty among so many college students, and the programs built to address that.
New poll gets to the heart of the educator’s dilemma
More than 90 percent of teachers love their jobs, but more than half of them have also considered quitting, according to a new poll of educators.
Faculty create emergency funds for struggling students
Here’s how they did it.
My student debt is slowly killing me
Results from the AFT debt survey.
Too good to be true: When student debt disappears
Breaking down Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and the difficulties of qualifying and getting it.
Public Schools Prepare Students for Careers
In Jefferson County, Alabama students not only receive an excellent education, but are also preparing for careers in a variety of fields.
Public Schools Serve ALL Children
In Hudson K-8 School, many students come from broken homes. But this school prides itself on providing love, support and a welcoming place.
Time to Invest in Arizona Children — Our Future
AZ labor leader Ralph Quintana writes about the reasons why they went on strike.
#RedForEd in Arizona
Arizona teachers strike for more funding for their schools.
I’d rather be teaching
LA teacher Pamela Sanders’ account of how she’s on strike because her students need basics like nurses, counselors and smaller class sizes.
Their strike is our strike
Parent Angie Gomez says parents are angry that LA has money but won’t spend it on schools for the basics.
Substitute on Strike
Substitute teacher Vanessa Waters says she’s on strike because class sizes are unbearable and having no nurse at school is unacceptable.
I have a PhD and I am on welfare
CA adjunct Irene Sanchez tells her story.
UTLA Teachers Win
After 20 months of negotiations and 6 days of striking, UTLA and the district came to an agreement.
Teachers work with community to feed students during strike
Educators worked with the union to make sure that no kid went hungry during their strike.
Parents stand with LA teachers
Parents support the LA teacher strike.
Colorado teachers walk out for school funding
‘Our funding is at a crisis level,’ say Colorado AFT teachers, who use 20-year-old textbooks and buy their own white boards.
Historic raise for educators in Miami-Dade
More than 70 percent of Miami-Dade voters opted to give teachers a raise on Election Day. Voices: Karla Hernandez-Mats
Climbing out of debt despite the odds
An AFT PSRP member struggles after for-profits and loan servicers take advantage
Winning tenure, losing your job
Disinvestment in IL higher ed is such that whole departments are closing and faculty are being laid off even when they have tenure.
Chicago teacher finds relief with AFT student debt clinic
Student debt is an issue that touches nearly all AFT members, see one of their stories.
Chicago’s ACERO strike
More than 500 educators at Chicago’s Acero charter school network went on strike over better teaching and learning conditions for students and fair pay for themselves.
We need more than a food pantry
Grad workers need a decent wage to make ends meet – Kansas grads.
Baltimore members demand remedy for freezing schools
During a week of frigid weather the city to close schools in the face of chronic heating problems that plunged indoor temperatures into the 30s and 40s.
Student debt relief is union work
How unions help members face their student debt.
Why I’m ready to walk out: I can’t afford to give students the attention they deserve
A lecturer at the University of Michigan wants to give more time to students but struggles to stay in his low-paying profession.
Cuts that cost kids – and communities
Jessica Pierson Russo writes about the threat to after school program funding in St. Paul.
Public schools are the heart of community
In sparsely populated Ekalaka, Montana public schools are the center for building relationships and providing social interaction.
An investment in our future
Jack McAndrew, teacher leader in a Syracuse high school, says “we work with what we have” & talks about lack of investment in public education.
Priceless classroom moments at stake
UFT member Katie Kurjakovic writes about threats from school budget cuts.
I can’t keep teaching for poverty wages
Adjunct faculty Tomm Waters protests low wages at CUNY in NYC.
Faculty fight for funding
Nearly 20 union leaders were arrested and hundreds of faculty, staff and students demonstrated to demand full funding for the City University of New York.
Why we fight for funding
PSC members outline all the ways CUNY needs money, from class size to deteriorating buildings and not enough paper towels.
Fixing ‘Broke-lyn’ College
How infrastructure is falling apart at CUNY Brooklyn.
Paying off student loans until she’s 87
A former UFT member is still paying student loan debt at age 73.
#OklahomaTeacherWalkout
Teachers demand the basics for their students: textbooks, manageable class sizes and repairs in their schools.
Oklahoma Teachers Strike for Students
Teachers fight for funding in their schools.
Sometimes it feels like an endless cycle
Todd Ratica explains the pains of student debt.
We’re doing it for the kids
Summit Academy teachers fight for the support staff they and their students need.
Adjunct faculty confront university president, demand action
When educators have little job security, insufficient benefits and pay so low they have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.
In the streets of Pittsburgh, an AFT army marches for school funding
The March for Equitable Funding of Public Schools.
It’s time to make school buildings healthy
Decaying infrastructure in Philadelphia.
Much more remains to be done in Puerto Rico
AFT member Jose DeJesus pitched in with relief efforts after the devastation caused by hurricanes; FEMA was simply not doing enough.
¡Puerto Rico se levanta!
Mary Cathryn Ricker writes that after the hurricane AFT leaders in Puerto Rico sounded the alarm that the federal government response was wholly inadequate.
Cutting education in Puerto Rico sends the wrong message
AFT fights the proposal to close 300 schools and cut $300 million from education spending.
Funding, facilities and free college:
Rhode Island faculty press for funding.
Public Schools Transform Communities
In Houston, union and school staff came together to transform their school through a "Community Schools" initiative.
#RedForEd in Virginia
Teachers join throngs of community members to march on the state capital for school funding.
Faculty press for investment in community colleges:
AFT-WA has a big, very organized campaign they’ve taken to state leg.
West Virginia school employees on their strike
PSRPs speak out about way-too-low insurance benefits they fought for during the strike, and the power of the union.
West Virginia educators rise up against ‘disregard and disrespect’
Relentless attempts to sabotage decent teacher pay & privatize public ed, even though teachers won a raise during last year’s strike.
As teachers, we’re first responders to poverty
Greg Cruey, teacher & union leader helping launch a community schools initiative and fighting to keep funding for Title II and Medicaid in schools.
WV Teachers Defeat Anti-Public Education Bill
Teachers stand up to policy that would have decimated public schools.
