Congratulations to Our 2020 Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship Winners
Congratulations to our 2020 Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship winners: Hannah Welly and Grace Garand.
News
OFT's Areas of Concern for Re-Opening Ohio Schools
OFT President Melissa Cropper recently wrote to Governor DeWine, thanking him for his leadership on COVID-19 and listing a number of concerns and qustions OFT would need to see addressed before we are comfortable returning to schools. Ohio can not rush to open the schools before it is safe for our students, for teachers and staff, and for our family members who risk exposure if we bring the virus home from our schools.
Weingarten: Educators must save democracy
“Teachers have always had power,” AFT President Randi Weingarten told the crowd at the TEACH opening plenary Thursday afternoon. “We need to own our power. And we need to build our power so we can move our agenda—for our students and our families; for safe, welcoming and well-funded public schools; for affordable higher education; healthcare that is a right, not a privilege; a living wage; a decent retirement; a healthy climate and a strong democracy.”
Congratulations to Our 2019 Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship Winners
Congratulations to our 2019 Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship winners: Lily Pedrotti and Kaitlin Richards.
Best economy ever?
In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest column in the New York Times, she writes that, despite President Trump’s claims that we have the “best economy ever,” his policies are harming working and middle-class Americans, many of whom are struggling just to get by. “Our political and economic systems are so weighted toward the wealthy that opportunity will only come through the power of collective action,” she writes, using “the surest vehicles to increase opportunity for ordinary Americans”—public education, labor unions and voting. Read the full column.
Early childhood support requires adequate staffing
Some of education’s biggest problems come with its littlest students. At a working breakfast for paraprofessionals in prekindergarten, early childhood and Head Start, members swapped strategies for solving problems. Their discussion came during the AFT PSRP conference last week in Las Vegas, where paras from all over the country zeroed in on professional development and adequate classroom coverage.
AFT launches massive national campaign to fund public education
The AFT’s long-time advocacy for public schools has just been turbo-charged, with a sweeping, multi-pronged campaign to fund the future of American public education. Amid the continuing wave of teacher activism shining a spotlight on massive shortfalls in education investment, the Fund Our Future initiative aims to take the teachers’ megaphone into Congress, statehouses and communities nationwide.
Never again
“A majority of American teens say they are worried about a shooting happening at their school. Let that sink in,” AFT President Randi Weingarten writes in her latest column for the New York Times. “Young people are demanding meaningful action beyond ‘thoughts and prayers.’ They know, as do law enforcement officers and educators, that there are effective ways to address gun violence.” Read more about the proven strategies that would enhance school safety and reduce gun violence.
Support Striking Teachers at Summit Academy Parma
The strike will begin on Tuesday, February 19 at 7:30 a.m. Here are some ways that you can show your support and solidarity:
We can fight back against the private prison operators that fuel mass incarceration
It’s time to divest from private prisons: The US incarcerates more prisoners than any other nation in the world - and private prisons profit. Our new report details how AFT members can encourage their pension funds to divest from private prison corporations.