News

Share This

Kasich Appoints Four New State Board of Education Members - Hannah Report

Gov. John Kasich replaced four members of the State Board of Education with new appointees Wednesday, filling the seats of term-limited veterans Tess Elshoff and Joe Farmer and declining to reappoint members Kara Morgan and Cathye Flory.

Newly appointed members include David Brinegar of Fayette, Cindy Collins of Amanda, Mark Lamoncha of Leetonia and Michael Toal of Sidney.

Brinegar is CEO of manufacturer Fulton Industries, and a former member of the Fayette Local School District Board of Education.

more

A Community at Risk

Labor, business and community leaders are working hard to convince General Motors to reverse its decision to close its plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The community, including many AFT members and their families, fear what this closure could mean for their town.

more

Cutting the heart out of higher ed

Betsy DeVos wants to alter the DNA of higher education, trying to change the definition of the credit hour, eliminate student-faculty interaction in some programs and allow schools losing their accreditation to charge students tuition. And it’s all disguised in the wonky and overwhelming “negotiated rulemaking” review process that begins Jan. 15.

more

Our Conversation with Steven Spielberg

To commemorate the 25th anniversary and rerelease of “Schindler’s List,” Steven Spielberg joined AFT President Randi Weingarten to discuss the legacy of the movie, its impact on Holocaust education and how to teach kids to understand and respond to hatred in our communities.

more

Georgetown University graduate employees cast historic vote for the union

Graduate employees at Georgetown University made history Nov. 9 when they finished tallying an 83 percent vote to join the union, the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees. The overwhelming victory is the first that circumvents the Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board. Instead it is certified by the American Arbitration Association, and it decisively frames graduates not as students but as workers, with all the rights that title commands.

more

AFT members are taking Navient to court

A class-action suit filed in federal court sets out serious allegations that student loan servicer Navient has misled borrowers in public service professions from accessing a loan forgiveness program to boost its own profits. The landmark complaint, which seeks millions in damages and class-wide injunctive relief, details a spate of systematic misrepresentations, untruths and misdirection pedaled by Navient to stop borrowers from enrolling in Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a 10-year payoff plan administered by rival servicer FedLoan.

more

A Decade of Neglect

“A Decade of Neglect: Public Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession” details for the first time 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. The comprehensive report offers a deep dive into the long-term austerity agendas and historic disinvestment that sparked the wave of nationwide walkouts this spring.

more