This Lundi Gras we kick off National Public Schools Week!
Join LFT, AFT and the whole Learning First Alliance to celebrate and honor our nation’s public schools.
Nine out of 10 students in the United States attend public schools, so let’s call attention to the great work being done to give our nation’s children every opportunity to grow and succeed.
After last year’s contentious elections, January brought our new and old representatives together to begin their work on behalf of the Louisiana voters. Governor Edwards was sworn in at a ceremony on the steps of the Capitol on January 13th. On that same day the House and Senate convened an organizational session.
January 2020 means a new Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Last year, each seat was up for re-election and while most members retained their seat on the board, we have four new faces: Dr. Belinda Davis, Preston Castille, Ashley Ellis, and Ronnie Morris.
Attendance Report:
Every member of the board attended the special meeting on January 16th.
Ms. Boffy was absent from all the committee meetings on January 28th and the full board meeting on January 29th
Ms. Ellis was absent from the three committee meetings on January 28th (the School Innovation and Turnaround Committee, the Administration and Finance Committee, and the Policy Forum Committee meeting) and the full board meeting on January 29th.
Thank you for being a member of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and School Employees.
This year has gone by so fast, but through our collective power we’ve accomplished a lot. From raises, to new friends and election victories, 2019 has been a year to remember.
As the presidential elections inch closer and the field of candidates gets more and more competitive, AFT members are engaging, parsing campaign platforms, asking questions of the candidates, and voicing their priorities as educators, healthcare practitioners and public employees. Thus far, the AFT has hosted eight AFT Votes town halls in eight different locations across the country, giving members the opportunity to meet candidates in person and hear about their stands on education, working families, healthcare and other top-line issues. Also part of the AFT’s robust endorsement process: surveys, debate parties and lots of information on AFTVotes.org.
“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.”
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.
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.
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.
“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.