Education Secretary Linda McMahon withdrew the department鈥檚 appeal in a federal lawsuit that challenged warning schools against efforts to 鈥減reference certain racial groups.鈥� 

In April, she asked states to agreeing to the administration鈥檚 view of non-discrimination laws or risk losing federal funds. In , Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher, a district judge for the District of Maryland, called both the letter and the certification requirement 鈥渟ubstantively improper.鈥� 

鈥淭he administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淏ut it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights.鈥�

Other litigation over the letter and the certification is ongoing.

The department鈥檚 tough anti-DEI stance drew a broad mix of reactions. Some Republican state education chiefs welcomed the letter, with Ryan Walters, former Oklahoma superintendent, posting a video of himself signing the form. Blue states refused to sign, while at the district level,  the actions largely sparked confusion over whether they could still hold events related to Black History Month or teach about racism. One Georgia school board and then reinstated it when the court blocked the letter.

The lawsuit, led by American Federation of Teachers, is one of four related to the letter or the threat to withhold funds. The National Education Association, 19 Democratic-led states and the NAACP also challenged the department鈥檚 actions. But the department didn鈥檛 initially fare well in court. On the same day in late April, Gallagher suspended the letter while two other federal judges blocked enforcement of the certification form.

鈥淲ith the stroke of a pen, the administration tried to take a hatchet to 60 years of civil rights laws that were meant to create educational opportunity for all kids,鈥� AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. 鈥淚t took a union to stand in the stead of kids and educators who feared retribution from the government.鈥�

The department did not respond to a request for comment, but its decision in the AFT case doesn鈥檛 put the issue to rest.

In the NEA case, the judge has not issued a final ruling, but an remains in place.  The department filed a motion to dismiss the NAACP case last summer, but the court has not yet ruled. The , meanwhile, is set for trial in June. 

While the department was unable to pressure schools through a 鈥渄ear colleague鈥� letter, it has continued to launch civil rights investigations into districts with diversity and equity initiatives, like Black Student Success Plan. 

Even some conservatives criticized the agency鈥檚 use of non-binding guidance to implement policy.

鈥淭here are good reasons to be concerned about the capricious use of dear colleague letters. Many of us have been warning about the problems for 15 years now, dating back to Obama鈥檚 first term,鈥� said Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. 鈥淪eeing the administration instead rely on the machinery of the Office for Civil Rights is probably a good thing, as that should ensure that this is less about federal diktats than about investigations into specific complaints.鈥�

Last year, the conservative Freedom Foundation made headlines with a high-profile effort to convince Miami-Dade teachers to dump their union. 

Ultimately, it flopped: 83% of members voted to stick with United Teachers of Dade. Still, Brent Urbanik, president of the rival Miami Dade Education Coalition, said he appreciated the Foundation鈥檚 鈥渁ll-hands-on-deck鈥� support, which included funding mailers to teachers鈥� homes and to knock on doors. Urbanik said he couldn鈥檛 have run the campaign without the Foundation鈥檚 help. 

But he鈥檚 not a fan of the group鈥檚 latest move. In late September, it named anti-union firebrand Ryan Walters, 翱办濒补丑辞尘补鈥檚 former state chief, as head of its new Teacher Freedom Alliance.  

鈥淢ost teachers just want to go to school. They want to teach their subjects, and they want to know that they’re not going to get fired for saying the wrong thing,鈥� he said. With Walters at the helm, he said, the Teacher Freedom Alliance risks becoming 鈥渢he right鈥檚 version of the left鈥檚 problem, which is the politicization of classroom material.鈥� 

To Aaron Withe, the Foundation鈥檚 CEO, Walters is a 鈥渇reedom fighter鈥� who brings passion and new energy to a cause that has seen mixed results since the Supreme Court鈥檚 2018 decision in . The court ruled that teachers and other public sector employees can opt out of paying fees to unions they don鈥檛 want to join. But Walters is escalating the attack. Since resigning from his state job, he鈥檚 criticized for striking over their recent loss of collective bargaining and joined members in Florida, where he said unions have turned schools into 鈥淢arxist indoctrination centers.鈥� 

One frequent target of his rhetoric doesn鈥檛 see the new Alliance as a threat. In a statement, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the Foundation鈥檚 post-Janus efforts a 鈥渄ismal failure.鈥�  

Urbanik, who teaches AP Psychology at a magnet school in Miami-Dade, is among those educators who think the AFT and the National Education Association have strayed too far from core bargaining issues like salaries, benefits and working conditions. That鈥檚 what Mark Janus, a former child support specialist in Illinois, argued when he challenged AFSCME on First Amendment grounds, that he shouldn鈥檛 be forced to financially support a union鈥檚 political activities or preferred candidates.

鈥淭here was an inherent unfairness in requiring people to join a union and spend money on political activities they disagree with in order to hold a government job,鈥� said Dean McGee, senior counsel and director of educational freedom at the Liberty Justice Center, the conservative law firm that represented Janus. 

Since Janus, some teachers say that unions continue to make it hard to opt out by automatically renewing membership without warning or creating short 鈥渆scape鈥� windows for canceling membership. But in 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear those concerns.

鈥楶ower comes from money鈥�

Teachers鈥� conflicts with their unions aren鈥檛 always political. Members of the Miami-Dade Education Coalition say United Teachers of Dade didn鈥檛 fight for raises and merit pay tied to a 2011 state law after the district said it was an unfunded mandate and they couldn鈥檛 afford the bonuses. 

And in Chicago, Liberty Justice Center represents members of the Chicago Teachers Union who are union leaders for a required annual audit for the past four years. 

The Teacher Freedom Alliance, McGee said, takes the Janus ruling a step further. 鈥淭he power comes from money, and the money comes from member dues,鈥� he said. If unions are losing members, he suggested they focus on 鈥渕embers鈥� interests and not broader political fights.鈥�

He didn鈥檛 mention specific priorities, but the NEA this year that aim to counteract President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥渆mbrace of fascism鈥� and to support 鈥淣o Kings鈥� protests. 

Opt-out campaigns have generally seen mixed results, experts say. When they鈥檙e combined with legislation to undermine the unions, as when Wisconsin stripped public sector unions of collective bargaining in 2011, membership drops, said Eunice Han, an associate economics professor at the University of Utah who studies unions. 

In 2023, Florida passed a law that requires unions to maintain a 60% dues-paying membership. In January 2024, United Teachers of Dade . Urbanik鈥檚 group saw an opening. 

A year after the law passed, over 50 public sector unions in the state had been wiped out because they couldn鈥檛 reach the 60% threshold, according to . But only three of those were K-12 unions, all of which represented non-instructional staff. 

of the Florida Education Association 鈥渉ave successfully re-certified,鈥� Han said. The Freedom Foundation has seen small victories in other states where it鈥檚 been active, like Oregon, California and Washington. 

Larry Delaney, president of the Washington Education Association, said the Foundation frequently sends mailers with messages encouraging teachers and other school staff to opt out. The cards include a section the member can rip off and mail back to the union鈥檚 address. Their campaigns get creative, he said. Around Halloween, one mailer portrayed Delaney as a monster. Another said 鈥淕ive yourself a Christmas bonus! End your monthly union dues.鈥�

But only a handful of members opt out each year, Delaney said.

Some mailers look like a and include a fake check representing how much money members would save in dues each year if they quit the union. Based on his own experience, it costs about $40,000 to send mail to all 84,000 members of the union statewide, and the Freedom Foundation sends a new mailer almost monthly.

鈥淚 don’t know what their direct mailing budget is, but it’s large,鈥� he said. The Foundation didn鈥檛 comment on its mailing budget.

The Foundation, a $17 million operation, according to its most , is a nonprofit and doesn鈥檛 have to disclose donors. In Florida, the free market-oriented , founded by successful futures trader Bill Dunn, donated $100,000 to support the Miami Dade Education Coalition鈥檚 opt-out campaign, according to .

by the Center for Media and Democracy, a progressive organization that tracks spending by conservative groups, show the Koch Brothers, the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation and the Sarah Scaife Foundation in Pittsburgh, are also among the Foundation鈥檚 contributors. Those organizations often fund right-leaning causes, like efforts to roll back and PragerU, a media operation that produces conservative videos for kids.

鈥榃e won鈥檛 be intimidated鈥�

The Foundation used some of its resources to fight that says union members can sue if someone is trying to impersonate them as an opt-out strategy. 

鈥淭hey say that we’re pretending to be union officials and going to union members鈥� homes to convince them to leave,鈥� Withe, the Foundation鈥檚 CEO, said in an . 鈥淲e won’t be intimidated. If anything, we鈥檙e more emboldened to go and get more of their members.鈥�

The Foundation wasn鈥檛 able to keep the bill from passing. It allows union representatives to bring a civil lawsuit against a group or individual that tries to deceive a union member into opting out. Withe said the unions provided no evidence that the Foundation employed deception. 

But his group did manage to get teachers in the small 126-student along the south coast of Oregon, to create a new independent union in June. When all 13 of their teachers voted unanimously to create the new Cruiser Educators Association, the Oregon Education Association didn鈥檛 oppose the move. 

Gabe Shorb, a sixth grade teacher in the district, first heard Walters speak at one of the Foundation鈥檚 Teacher Freedom Summits and called his message 鈥渞efreshing.鈥�

He said several teachers had already opted out on their own and a few had joined the Teacher Freedom Alliance. Those remaining felt the Oregon Education Association wasn鈥檛 very helpful when they bargained with the district and asked for contract information from comparable districts. Membership in the new union is free.

鈥淚’m hoping that we’ll make connections and show other small districts that, 鈥楬ey you don’t have to pay a lot of money for something that’s really not that useful,鈥� 鈥� he said.

The Freedom Foundation also pushed this year for that would prevent teachers from using paid professional development days to attend the Montana Federation of Public Employees鈥� annual meeting. The sessions, the Foundation argues, are 鈥渙riented toward political activism, radical woke ideology and union marketing.鈥� to panels on topics such as equity training and promoting LGBTQ issues. But the bill died in the session.

The Teacher Freedom Alliance aims to give school staff an alternative to the AFT and the NEA. Its free membership includes liability coverage up to $2 million, which protects teachers if they鈥檙e sued or need legal representation for other reasons. The American Association of Educators, with about 32,000 members, charges $19.50 per month for that includes liability coverage as well as other benefits, like shopping discounts.

Walters first promoted the new Alliance in March with a , drawing an ethics complaint from Rep. Ellen Pogemiller, a Democrat, who argued that he was using state resources to endorse an organization. The complaint was dismissed, and the state attorney general said he didn鈥檛 break the law.听Walters did not respond to attempts to reach him by phone or text.

When he accepted the new job, Pogemiller filed , suggesting his promotion of the group was for personal gain. The state ethics commission hasn鈥檛 issued any findings. 

Walters might have taken the job because he thought it would 鈥済ive him a larger national profile,鈥� said Julia Koppich, an independent consultant in San Francisco and expert on teachers unions.

He might also have been seeking a higher salary. His paid $124,000. The Foundation did not disclose his salary at Teacher Freedom Alliance, but past show Withe made $525,000 in 2023, and other top executives earned in the $200,000 range. 

Koppich wonders how the new Alliance will benefit teachers. In states where unions have bargaining rights, teachers who drop their membership can鈥檛 negotiate their own salaries and working conditions with school districts, Koppich said. They鈥檙e bound by the union contract whether they pay dues or not. 

In non-union states, teacher pay is set by a statewide salary schedule.

鈥淯nionism is baked in where it鈥檚 baked in and anathema where it鈥檚 always been anathema,鈥� Koppich said. 鈥淭hese [opt-out] organizations don鈥檛 have a great track record.鈥� 

In Miami, Urbanik blames part of his group鈥檚 poor showing in the election on the Miami- Dade district. He said officials 鈥渉eavily suppressed鈥� his organization鈥檚 message. Some teachers didn鈥檛 even know the vote was taking place. About two-thirds of the Miami-Dade teachers didn’t vote.

鈥淲e were not allowed to have contact with teachers on school grounds,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was not allowed to have a mailer placed in mailboxes.鈥�

Under Walters, opt-out drives are likely to go national and his rhetoric about unions funding agendas unrelated to the classroom are expected to intensify, said Han, with the University of Utah. 

鈥淚 believe that with Walters鈥檚 leadership,鈥� Han said, 鈥渨e may see a more politically charged and aggressive version of the Freedom Foundation鈥檚 strategy.鈥�

The American Federation of Teachers published the findings Sept. 10 after research company Grow Progress 705 members about classroom expenses and federal education policy changes. The union also collected personal insights about student hunger, an issue that have found is prominent at school and could be impacted by impending to food assistance programs.

鈥淓very year, public school educators dig into their own pockets to help their students get the education they deserve,鈥� union President Randi Weingarten said in a . 鈥淭hey pay for books, decorations, paper, pencils and, yes, even food.鈥�

Families that deal with can鈥檛 afford enough groceries to meet their needs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The most recent available shows that nearly 18% of households with children across the nation struggled with food insecurity in 2023.

Research the national nonprofit in March found that 92% of teachers have taken some type of action to address student hunger at school. Nearly half personally provide food in the classroom, while 29% have purchased food for students to eat outside of class.

鈥淔amilies are struggling to put food on the table for their kids for a variety of reasons, whether that’s the rising cost of food or the worsening job market or limited resources,鈥� said Sara Steely, a No Kid Hungry spokesperson. 鈥淭he entire education system is stronger when kids are well-fed, and teachers are up against a lot 鈥� food shouldn’t be something they have to think about.鈥�

In the AFT survey, a Florida union member said students need food at school because of a lack of it at home, while another teacher in Kentucky said many students 鈥渁re starving because of lack of food availability.鈥�

Ann Walkup, a Rhode Island physics teacher and AFT member, said she and many educators at her high school buy food like granola bars, crackers and water bottles.

鈥淢ost of us keep some sort of stash somewhere,鈥� she told 社区黑料. 鈥淭here are definitely some teachers who have a situation like [food insecurity] with some of their students. We’re supposed to refer them to the office, and there’s a system the school has to support them, but admittedly, it is just easier to be like, 鈥楬ey, I’ve got an extra granola bar.鈥� 鈥�

Steely said child hunger is about to become even more complicated with the recent cuts to the , which helps about 42 million people afford groceries each month. In July, the Trump administration approved a tax bill that will from SNAP funding through 2034.

Once the SNAP cuts are fully implemented, roughly 2.4 million people are projected to lose food stamp benefits in an average month, according to estimates from the .

Students automatically qualify for free or reduced-price lunch if their families receive SNAP benefits, Steely said. Parents will have to return to filling out paperwork to get their children free meals at school 鈥� something that is an obstacle for people who have language barriers or are embarrassed about their income, she said.

鈥淎s we see these SNAP and Medicaid cuts play out and the impacts to free school meals access, I could see that burden falling to the teachers,鈥� Steely said. 

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, told 社区黑料 that student hunger continues to be a critical issue for members of the nation鈥檚 largest teachers union. She said schools already felt the impact of cuts this spring, when the in funding for districts and child care facilities to purchase food from local farms for student meals.

鈥淲e’re seeing more kids coming to school hungry,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e spend money buying snacks, we send things home to families in book bags. We do that because, at least as educators, we can鈥檛 look away.鈥�

The American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest teachers union, and CareerWise USA, which runs apprenticeship programs for high-schoolers in five states, announced the Education and Apprenticeship Accelerator late last month.

The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and the governors of California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania have also joined the coalition.

Its goal is to improve and expand Career Technical Education (CTE) both in high schools and community colleges and create more student internships and apprenticeships where students are paid to both work and go to school. Only about 5% of high school students nationally have a chance at an internship or apprenticeship, estimates available show.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said the union sees a need to shift away from the 鈥渃ollege for all鈥� mindset of the last 20 years, and be a part of giving students other ways to prepare for work and life.

鈥淟ook how many kids we’ve seen in schools that feel totally at sea,鈥� said Weingarten, who also called for changes in a May 6 New York Times opinion piece

Instead of working independently and sometimes at cross-purposes, which has kept the number of opportunities for students low, CareerWise founder Noel Ginsburg said the new partnership will help government, business and schools work together in support of training efforts.

Challenges include aligning school and work schedules, finding transportation for students between work and school, giving students course credit for work-based learning and making sure students are working in fields that are hiring.

Both Ginsburg and Weingarten said the states can serve as laboratories to find the right formulas to succeed, then the partnership can promote them and find a common plan that covers all states.

鈥淭his is intended to truly create鈥xamples for the country in multiple states that can show how this matters,鈥� Ginsburg said. 

鈥淲e’ll bring resources to it, both financial, technical and consulting, to enable these states to accelerate faster, to make this happen,鈥� Ginsburg said. 鈥�(We鈥檒l) bring these systems together so that our gears aren’t grinding, that they are connected and, in fact, we’re moving forward.鈥�

Governors of the participating states echoed the call for improving training opportunities for students.

Apprenticeships are common in Europe, with more than half of students in countries like Switzerland participating. Apprenticeships In the U.S. usually start after high school, instead of the equivalent of junior year in Europe, and have traditionally been in construction trades.

But apprenticeships across the country have been growing in recent years and in other fields, particularly health care, information technology and advanced manufacturing. New U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has also , and has called for more CTE, apprenticeships and tuition assistance for career training.

President Donald Trump signed an. But the administration also shut down a Department of Labor advisory panel on apprenticeships that Ginsburg had a major role on and , a training program for 25,000 young people a year, a decision that is being

Experts consider a released by the department late Friday to be more in line with how the courts have traditionally viewed illegal discrimination.

鈥淭his is such a far cry from what they put out two weeks ago,鈥� said Jackie Wernz, a civil rights attorney and consultant who worked in both the Obama and first Trump administrations. 鈥淚t’s downright reasonable.鈥�

Part of the Trump administration鈥檚 larger effort to root out diversity, equity and inclusion, the called diversity a 鈥渘ebulous鈥� goal and warned that districts could be subject to investigations for treating 鈥渟tudents differently on the basis of race.鈥� It prompted opposition from , and education . And it left some educators wondering topics like Black History Month.

The Q&A, however, asserts that officials would not automatically consider anything labelled DEI to be illegal and would examine as part of its investigations whether a policy actually resulted in discrimination against students. Cultural and historical observances are fine, the document says, as long as all students are welcome to participate, regardless of race.

鈥淭hey were trying to see how far they could go, and then they got the pushback,鈥� Wernz said, noting the timing of the department鈥檚 guidance. 鈥淚 love that they say you can celebrate Black history at the end of the month.鈥�

In a on the changes, Wernz noted that the department clarified that it would need evidence that a particular racial group was harmed before it decided to launch an investigation. But she still warned districts to avoid lessons that separate students by race or assignments that ask them to identify their race. 

Neeraja Deshpande, a policy analyst at the conservative Independent Women鈥檚 Forum, said there was no need to walk back any instructions to districts.

鈥淚 don’t think the earlier letter needed to be softened,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut, of course, school districts were going to have questions and this seemed to answer them.鈥�

鈥榁agueness, Confusion and Chaos鈥�

The department is still likely to get wide-ranging reports of what members of the public consider 鈥渄ivisive ideologies and indoctrination.鈥� The portal it unveiled last week doesn鈥檛 define what the department considers to be illegal discrimination. 

The additional guidance hasn鈥檛 prompted the American Federation of Teachers to drop its federal lawsuit over the original letter. In a statement, AFT President Randi Weingarten said that the Q&A 鈥渏ust made things murkier.鈥�

Last week, the union, along with AFT-Maryland and the American Sociological Association, sued, appeared to ban the teaching of 鈥渟ystemic and structural racism鈥� in American history. The lawsuit says the teachers would be afraid to discuss Jim Crow laws, the internment of Japanese Americans and other examples of historical discrimination.

The Q&A doesn鈥檛 discuss how teachers should approach lessons on history and only says, 鈥淥CR鈥檚 assessment of school policies and programs depends on the facts and circumstances of each case.鈥�

鈥淚f you are a classroom teacher, you still have no idea what you can or can鈥檛 teach when it comes to the history of the United States and the world,鈥� Weingarten  said. 鈥淚t seems like vagueness, confusion and chaos is the point.鈥�

Washington, D.C.

On Monday, a federal district court judge in Maryland granted a barring the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management from disclosing personally identifiable information to Elon Musk鈥檚 Department of Government Efficiency.

The American Federation of Teachers, the nation鈥檚 second-largest teachers union, filed a federal lawsuit with a coalition of labor unions Feb. 12 alleging that the department illegally gave DOGE access to millions of private and sensitive records.

The court ruled that the AFT would likely succeed in its lawsuit and agreed that the two agencies 鈥渓ikely violated the Privacy Act by disclosing their personal information to DOGE affiliates without their consent.鈥� The restraining order will expire March 10. 

鈥淭his is a significant decision that puts a firewall between actors whom we believe lack the legitimacy and authority to access Americans鈥� personal data and are using it inappropriately, without any safeguards,鈥� union President Randi Weingarten said in a press release.

In other action, the union announced on Feb. 19 that as part of a recently launched campaign called . 

The National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, organized a rally outside the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 12 to protest the nomination of Linda McMahon as secretary of education.

In response to administration efforts to downsize federal agencies, the American Federation of Government Employees filed a lawsuit to stop a resignation program that prompted thousands of workers to leave their jobs. The nation鈥檚 largest federal employee union 鈥� which represents U.S. Department of Education staff 鈥� argued that the program was unlawful, .

California

Members of unions in 32 California school districts have banded together to negotiate a shared set of contract demands: improved wages and benefits, smaller class sizes, fully staffed schools and more resources for students.

The locals united as part of the California Teachers Association’s , which launched Feb. 4. The districts employ a total of 77,000 educators and teach 1 million students, and include some of the largest in the state: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento. 

Many of the unions鈥� contracts are set to expire this summer. California Teachers Association President David Goldberg said in a Feb. 4 webinar that the campaign is intended to build pressure statewide, .

At one charter school in the San Fernando Valley, teachers staged a four-day after working without a contract since July 1. Educators at El Camino Real Charter High School, who are represented by United Teachers Los Angeles, walked out from Feb. 10 to 14 before reaching an agreement that includes a 19% salary increase over three years, .

The nation’s first charter school strike occurred in 2018, a four-day work stoppage at Acero, one of 颁丑颈肠补驳辞鈥檚 largest charter school networks. The vast majority of charter schools are not unionized.

Idaho

A bill that would ban taxpayer funds from going toward teachers union operations advanced out of committee to the full House on Feb. 12. The bill鈥檚 sponsor, state Rep. Judy Boyle, said is intended to cut down on what she called 鈥渦nder-the-table鈥� dealings between school districts and unions, according to the .

HB98 would apply only to teachers unions, not to other public-sector unions that represent occupations like first responders, according to the Idaho Education Association. It would require teachers to use personal leave to do union work, eliminate payroll deductions for dues and ban distribution of union materials on school property. Violators could be fined up to $2,500.

鈥淭his wasn鈥檛 the outcome we wanted, but we鈥檙e not done fighting this bad bill yet,鈥� Chris Parri, the union’s political director, said . 鈥淲e鈥檒l need all hands on deck to kill it for good in the [state] Senate when the time comes.鈥� 

Illinois

The Chicago Teachers Union rejected a recommendation Feb. 4 from a neutral arbitrator that negotiators return to the bargaining table and reach agreement with Chicago Public Schools on a that includes higher pay for veteran teachers and more librarians. In a letter to the district, the union that the mediator 鈥渞ightly notes that [Chicago Public Schools] consistently signs 鈥� labor contracts despite claiming it lacks the funds to afford them.鈥�

Once the recommendation is rejected, the union has to wait 30 days before it can give the district a 10-day strike notice. The Chicago Teachers Union went on strike during contract negotiations for seven days in 2012, one day in 2016 and 11 days in 2019.

Massachusetts

Lawmakers questioned the state鈥檚 largest teachers union at a special hearing Feb. 10 over learning materials that some members believe were antisemitic. 

The Massachusetts Teachers Association, which represents more than 117,000 educators, was about the Israel-Hamas conflict. President Max Page said that the documents were created by request from the union’s board and published in a members-only area of the union website.

Examples included a poster on the Israel-Hamas war reading, 鈥渨hat was taken by force can only be returned by force鈥� and a book about a Palestinian girl who says, 鈥渁 group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land so they stole it by force and hurt many people,鈥� according to .

鈥淭he notion that our union is trying to 鈥榠ndoctrinate鈥� our young people is simply not true, and accusations to that effect have led to death threats to me and my staff, and to other attacks on our union,鈥� Page said. 鈥淧osting resources does not imply agreement with each and every document. Nor would we ever expect that our members would look at these resources with an uncritical eye.鈥�

An by the Israeli-American Civic Action Network that asks lawmakers and state agencies to halt collaboration with the union on legislation has received more than 17,000 signatures.

Utah

One of the first bills Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law this year bars teachers unions from bargaining collectively and conducting operations on school property.

The governor on Feb. 14, marking the end of a weeks-long debate about how public-sector unions should operate. Lawmakers who favored the bill said it will ensure transparency in unions and protect taxpayer resources, but educators said it will only make a job that鈥檚 already full of challenges more difficult.

While it doesn鈥檛 prevent employees from joining a union, the law prohibits public agencies 鈥� which employ teachers, firefighters, police officers and county workers, among others 鈥� from 鈥渞ecognizing a labor organization as a bargaining agent鈥� and 鈥渆ntering into collective bargaining contracts.鈥� 

The Utah Education Association said HB267 will also weaken advocacy because it cuts off access to schools by barring unions from using public property for free. Some opponents of the bill charged it was created to retaliate against the Utah Education Association, which is The association is the state鈥檚 largest teachers union, with 18,000 members.

The union鈥檚 political action committee began the 2024 cycle with $4 million in cash on hand, raised $12 million and has spent $13 million 鈥� leaving it with roughly $2 million to dole out before Election Day, according to the latest data from , the non-partisan organization that tracks money in politics.

The vast majority of its spending this election cycle 鈥� roughly $9 million 鈥� was donated to super PACs supporting Democrats and to local, state and federal candidates and parties. Among the top receivers: $3 million to the Senate Majority PAC, $1.6 to House Majority PAC, $445,000 to the Harris Victory Fund ($300,000 of which was originally donated to the Biden Victory Fund before the president stepped aside), and $420,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  

The AFT is traditionally one of the biggest supporters of Democrats, lending both the power of its PAC鈥檚 purse for advertising and mailings, and its strength in numbers for boots-on-the-ground get-out-the-vote operations.

Among the top 20 PACs based on contributions to Democratic candidates, total fundraising, total spent, and total spent in independent expenditures and communication costs, the AFT鈥檚 PACs place 8th. It鈥檚 donated $1.5 million to democratic congressional candidates, including to 196 House Democrats and 19 Senate Democrats.

鈥淜amala Harris and Tim Walz believe in the promise of America and will spend their time solving problems, not sowing fear, so every American can partake in that promise,鈥� AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a . 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not just what we can gain, it鈥檚 also what we will lose with Trump and Vance: our democracy, our freedoms, our public schools, our right to have a union, a vote and a voice. Extending the ladder of opportunity or destroying it.鈥� 

鈥淯nion members get this,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why we will fight every hour of every day for the next fortnight to get out the vote to elect candidates who proudly stand for freedom, democracy and opportunity.鈥�

Earlier this month, the AFT teamed up with the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 鈥� the nation鈥檚 largest public service unions 鈥� in a coordinated, multi-state voter outreach initiative across battleground states.

鈥淭his joint action represents a significant escalation of labor’s political engagement, with the unions pooling resources and mobilizing their combined membership of several million workers and includes people of all backgrounds working across the public service 鈥� as nurses, child care providers, sanitation workers, first responders, teachers, education support professionals and higher education workers, among others,鈥� the of the effort reads.

Notably, labor unions play an outsized role in many of the election鈥檚 most crucial swing states: 21% of votes cast in Michigan in the 2020 presidential election were from union households, representing approximately one-fifth of the electorate, according to the union. The same is true for Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where union households accounted for 18% and 13% of votes cast, respectively.

listed the conditions necessary for a bilateral ceasefire, including the release of Israeli hostages and the provision of more humanitarian aid. It excoriated Hamas, both for its Oct. 7 terrorist assault and the brutal repression suffered by Gazans under its control, as well as the Netanyahu government for obstructing the possibility of a two-state solution. Further criticism was reserved for antisemitism, Islamophobia and the attempted censorship of dissenting views.

The document was notable for its timing as well as its substance. By the end of January, a growing number of union affiliates and leaders had already made similar pronouncements, though often voiced in much harsher terms. 

Becky Pringle, speaking for the National Education Association鈥檚 three million members, demanded a permanent truce on December 8 鈥� a position by the organization鈥檚 board of directors. In mid-November, Israel鈥檚 military campaign violated the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, but made no mention of the Oct. 7 attacks or the captivity of over 200 hostages. And in early December, a pro-Palestinian by Oakland Education Association members who developed special lesson plans the local school board.

In an interview with 社区黑料, AFT president Randi Weingarten said her union鈥檚 process moved more slowly in order to build support. Study groups were held to gather the views of internal constituencies, including the organization鈥檚 . Partly in order to gain the unanimous backing of its 43-member executive council, she acknowledged, drafting the resolution 鈥渢ook some time.鈥�

“Early on, it was hard to have a real conversation鈥ecause it was so fractured,鈥� Weingarten said. 

Four months after the events of Oct. 7, significant political fractures still cleave the labor movement, both within organizations and between unions and their allies in the Democratic Party. Several of the resolutions have been rejected by members as , or even , and while President Biden is now toward a six-week ceasefire, he with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or significantly altered his administration鈥檚 stance on the effort to capture or kill Hamas鈥檚 leaders. The division threatens to influence the outcome of the 2024 elections, with a faction of NEA members the union鈥檚 endorsement of Biden against Donald Trump. 

Those dissenters will almost certainly fail, and Israel鈥檚 armed incursion may culminate long before November. But while the war is unlikely to directly unseat Biden, it is a reflection of fissures on the left that very well might. suggests that many Americans favor a ceasefire, but also that Democrats are much more divided than Republicans on whether the U.S. should continue to support its closest ally in the Middle East. That divide is both a product of long-term political trends and a potent short-term threat.

Michael Hartney, a political science professor at Boston College and fellow at Stanford University鈥檚 conservative Hoover Institution, said that the decision to take a stance on something as controversial as the Gaza war illustrated how the currents of polarization could determine the course of even formidable political actors: Though distant from the day-to-day priorities of nonprofit and activist groups, hot-button issues like Israel have become central to the political identity of many members and have gradually become boxes that such organizations must check.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 due to the changing landscapes of the incentives facing these interest groups,鈥� Hartney said. 鈥淔or them to fundraise and be influential, they basically have to pick a team.”

Rise in pro-Palestinian sentiment

Teachers unions, and particularly the AFT, have previously been involved in organizing and advocacy in the Middle East. Just two days before Hamas attacked Israel in October, Weingarten 鈥� a Jew who has made multiple trips to Israel during her nearly 16-year tenure as the Federation鈥檚 president 鈥� , a liberal nonprofit that lobbies politicians on American-Israeli relations and security priorities. Her counterpart, the NEA鈥檚 Pringle, of schools in Israel and the Palestinian territories last year.

But the posture of some groups within the labor movement as criticisms of Netanyahu鈥檚 leadership and Israel鈥檚 occupation of the West Bank have grown louder on the left. In 2021, following an outburst of violence in East Jerusalem that left hundreds dead, the United Educators of San Francisco became America鈥檚 first teachers鈥� union supporting the 鈥渂oycott, divest, and sanction鈥� [BDS] movement, a contentious project Israel. United Teachers Los Angeles, representing 30,000 school employees in America鈥檚 second-largest district, debated a similar measure before .

At the same time, perceptions of Israel have become more divided in U.S. politics overall. In public opinion surveys long predating the violence of the last few months, younger Americans have been to directly blame Israel for its periodic clashes with Hamas, and people between the ages of 18 and 29 to Palestinians than Israelis in the wake of Oct. 7. 

Jack Jennings, a former longtime Democratic staffer in the U.S. House, said the emerging generation gap was largely explained by the country鈥檚 changing demographics, which have seen in the number of students of Middle Eastern origin. Both Jewish and Muslim Americans have tended to vote Democratic in recent elections, but the mounting salience of Israeli-Palestinian conflict had generated tension that was being felt 鈥渇irst in the classroom,鈥� Jennings said.

鈥淲hat has caused this change, and caused the local unions to adopt these resolutions, is that the number of Muslims in the country has doubled鈥� , Jennings said. 鈥淲hen the teacher opens her door on Monday morning, she may have five Palestinians in there.”

Weingarten has generally attempted to in the public debate, while also opposing BDS resolutions and as a 鈥減rogressive Zionist.鈥� The AFT resolution appeared to reflect that nuance, leaving out the invocations of Israeli 鈥済enocide鈥� or 鈥渟ettler colonial violence鈥� seen in the rhetoric of some other teachers鈥� unions.

David Dorn, who headed the AFT鈥檚 International Affairs division for decades before retiring 10 years ago, applauded the resolution as one of the best he had seen from an advocacy group. During his time with the union, he remembered, he had found the work of drafting such documents 鈥渉ard and boring.鈥�

鈥淭hey mean nothing. It’s a piece of paper that is usually forgotten 24 hours later,鈥� Dorn lamented. 鈥淏ut that was a good resolution, and maybe she can have the union play a good role under the circumstances.”

Dorn represents a tradition of international activism within the labor movement that helped shape geopolitics throughout the 20th century, but isn鈥檛 well remembered today.

Under the , who led the AFT from 1974 to 1997, the union energetically worked to bolster democratic movements and labor rights throughout the world. Its maneuverings were sometimes controversial, as when the stridently anticommunist Shanker and his allies Nicaragua鈥檚 far-left Sandinista government in the 1980s. But even decades later, the AFT still touts its work to in Poland and challenge apartheid rule in South Africa.

The fall of Soviet Communism 鈥� along with the passing from the scene of Shanker and other internationally minded figures at the AFL-CIO 鈥� led to a decline in unions鈥� outreach overseas, Dorn said. Weingarten 鈥渨asn鈥檛 really steeped in that tradition鈥� to the extent of her predecessors, he added, and many organizational leaders are now more focused on sustaining their membership at home.

鈥淕oing to conferences or making statements is one thing, but I don’t see many unions using their own resources and grants鈥� to effect change abroad, Dorn said. 鈥淚t’s too bad, but life goes on, and the Cold War is over.” 

While acknowledging that the AFT has been 鈥渕ore limited鈥� in the range of its international involvement over the last few years, Weingarten said the union still played a robust role promoting issues of democracy and self-determination on the world stage. After Weingarten made a 2022 visit to Ukraine, for example, the Federation and partnered with a Polish teachers鈥� union to deliver them to schools affected by Russia鈥檚 attacks on the country鈥檚 power grid.

鈥淥ther unions have really ratcheted down, but we’ve always had an international department,鈥� Weingarten said.

Post-Janus realignment

What the spate of ceasefire resolutions will accomplish 鈥� and what they signify for a labor movement that has attained more prominence in recent years even as it has 鈥� remains to be seen.

Some have , at a time when schools are faced with expiring COVID relief funds and students experience profound learning challenges, their designated bargaining representatives are staking their credibility on a conflict unfolding thousands of miles away. Others are distressed that their organizations haven鈥檛 gone farther to demonstrate opposition to Israel鈥檚 actions.

William Galston, a veteran scholar at the Brookings Institution who has previously advised Democratic presidential candidates, observed that unions weren鈥檛 the only political players to comment outside of their traditional areas of interest. With the members of America鈥檚 ideological camps increasingly converging toward shared preferences 鈥� such that the AFT, the Sierra Club, and Planned Parenthood share many of the same donors and preferred candidates on the left, while NRA and Americans for Prosperity do so on the right 鈥� groups that previously organized around a relatively narrow slate of issues are under more pressure to demonstrate their adherence to a party line.

鈥淭hey used to be more narrowly focused on occupational issues, but for purposes of coalition maintenance, unions and other activist organizations are called upon to take positions on a very wide range of issues,鈥� Galston said.

The Hoover Institution鈥檚 Hartney offered an additional theory. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in Janus v. AFSCME, the case that forbade public sector unions from extracting fees from non-members, those organizations were left with a choice: quiet their political activities to attract more potential members, or tie themselves closer to Democratic politics to further engage their most enthusiastic organizers. While potentially polarizing, he said, the second course might be more workable in the short run.

鈥淚t鈥檚 possible that they’re doubling down on appealing to their true believers by making them feel extra valued,鈥� Hartney said. 鈥淢aybe they can get double the PAC donations from true believers to offset the fact that they’ll get zero support from the marginal person who can leave post-Janus.鈥�

Even so, there is a risk of significant downside in any position that leaves daylight between national entities like AFT and the Biden White House, especially in an election year in which all segments of the Democratic coalition will be called on to help reelect the president. Polling continues to suggest that Biden鈥檚 stance on the war is , and a union-led opposition to Israel鈥檚 operations in Gaza could highlight that faultline.

Weingarten said she was unconcerned about the possibility of a split between her union and the president, pointing to Biden鈥檚 and Secretary of State Antony Blinken鈥檚 furious efforts to contingent on hostage releases. Notwithstanding the substantive differences between that policy and activists鈥� hope of a more lasting peace, she added, key officials are 鈥渧ery much involved in attempting to get to a ceasefire.鈥�

“There’s a big difference between what the president of the United States can say publicly and what the president of the United States operationalizes privately.鈥�

This would be a triumph for AFT if it didn鈥檛 come with a string of asterisks.

The first is the issue of retired members. AFT members are members for life. When they retire, they are not removed from the rolls, nor are they required to apply for retired membership or pay any dues. A growth in retired members actually constitutes a loss in income for AFT.

In 2023, the union added more than 11,500 retired members, accounting for almost two-fifths of the reported gain in total membership. It now has 471,582 retired members 鈥� 27.5% of its total.

The other major event for AFT in the fiscal year was the . The AAUP has 44,000 members. Previously, about 20,000 AAUP members also belonged to AFT. Now, they all do, accounting for a further increase of 24,000 members to AFT鈥檚 total this year.

Mergers and new affiliations with existing unions are a fun way to pump up raw membership totals, but they do nothing to increase the share of the overall workforce that is unionized.

The new members from AAUP aren鈥檛 really a boon to AFT鈥檚 bottom line. A substantial number work part time, which is true of many AFT members as well. AFT reported 1,716,448 total members for 2023, but only 43% of them work full-time.

The effect of all this is illustrated by AFT鈥檚 finances. Last year, the union collected close to $212 million in dues. This year, that number fell to $189 million 鈥� a strange phenomenon if it had actually recruited tens of thousands of new members.

But there鈥檚 no need to fear for the union鈥檚 finances. AFT is putting its money to fruitful use. It greatly increased investments in stocks, corporate bonds, mutual funds and U.S. Treasury notes, leading to a net growth of $28.2 million in its portfolio.

AFT spread its wealth around to its allies as well. The largest amounts went to:

鈥� $1.5 million

鈥� $816,000

鈥� $600,000

鈥� $520,000

鈥� $500,000

鈥� $500,000

鈥� $500,000

AFT also donated $250,000 to the Amazon Labor Union, but since it spent more than $292,000 worth of purchases on Amazon, that looks like a wash.

Mostly, AFT spent its money on itself. Its payroll for 342 employees totaled almost $43.1 million, or an average of $126,000 each. The union spent an additional $18.7 million on benefits.

AFT President Randi Weingarten led the way, with a 2023 salary of $443,551, which was a 2% increase over 2022.

The National Education Association’s fiscal year runs from September through August, so its disclosure report won鈥檛 be available until the end of November. However, Union Report has already obtained internal union documents that indicate NEA lost 9,800 members during fiscal year 2022-23. Preliminary numbers for September 2023 show a continued decline of about 2,800 members, mostly from the ranks of school support employees.

It would be a strange circumstance if AFT were recruiting so many new members from non-union ranks while NEA was steadily losing unionized members. Both organizations are still powerful and influential, whatever their numbers, but the extent of their power depends upon which direction those numbers are trending. Politicians might be less likely to bind their futures to a sinking ship. This would open up a host of new possibilities for education reform.

Mike Antonucci鈥檚 Union Report appears most Wednesdays; see the full archive.

Members of the House鈥檚 GOP majority and their witnesses used the education subcommittee gathering to lay blame on the teachers unions for delays in reopening during the 2020-21 school year.

鈥淭his whole thing was like a jagged little pill,鈥� said Florida Republican Aaron Bean, using a 鈥�90s music reference to describe the slow return to in-person learning. 

Democrats, meanwhile, argued that extreme caution was needed to protect both teachers and students.听

鈥淚 appreciate all the Monday morning quarterbacking here today, but we don’t need 鈥� data to tell us that if kids are not in school they won’t learn,鈥� said Connecticut Democrat Jahana Hayes, the 2016 National Teacher of the Year. 鈥淲e also know if kids are dead, they don’t learn.鈥�

Nat Malkus, deputy director of education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, countered by offering up data showing that schools overall proved and that rates of death among children were . 

While it all sounds familiar, the debate offers a likely preview of the coming standoff over federal funding for 2024 鈥� and a glimpse into the contentious role the education system鈥檚 response to the pandemic will play in the election season ahead.

The House has proposed a to the education budget, noting that some districts still have unspent relief money and that parents would be better off using the funds for school choice. But Democrats, including Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, ranking member on the subcommittee, said Republicans are obsessed with 鈥渆xtremist鈥� culture wars and can鈥檛 be serious about learning loss if they鈥檙e willing to cut Title I funds for high-poverty schools and eliminate funding for teacher training.

Injecting her own Alanis Morissette title into the record, Mary-Patricia Wray, a Louisiana parent and witness for the Democrats, asked: 鈥淚sn’t it ironic that this Congress allocated funding for those programs, recognizing that they were needed, and is now about to take them away at a time when they’re also screaming loudly about learning loss?鈥�

The founder of Top Drawer Strategies, a government relations and political consulting firm, Wray, who previously worked for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said it was 鈥渋ntellectually dishonest鈥� for Republicans not to acknowledge achievement gaps that existed before the pandemic. 

Score gaps between Black and white students and Hispanic and white students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress were before the pandemic, data shows. Malkus stressed that closures stretching into the spring of 2021 only made those gaps worse and caused the 鈥渓argest negative shock to student learning ever in the U.S.鈥�

鈥楢n eye-opener鈥�

While union leaders weren鈥檛 called as witnesses Wednesday, the hearing came less than a week after American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten spelled out for pandemic recovery, offering talking points and a roadmap for next year鈥檚 elections. 

鈥淣inety percent of parents send their children to public schools,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ost parents trust teachers, and they want public schools strengthened, not privatized.鈥�

She announced partnerships with literacy organizations to focus on reading and a campaign to promote community schools, mental health services and other efforts to support students. She blamed social media and 鈥渃ulture warriors who censor honest history鈥� for holding students back.

The AFT, she said, offered a in April 2020, but some critics still point to the slow pace of reopening in cities with , like Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington.

鈥淭he unions are surely hurting from being blamed 鈥� with some justice 鈥� for learning loss,鈥� said Chester Finn, senior fellow and president emeritus at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think tank. 鈥淩andi is very smart.鈥� 

The hearing was a departure from issues Republicans have focused on since taking the majority in the House. In April, they passed to bar transgender athletes from competing in women鈥檚 sports, and in March, they passed a bill that seeks to increase transparency into books and curriculum in schools. 

The [Republicans] are all over the woke stuff, of course.鈥澛爏aid Sandy Kress, a Texas attorney and education consultant who served in the second Bush administration. But he added, 鈥渢he studies that showed we lost more ground after that unprecedented slug of money 鈥� they鈥檙e an eye-opener.鈥�

North Carolina state Superintendent Catherine Truitt, who took office in 2021, joined the witness panel to describe her state鈥檚 efforts to help educators use the money wisely, especially those in small and rural districts. 

She opened an to track student data and advise districts on how to spend relief funds. Leaders, she said, have spent some on summer 鈥渂ridge鈥� programs to prepare students for the next grade, math boot camps for middle school students and training on phonics-based instruction. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we sent that money to you in order to do,鈥� Hayes said, 鈥渇or you to make decisions on the ground that would best support your students and your community,鈥� 

But questions over whether districts have used the money effectively are likely to continue, said Liz Cohen, policy director at FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University.

鈥淚f I鈥檓 in a district, and I have something that I think is working for kids,鈥� she said, 鈥淚 would be smart to get as much data as I can for the next six months.鈥�

In the last five years, teachers unions have taken a double hit. The first was the Supreme Court鈥檚 Janus ruling in June 2018, which eliminated the practice of charging agency fees to nonmembers. The second was the COVID pandemic that shut down schools in March 2020.

The effects have been detrimental to teachers union membership across the country, but perhaps nowhere more so than in the ranks of the California Teachers Association.

That union’s roster reached its apex at the time of the Janus decision, with more than 326,000 active members working in the state鈥檚 public schools. It has been a slow downward slide ever since.

The first big blow was the loss of 19,000 members when the California Faculty Association seceded from the state union and the National Education Association.

The Janus decision did not lead to the mass exodus of members that its supporters had hoped for and unions had feared. CTA internal documents indicate that only 2,631 school employees have dropped their membership in the last four years.

The union hoped to mitigate further losses by successfully lobbying for legislation that requires school districts to allow unions to make a 30-minute membership pitch during new teacher orientations. It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of this measure. In the last 10 months, school districts have hired 3,700 more employees who are eligible to join, but the union has 1,727 fewer members.

Just as the union was coming to terms with the post-Janus world, COVID hit and schools shut down. The union once again won relief from the California legislature, as districts were forbidden to lay off teachers until July 2020.

Nonetheless, membership continued to dwindle to the present day. At the beginning of March 2020, the union had 304,509 members. Internal documents show that figure dropped to 293,444 as of Jan. 13, 2023, a loss of 11,065 members.

Comprehensive numbers for the union鈥檚 995 local affiliates are of less recent vintage, but official as of Aug. 31, 2022. I have constructed a table based on those statistics, culled from internal union documents. I included the comparable membership figures for Aug. 31, 2019, and Aug. 31, 2018. The figure for United Teachers Los Angeles is a best estimate, due to the difficulty of reconciling the numbers of members affiliated with NEA and those affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers Local 1021.

Losses appear to be indiscriminate across all local sizes. Eight of the state union鈥檚 10 largest locals lost members between 2019 and 2022, while overall, 587 locals lost members during that period.

The cure for the union’s ills, once again, lies with the state legislature. The union will work to ensure funding is made available for as much hiring as possible, so membership will grow even if the percentage of new teachers who join isn鈥檛 what it used to be.

The health of the California Teachers Association and other large state affiliates is critical to the overall health of the National Education Association. Their membership dues help subsidize the continued existence of sickly state affiliates in the South. If California losses continue, it will have a domino effect across the country.

The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan national education nonprofit that provides programs and resources to help people of all ages become smart, active news consumers, released a for teachers today to aid in their ongoing battle against disinformation: The framework was unveiled as part of the , an event presented by the Project and the E.W. Scripps Company.  

The effort has five main goals. It was designed to help students distinguish news from other types of information and recognize the importance of the First Amendment in American democracy, including the value of a free press in shaping a well-informed citizenry. 

It also seeks to help children understand the standards of quality journalism, use them to identify credible sources and sharpen their verification skills. Lastly, it aims to help students take responsibility for the information they put out into the world, a campaign called 鈥淐are Before You Share鈥� that is being promoted through a public service announcement.

鈥淣ews and media literacy is a critical skill impacting students’ academic, personal, professional and civic lives,鈥� said Shaelynn Farnsworth, the Project鈥檚 director of educator network expansion. 鈥淵et, unfortunately, our students are inheriting the most complicated information landscape in history and are often duped by what they consume online.鈥�

Farnsworth said misinformation threatens not only our democracy, but our very lives, especially as it concerns baseless conspiracy theories around the pandemic. 

鈥淚nstead of developing healthy skepticism, students read with a cynical eye instead of a critical one, often not believing any information they consume online,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o combat this, educators hone skills, so students know what to believe, who to trust and what to share.鈥�

The organization is encouraged by its growing reach: More than 165,000 students used its platform between July 2020 and January 2022, totaling more active young users in 18 months than in the prior four years.

The Project鈥檚 recommendations were unveiled during the same week that the American Federation of Teachers announced its new partnership with the anti-misinformation group, , an organization run by Steve Brill, who founded The American Lawyer, Court TV and the Yale Journalism Initiative and Gordon Crovitz, former publisher of The Wall Street Journal. 

According to the AFT, its 1.7 million members 鈥� and, by extension, the tens of millions of children they teach plus their families 鈥� can now receive a free, online tool that will provide real-time news ratings via a licensed copy of NewsGuard鈥檚 browser extension. Educators are invited to sign up  

The need for such tools and programs has only grown in recent years as former President Donald Trump and his supporters 颅鈥� 鈥� flooded social media with on myriad topics. Trump himself was by the company days after the Jan. 6 insurrection 鈥渄ue to the risk of further incitement of violence鈥�.

At least one social media company, already to reign in false claims, was called out this week by a conservative parents鈥� group that said it was unfairly targeted for removal from the platform. 

Moms for Liberty, started by two former school board members out of Florida, has grown tremendously since its inception in January 2021. Co-founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice attribute much of its success to social media, which allowed members to connect and spread their message without in-person meetings.

But the platform treated them unfairly for ideological reasons, the women told Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg in an open letter dated Jan. 24. In the past few weeks, they said, 22 of their national chapter groups were sent 鈥渘otifications of community violation鈥� and were disabled for posting what they called 鈥渂asic information about local government operations such as school board meeting times, or questions about student textbooks.鈥�

鈥淥ur groups have been shut down repeatedly,鈥� they wrote, adding their administrative accounts had been suspended and their national page restricted from posting for 鈥渟ecurity reasons鈥�, though they are unclear as to why. 鈥淭his severely impacts our ability to pursue our core mission of helping American parents organize to participate in the education of their children. One Moms for Liberty group page, from Fort Bend, Texas, was disabled the same day it launched! It did not even have the opportunity to violate whatever vague standards are being enforced against our moms.鈥�

Facebook, now run by a company called Meta, objected to the characterization late Tuesday night. 

鈥淢eta doesn鈥檛 target any group because of their politics,鈥� a company spokeswoman said. 鈥淎fter reviewing the content associated with this organization, we determined that some was removed correctly for violating our misinformation policies.鈥�

Other content was removed by mistake and has since been restored, the spokeswoman said. Descovich said Wednesday afternoon that her administrative privileges had been reinstated and that many chapter鈥檚 Facebook pages are back up and running. 

The dispute between Moms for Liberty and Facebook over misinformation charges and freedom of speech claims might be one students could dissect using the Project’s new tool. 

Pamela Brunskill, the Project鈥檚 senior manager of education and content, said the new framework will help teachers manage what feels like unlimited information.

鈥淭he idea of educating the next generation to be news-literate is daunting, particularly because we’re faced with the most dynamic and complex information environment in history,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or many educators, it’s hard to know what to teach and where to begin.鈥�

The Project’s new tool will make that Herculean task much easier, Brunskill said, and pay long-term dividends.

鈥淚magine if our entire society could distinguish news from other types of information, could recognize the role a free press plays to an informed citizenry, could understand the standards of quality journalism, could detect misinformation and faulty evidence, and could express a sense of responsibility for the information they share!,” she said in an email. “What kind of democracy would that look like?鈥�

Disclosure: Campbell Brown is the head of news partnerships at Facebook. Brown co-founded 社区黑料 and sits on its board of directors. She plays no role in the reporting or editing of 社区黑料’s content.

When Education Secretary Miguel Cardona toured South Bend, Indiana鈥檚 Madison STEAM Academy in September, he made a quick impression on the district鈥檚 superintendent, C. Todd Cummings. 

Cummings remembers the secretary鈥檚 interest in COVID protocols, the facility鈥檚 STEM makerspace, and that he spoke Spanish to students at the bilingual school. By the time the visit ended, he came away feeling like he could pick up the phone and call Cardona if needed. 

鈥淗e鈥檚 done a lot to make the department more approachable,鈥� Cummings said. 鈥淗e understands running a district, but he also understands teachers in the classroom.鈥�

Having one of their own helming the U.S. Department of Education has gone a long way toward mending the fractured relationship between district leaders and the agency that existed under Cardona鈥檚 predecessor. Betsy DeVos was the consummate outsider. She warred with unions, made comments that many teachers found , and attempted to direct relief funds meant for the public system to private schools. In contrast, when the former Connecticut state chief meets with superintendents and school leaders, 鈥渉e鈥檚 talking shop鈥� on everything from bell schedules to graduation rates, said Ronn Nozoe, head of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

But almost a year into Cardona鈥檚 tenure, and with the pandemic showing no signs of abating, his department has sometimes struggled to keep up. COVID-19 has thrust the agency into the public eye almost as much as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and, like the CDC, it has often come under fire for being slow to respond to a fast-changing virus. To some, Cardona鈥檚 camaraderie with educators helps explain why he has sometimes appeared reluctant to embrace another constituency, whose power and visibility has grown with the pandemic: parents. 

Sarah Carpenter, executive director of The Memphis Lift, a nonprofit that trains parents to advocate for their children鈥檚 educational needs, said she hasn鈥檛 forgotten that parent leaders weren鈥檛 asked to speak at Cardona鈥檚 first virtual summit on reopening almost a year ago. 

鈥淭hey know we鈥檙e here, and we鈥檙e just not accounted for,鈥� she said, adding that parents 鈥渋n those communities where this pandemic hit the hardest鈥� should have had a voice. A June event focusing on equity didn鈥檛 feature parents either.

Cardona hasn鈥檛 ignored parents, and often reminds the public that his two teenage children, still attending public school in Meriden, Connecticut, have endured their own disruptions in learning. His first act as secretary was to write to parents and students acknowledging the hardships caused by the pandemic, and he has urged schools to rebuild trust with families.

More recently, when schools began to shift to remote learning because of the Omicron variant, Cardona told 社区黑料, 鈥淥ur parents have done enough.鈥� That same week, the announcement of another round of grants to state came with Cardona鈥檚 statement that, 鈥淢eaningful parent engagement 鈥� has never been more important.鈥�

But observers say his messages tend to emphasize over student recovery. When the department last month to use federal relief funds for teacher pay raises and hiring bonuses, Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab, said 鈥渢he balance feels a little off.鈥�

The pandemic has mobilized many parents to take a more central role in their children鈥檚 education, and their frustration over extended school closures likely tipped the Virginia governor鈥檚 race in favor of Republican Glenn Youngkin. 

Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, has tried to drive that point home. She regularly participates in 鈥渟takeholder鈥� meetings with the department, and shares monthly parent survey data with Christian Rhodes, chief of staff for the department鈥檚 Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. But she described the department鈥檚 parent engagement efforts as a 鈥渂ox-checking exercise.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not what this moment calls for. It calls for listening to people’s pain,鈥� she said. 鈥淧arents expect to be engaged on a whole new level because we had to hold it down for [schools] while they weren鈥檛 there.鈥�

鈥楴ot a slow-moving moment鈥�

Leaders in education said Cardona has shown skill in managing the mountain of challenges he faced when he entered the job: more than half of schools still not fully open, expectations that he quickly reverse the previous administration鈥檚 stance on students鈥� civil rights, and low morale among what Nozoe called the department鈥檚 鈥渂eat-down career staff.鈥� Cardona, he added, is trying to rebuild an agency that DeVos shouldn鈥檛 even exist.

Cardona said his top priority has been helping schools reopen and stay that way. Others credit him with steering billions in federal aid to states and districts on a short timeline.

鈥淭hey’ve made a huge amount of progress in a very, very difficult time,鈥� said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the California State Board of Education and president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, a think tank. She led President Joe Biden鈥檚 transition team for education and as the nominee.

She specifically noted his team鈥檚 work to get the American Rescue Plan funding for schools 鈥渙ut the door with guidance and support for how to spend it鈥� and early efforts to make the CDC鈥檚 鈥渨onky and mysterious鈥� school reopening guidelines more accessible to educators. Recent confusion over whether the agency鈥檚 updated quarantine guidance applied to schools, however, drew fresh .

Some noted that communication from the department often hasn鈥檛 matched the urgency state and district leaders have experienced during the pandemic. 

In November, the department said it was OK to use relief funds to pay for alternate forms of for students in the face of a bus driver shortage. But that was a month after New York , a Democrat, asked for the guidance, and two months after Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker called in the to drive students to school. 

In mid-December, the department issued a on jumpstarting school accountability systems, but state officials started calling for that in September. 

鈥淭hey are slow moving,鈥� said Roza, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 not a slow-moving moment in public education.鈥�

In an interview with 社区黑料, Cardona said the department responds with guidance when 鈥渨e hear from the field.鈥� He noted the staff鈥檚 efforts to host multiple webinars and respond to questions from educators, but acknowledged that guidance from the department has sometimes lagged. He vowed to do better. 鈥淲e have to stay ahead of things, and we鈥檙e going to continue to improve communications.鈥�

鈥楳ore influence鈥�

As he nears his first year as a cabinet member, Cardona reflected on what the department has accomplished under his leadership. 

While Omicron has led to short-term closures of as many as 5,400 schools, according to a frequently updated , Cardona noted that in-person learning had hit of schools by early December. And he takes pride that the department is addressing problems with Public Service Loan Forgiveness 鈥� a federal program meant to encourage students to go into nonprofit and public sector jobs, like teaching, in exchange for debt relief. Under DeVos, the department denied most requests for relief, and borrowers complained that loan servicers gave on how to meet the program鈥檚 strict criteria. The department鈥檚 management of the program prompted the American Federation of Teachers . Since Cardona started, the department has wiped out roughly $12.7 billion in college debt, including almost $2 billion for the public service program.

鈥淣ot only are we providing some loan forgiveness, but we’re fixing the systems that led to the problems that we have now,鈥� he said, adding that he wants to continue to 鈥渕ake higher education more accessible to more students without having to be tethered in debt for the rest of their lives.鈥�

Before Cardona was confirmed, there was speculation he鈥檇 be overshadowed by Biden鈥檚 White House advisers, who included two former high-level education officials from the Obama administration. More recently, Rodrigues quipped that , president of the National Education Association, likely has more pull with the administration than Cardona.

Conservative pundits have sized him up as Rick Hess, director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, described him as 鈥渦nder-the-radar, except when he鈥檚 been waving the flag for partisan administration objectives.鈥�

But those who support those objectives say Cardona has clout with the president. 

鈥淚 think with every passing day, he has more and more influence with the White House,鈥� said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who first met Cardona when he was a teacher and now has a friendly competition with him over who has visited more states and schools over the past year. By late December, she鈥檇 hit 28 states; he鈥檇 made it to 25.

She said he advocated with the White House for changes to the loan forgiveness program and for putting teachers second in line to receive the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines, after health care workers.

Interestingly, given the coziness many of his critics assume Cardona enjoys with the unions, he has had trouble with the one representing employees in his own department. 

鈥楾he huge political divide鈥�

In early December, the Federal Labor Relations Authority found the department guilty of 14 violations of labor law 鈥� actions that date back to 2018 when the employee union鈥檚 collective bargaining rights. A of federal employees showed that morale within the department had declined far more than in any other agency. Those grievances have continued under Cardona, according to Cathie McQuiston, deputy general counsel with the American Federation of Government Employees.

The complaints involve inconsistent policies for working remotely, employee evaluation procedures and denying staff union representation when they have a dispute.

Under DeVos, the department was 鈥減araded out as an example to other agencies of the kinds of things they should be doing in the Trump administration,鈥� McQuiston said. 鈥淭here has to be a political will to come in and say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e not doing that anymore.鈥� At education, we struggle to get that commitment.鈥�

According to a department spokesperson, efforts to resolve the complaints are ongoing and the agency is 鈥渃ommitted to making sure it is a great place to work.鈥� Both sides are scheduled to meet Thursday.

While addressing internal issues, Cardona was hit with a summer storm of public controversy over mask mandates and school equity initiatives. Superintendents were targeted with death threats, brawls broke out at school board meetings and school leaders tried to make sense of contradictory court rulings and mandates over masks.

鈥淚 wonder whether he anticipated the huge political divide over masks or no masks,鈥� said Deborah Delisle, who served as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education in the Obama administration and is now president and CEO of ALL4Ed, a nonprofit education policy organization. 

In August, Cardona departed from his usual cordial tone to take a against states banning local districts from mandating masks. 

鈥淒on鈥檛 be the reason why schools are interrupted,鈥� he said at a , indirectly challenging the governors of Florida and Texas.

But unless Republicans pressed him during Congressional hearings, he avoided the fray over critical race theory 鈥� a legal argument that racism lies at the core of U.S. institutions to intentionally advantage white people 鈥� and even to the controversial 1619 Project and the work of author Ibram X. Kendi from a civics grant program.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 get involved in curriculum issues,鈥� he said during a June budget hearing, but stressed his support for culturally relevant teaching. 鈥淲hen students see themselves in the curriculum, they are more likely to be engaged.鈥�

Some observers suggest he could have done more. 

Hess, at the American Enterprise Institute, said Cardona could 鈥減erhaps carve out room for the serious center鈥� by defending 鈥渁 progressive vision鈥� but denouncing some of the examples that critics have found so , such as asking students to label themselves as 鈥渙ppressed鈥� or 鈥渙ppressor.鈥�

But Julia Martin, legislative director at Brustein and Manasevit, a law firm specializing in education, said there was no political upside for Cardona to wade any deeper into those waters.

鈥淭hese issues, by their nature, are local issues,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here’s no way in many of these instances to come out and make a principled statement that doesn鈥檛 bother some people.鈥�

The typically controversy-averse Cardona is a departure from the activist chiefs who have occupied the department since the No Child Left Behind era. Unlike many of his predecessors, Cardona doesn鈥檛 have a presidential mandate to implement bold reforms. 

鈥淲e’re still in a crisis, versus coming out of a crisis back in 2009,鈥� said John Bailey, a senior fellow at AEI. That鈥檚 when Arne Duncan became secretary under President Obama, with a far-reaching mission to incentivize states to embrace controversial reforms such as overhauling teacher evaluations and adopting Common Core standards.

Even if Cardona had such a mandate, Bailey said, the pandemic leaves him in the position of trying to provide a 鈥渞apid response during an unfolding crisis that continues to play out.鈥�

If the pandemic doesn鈥檛 continue to steal most of Cardona鈥檚 focus, he said he hopes to shift attention in 2022 toward issues a little closer to his heart: 鈥渢eaching and learning.鈥�

As someone who attended a technical high school in his hometown of Meriden, Cardona wants to see 鈥渂etter pathways鈥� for students to two- and four-year schools and the workforce, especially with the jobs that will be created as a result of the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill passed in November.

鈥淭here’s funding 鈥� unlike we’ve seen in the 20 years that I’ve been in education,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have an opportunity here to really lift our field 鈥� and to give our students opportunities that they’ve never had.鈥�

Lead Image: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona testified during a Sept. 30 Senate education committee hearing on school reopening. (Greg Nash / Getty Images)

AFT President Randi Weingarten said the union鈥檚 current effort 鈥� to bolster the science of reading, strengthen the school-family connection and give kids 鈥渇ree books to read, love and keep鈥� 鈥� pre-dates the backlash, but stands in contrast to it.

鈥淲e have [long] been trying to increase the titles that are available for children,鈥� Weingarten told 社区黑料. Still, 鈥渢his [campaign] does counter 鈥� all those who are trying to either burn books, or to censor books,鈥� she added. 

The nation鈥檚 second-largest teachers union has nurtured a years-long partnership, Weingarten said, with , a marketplace that provides affordable children鈥檚 books to educators of high-needs students. The 鈥淩eading Opens the World鈥� campaign’s 1 million books will be sourced from their site and distributed at events beginning this holiday season and running through 2022.

鈥淚n the aftermath of this [pandemic,]鈥� Weingarten said, 鈥渨e thought we would step in and do something muscular and fun.鈥�

The $2 million, multi-year campaign kicked off Tuesday in the cafeteria of Malcolm X Elementary School in Washington, D.C., a majority-Black school where a hand-drawn banner reading 鈥淢y Black is Beautiful鈥� hung above the lectern. After the event, which concluded with read-aloud groups, students were sent home with books by Black authors or that featured Black main characters, including and . 

The AFT鈥檚 ambitious effort drops as controversies over what students learn 鈥� and read 鈥� roil to fever pitch. In late November, the American Library Association said that schools had seen than at any previous point in recent decades.

鈥淲hat we’re observing, really in the last year, is a real effort to remove books dealing with the LGBTQ person’s experience, or the experiences of persons who are Black, Indigenous or persons of color,鈥� ALA Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone told 社区黑料. 

Many of those challenges have come from parents and community members who have received materials from conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty, Parents Defending Education and No Left Turn in Education, Caldwell-Stone said. Social media frequently accelerates complaints, she added, noting that the ALA often sees parents from disparate locations object to the same titles in the days after a video or post goes viral online.

In mid-November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to look into 鈥渃riminal activity in our public schools involving the availability of pornography鈥� 鈥� as legislators also passed legislation tamping down how teachers can approach conversations related to race and gender in the classroom. Amid the fervor, state GOP Rep. Matt Krause reached out directly to superintendents asking whether books on an list could be found on their shelves.

None of the works that the AFT specified it will give to students are on that list, but many do address race and racial identity.

鈥淭he titles that we’re distributing today are ensuring that kids have diversity in the books that they’re reading,鈥� Weingarten said. 

Rep. Krause did not respond to requests for comment on the union鈥檚 new initiative.

Numerous studies document persistent racial and gender gaps in representation within the youth literature genre. In 2018, , while Black, Asian, Hispanic and Indigenous people led 10 percent, 7 percent, 5 percent and 1 percent of titles, respectively, according to numbers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison鈥檚 Cooperative Children鈥檚 Book Center.

Throughout the rest of December, 20 local AFT affiliates from Puerto Rico to Houston to Indiana will hold literacy events similar to Tuesday鈥檚 kick-off in the nation鈥檚 capital. In the new year, book-laden buses will distribute volumes to students in harder-to-reach areas.

Books will be reflective of those students鈥� linguistic and racial background, AFT communications director Leslie Getzinger wrote in an email to 社区黑料.

In addition to distributing books, the 1.7 million-member union also intends to equip teachers and parents with tips for boosting literacy, including providing instructors with information on the science of reading. The approach, long backed by research, emphasizes phonics and decoding words over text recognition through exposure and context. While more and more teacher training programs have adopted the science of reading, there is still dissension at the district and classroom level over how best to teach reading and confront a national epidemic of illiteracy.

Collaboration between schools and families will also be a lynchpin of the new efforts, the AFT said in a .

The union hopes that its campaign will help students catch up on learning they may have missed during the pandemic. The latest research on academic achievement finds that, overall, students are three months behind in reading, and that students at majority-Black schools may be as many as 12 months behind their peers at majority-white schools.

But in addition to making up for academic losses, some officials involved in the literacy effort know that the possibilities extend far beyond the classroom. In the AFT鈥檚 release, Weingarten refers to reading as 鈥渒ey to life, to joy鈥攖o our very existence,鈥�

From the Malcolm X Elementary School cafeteria, D.C. union President Jacqueline Pogue-Lyons read the young students a quote from their building鈥檚 namesake:

鈥淧eople don’t realize how a man’s whole life can be changed by one book.鈥�

During a press call Thursday, leaders with Everytown for Gun Safety, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association bemoaned a return to campus gun violence after a year without mass school shootings. There were 30 reported instances of gunfire on school grounds between Aug. 1 and Sept. 15, resulting in five deaths and 23 injuries, according to a tally by Everytown, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes gun control measures. That鈥檚 the largest count during that back-to-school period since the group started keeping track in 2013 and comes amid a larger surge in violence outside of schools.

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鈥淔or the past 18 months, we鈥檝e been focused on keeping our students and educators safe, getting them back together in classrooms,鈥� NEA President Becky Pringle told reporters. 鈥淣ow, as students across the nation are returning to school buildings, we not only face the threat of an ongoing pandemic, we face record levels of gun violence on our school campuses.鈥澛�

The most recent high-profile incident unfolded Wednesday at Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, where four people were injured and an 18-year-old student was arrested and charged with carrying out the attack after a reported fight with another student. The suspect鈥檚 family . Mansfield Independent School District spokesman Donald Williams said the school system is investigating the incident and its potential motives.听

Earlier this month, on Oct. 1, charter school in Houston was injured after getting shot in the back on campus. A 25-year-old man who reportedly graduated from the school in 2017 was charged in the shooting.听

Even before the pandemic swept the nation, America faced a gun violence epidemic, Pringle said. Yet, time and again, she said policymakers have failed to reach tangible solutions. She promoted gun control measures like expanding firearm background check systems and improving youth access to mental health care, but argued that other responses like arming teachers, active-shooter drills and school-based police could further traumatize kids.听

The latest tragedies confirm the fears of criminologists and school safety experts who warned about the potential for heightened violence in schools as students repopulated classrooms after a year of isolation, economic hardship and social unrest during the pandemic. The carnage follows a year without a single mass school shooting, according to data from The Violence Project, a nonprofit research center focused on reducing such tragedies.听

鈥淎s the mom of a teacher in Indiana, I was worrying a lot about what back-to-school would look like,鈥� said Shannon Watts, the founder of the gun safety group, . 鈥淪adly, back-to-school has meant back-to-school shootings for too many communities across the country.鈥澛�

Though mass shootings happen elsewhere, the U.S. is a clear outlier. School shootings remain statistically rare and federal data suggest that schools have grown markedly safer in recent years, but there has been an uptick in campus gun violence leading to injury and death in the last several years. During the 2019-20 school year, there were 27 campus shootings that resulted in death and 48 in injuries, .听

During the press call Thursday, advocates and union leaders said a comprehensive strategy is required to prevent gun violence in schools,聽

President Joe Biden to back new gun control measures and for an increase in funding for police officers. Yet many of the proposed solutions highlighted Thursday 鈥� gun control, in particular 鈥斅爃ave long faced fierce opposition. Congress is already juggling several high-stakes, contentious issues including a potential budget impasse, an infrastructure bill and a long-term resolution of the debt ceiling.听

AFT President Randi Weingarten specifically called for moderate lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, to support measures like red flag laws, firearm storage rules and background checks for all gun sales.听

鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 be controversial,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 huge bipartisan support [among voters] for these common-sense safety measures.鈥澛�

Vaccinated students and school staff don鈥檛 have to wear masks and schools shouldn鈥檛 maintain hybrid attendance plans just to implement social distancing, according to from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Friday.

While the update recommends schools maintain 3 feet of distance between students, that strategy shouldn鈥檛 come at the expense of fully reopening, the CDC said. The agency is recommending that schools continue to enforce masks indoors for unvaccinated students and adults, and to continue implementing other practices including COVID-19 testing, handwashing and proper ventilation.

鈥淧romoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports,鈥� according to the guidance.

With some schools opening in early August, the guidance provides districts time to plan reopening procedures, communicate policies regarding masks and encourage more families to vaccinate their children. Meanwhile, some districts, such as the Chicago Public Schools, are facing demands from their unions to hit of at least 80 percent of students over 12. And between the Los Angeles district and its union includes mask requirements for all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status. Each school would also have a COVID-19 compliance task force.

In a statement, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said the new CDC guidance is 鈥済rounded in both science and common sense.鈥�

鈥淭he guidance confirms two truths: that students learn better in the classroom, and that vaccines remain our best bet to stop the spread of this virus and get our kids and educators fully back to those classrooms for in-person learning,鈥� according to the statement.

But she said the union remains concerned about the Delta variant of the disease. Cities such as Los Angeles are beginning to see in cases due to the strain, and Pfizer and BioNTech have announced they are developing a specifically for that variant. At this time, the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are a booster for those who are fully vaccinated.

Weingarten added that AFT affiliates are holding vaccination clinics in their communities to get more adults and children vaccinated before the return of school. President Joe Biden and first lady have also been visiting communities to promote vaccination. The president has called for a to encourage those who are hesitant to get shots, but conservatives about government intrusion.

The new CDC guidance recommends district leaders monitor local transmission rates when deciding whether to relax any prevention strategies.

Read the full guidance document .

Three years ago, teachers in Kentucky joined the burgeoning #RedforEd movement by staging a protest against a pension reform bill that legislators rammed through in less than 24 hours. They followed up with a sickout that shut down some two dozen school districts.

Those labor actions were not organized by the Kentucky Education Association, the state National Education Association affiliate that represents about 27,500 working K-12 public school employees. A Facebook group calling itself KY 120 United was responsible.

The state Supreme Court later struck down the bill, but KY 120 United continued its activism, organizing protests in 2019 and lobbying the legislature. It sometimes acted in concert with the state union, and other times alone. This unstable relationship came to an abrupt end last week, when the leaders of KY 120 United announced that the group would become an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.

The move was prompted by the passage of a different pension reform bill, one that is supposed to save the state $3.57 billion over the next 30 years. . The unions remained neutral on the final version, which was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear but overridden by the Republican-controlled legislature.

KY 120 United strongly opposed the bill and viewed the unions鈥� position as a failure of courage. They hooked up with AFT, which previously had no teacher presence in Kentucky.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to hurt KEA, but what we鈥檙e saying is we just want something a little more substantial, ,鈥� said KY 120 United co-founder Nema Brewer.

鈥淎ssociations are full of words, and ,” Jeni Bolander, one of the group’s leaders, told the Courier Journal.

The group has been emphasizing that it will be a union, while the state union is merely an association. This is because it is designated by the IRS as a business league or trade association, similar to a chamber of commerce. But it鈥檚 a distinction without a difference. Every member of KEA belongs to NEA, which is a labor union. Its members pay dues to a labor union, and receive benefits and services from a labor union. They elect representatives to a labor union, who vote on a labor union鈥檚 positions and policies.

The state union has remained low key about its new competitor, that cautioned teachers to 鈥渂eware of people who take credit for things they had no part in. There鈥檚 no telling what else they might say that isn鈥檛 true.鈥�

It should also be mentioned that there is no money in running a Facebook group, but the potential for quite a bit as a union affiliate. . KEA鈥檚 total dues are $618 a year.

There may be confusion among Kentucky鈥檚 teachers about which group is doing what, something we got a glimpse of during a series of walkouts in 2019. At one point, KEA opposed a walkout and KY 120 United supported it, but when KY 120 United agreed to return to work, .

This led to an unprecedented press conference by the leaders of Kentucky鈥檚 unions, in which they denounced the wildcat actions, sent cease-and-desist letters to various Facebook groups and characterized them as 鈥�a rogue group from the outside that has their own agenda.鈥�

The situation in Kentucky may lead to tensions between the two national teachers unions. Public school employees have the right to join, or not join, either union. Both unions will have to compete for members. Additionally, it would be strange if AFT had no aspirations to become the exclusive bargaining agent in at least some of the state鈥檚 171 school districts.

Interunion representation battles between NEA and AFT have become a rarity. If problems should arise in Kentucky, it could lead to a wave of there and elsewhere. I suspect NEA is unhappy with the creation of KY 120 United AFT but will try to avoid a wider conflict.

Here鈥檚 the memo from our pollster鈥擧art Research, one of top firms in US鈥攐n their findings of our member poll

鈥� Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten)

But the AFT鈥檚 online following was not completely satisfied. Consider these comments from its Facebook page, slamming the endorsement:

Similarly, a stream of frustrated reactions from educators started circulating on Twitter:

. Hillary needs to say where she stands on testing, evaluating teachers by test scores, charters & Common Core.

鈥� Carol Burris (@carolburris)

Hillary Clinton lost my support when she said “helps you organize your whole education system”

鈥� Anthony Cody (@AnthonyCody)

Did Hillary give a specific education platform? What is her position on testing, evals, charters, CC?

鈥� Chris Cerrone (@Stoptesting15)

Shame on AFT. If you support anybody, it should be

鈥� Tim Farley (@tfarley1969)

“Long campaigns allows us to fully vet candidates, consider all options, engage allies & opponents…oh, whatever!”

鈥� Andy Smarick (@smarick)

Exactly who did the poll before endorsing Hillary? The Kardashians?

鈥� lacetothetop (@lacetothetop)

Don’t hold your breath. That obviously wasn’t a prerequisite.Another AFT backstab.

鈥� Elizabeth Lynch (@AJMGrandma)

. can stand with . I鈥檓 standing with the kids.

鈥� Jeb Bush (@JebBush)

Meanwhile, on , here’s a Monday morning shapshot of where the petition stands: 

Photo: Change.org screenshot

Hillary Clinton photo by Getty Images