News

Teams of educators and school administrators from Boston, Lawrence, and Lynn recently attended the American Federation of Teachers’ Center for School Improvement Leadership Institute, a three-day conference in New York City focused on strengthening collaboration skills with district and school improvement teams to improve student achievement.

“We were delighted to offer this opportunity to school improvement teams from three school districts that are already doing amazing collaborative work in their local schools,” said AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “When educators and management work together to improve our schools, we can do so much for our students. We look forward to even more positive collaboration in the future thanks to the lessons teams learned at this conference.”

“Our public education system is underfunded from top to bottom, and through our work with the Fund Our Future coalition, we are committed to ensuring that our students and their schools have the funding they need to succeed, from preK through college,” said AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “These bills will help us support our students throughout their entire education, no matter where they come from or what needs they have. We’ve waited far too long for Massachusetts to invest in our kids, and it’s time to pass this legislation now!”

The Fund Our Future coalition is supporting two pieces of legislation that would meet the recommendations of the state’s bipartisan Foundation Budget Review Commission and the Higher Education Finance Commission.

AFT Massachusetts will host a regional training for building representatives and activists on Saturday, March 23rd.  The training will allow members to collaborate with other local activists and to develop/refine skills in the roles and responsibilities of a union leader:

This spring, AFT Massachusetts will host a series of regional benefits workshops to showcase the products and services available to AFT members through our member benefits program.

Whether you’re looking to purchase insurance, buy or refinance a home, plan for retirement, or just see what benefits are available to you as an AFT member, you can find experienced and dedicated professionals who will work with you every step of the way to fulfill your goals.

At AFT Massachusetts, we recognize that the systematic underfunding of our public schools increases the economic injustices that already exist in our poorest communities. Our urban schools and students especially suffer under the state’s failed school funding formula. Governor Baker and the Legislature can help alleviate this problem by fully funding our public schools, from preK through higher ed. It’s time for them to take action and fund our future, because our kids can’t afford to wait any longer.

-Beth Kontos, President, AFT Massachusetts

AFT Massachusetts members and leaders from around the state joined students, educators, parents, and community leaders today at the State House to call on Governor Charlie Baker and the Legislature to end the generation-long underfunding of local public schools and public colleges and universities. Advocates called for a major $1.5 billion reinvestment in public education by May, so that local schools will see increased budgets in the upcoming school year and college students can avoid tuition hikes this fall.

“For too long, Massachusetts has failed to adequately fund our local public schools and colleges, and as a result, many students, especially in our Gateway Cities, don’t have equal opportunities for a well-rounded education,” said AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “They don’t have librarians or nurses. They don’t have music or art classes. Their class sizes are too big, and their school’s budgets are too small. It’s time we hold our state leaders accountable for properly funding our schools.”

The American Federation of Teachers, AFT Massachusetts, the Salem Teachers Union, and the Peabody Federation of Teachers distributed thousands of free books to local students on Saturday, December 1, 2018 through a partnership with First Book.

“Teachers from across our districts were thrilled to help select books for our students to take home and read,” said Salem Teachers Union President Ann Berman. “The event was a huge success, and it felt great to be able to help so many kids and their families by giving them the gift of reading.”