In an effort to help keep students safe, local teachers are distributing National Child Identification Kits to elementary and middle school students’ families.

Once more, we who are people of good will must resist the xenophobic policies of the President of the United States. His decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is President Trump doubling down on bad campaign rhetoric and turning it into harmful public policy. The nearly one million young people that this will affect nationwide are our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and union sisters and brothers.

The AFT-Maryland calls on our congressional representatives to   

Below you wil find the link to the 2017-2020 Union Contract. Click on the link ending in .pdf to view it. Printed contract books will be distributed when completed.

http://unit47.ct.aft.org/sites/default/files/article_pdf_files/2017-09/unit47-2017contract.pdf

In keeping with annual tradition the AFT-Maryland joined other community groups and volunteers for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America’s annual “Walk With the Stars” event in August. The state federation manned a table that provided books, voter registration, child identification kits, and a host of other important items.

Dear Union Brothers and Sisters,

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey which has brought untold suffering, destruction and devastation to the citizens of Texas, your help is desperately needed now. Although certainly our thoughts and our prayers are with those who have suffered through the aftermath, we need to do more to help those who have lost everything in life. Our fellow Americans have lost not only their homes and personal properties, they have also lost their jobs and even the bare essentials of human survival. Countless survivors are in disparate need of food, medicine, shelter and basic essentials. Can you imagine how it would be to wake up with only the clothes on your back? I cannot!

 (September 1, 2017) An annual survey by a respected education organization shows that Americans generally favor public education, oppose over-testing of students, and don’t want public education funds spent on private and religious schools.

“The Phi Delta Kappa survey tells us that most Americans are leery of what the status quo has been offering,” said Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Larry Carter. “They are more interested in building a bright future for their children than in compiling test data.”

Maryland Delegate Bilal Ali held his annual back to school event in the Walbrook Junction community. The AFT-Maryland was present passing out school supplies including pens and pencils, and also provided early reading books for students and parents.

The Nashua Teachers’ Union Board of Directors met on August 30 for their first meeting of the year.  On the agenda was Texas AFT and how they could help their colleagues in Texas.  To that end, the Board of Directors unanimously approved donating $2,415.00 to the Texas AFT Disaster Relief Fund.  The $2,415.00 is an odd number for a donation, but it has special meaning.

NASHUA, NH August 28, 2017 – Over 1,000 teachers are waiting for a new contract, but they’re not going to have one before the school year begins. For the third contract in a row, Nashua’s teachers are beginning the school year without an employment contract in place to continue the one that is expiring on August 31. This year, however, the Nashua Teachers’ Union (NTU) seemed to be on the verge of an agreement with the Nashua Board of Education (BOE) when the Board suddenly went silent after a promising meeting on June 15. Last week, the BOE finally agreed to resume negotiations in mid-September – a full three months since the parties last met.