Teacher morale and mental health are suffering as school board meetings intensify and the pandemic rages on. A high school teacher explains why it's crucial that we find ways to support our educators. https://www.parents.com/news/americas-teachers-are-facing-a-mental-health-crisis-too/

WASHINGTON—The executive council of the American Federation of Teachers last night unanimously passed a resolution guiding the union on workplace vaccination policies. The resolution is one of several passed by the board since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, designed to protect the health and safety of AFT members and the communities we serve. It was brought to the council in light of the significant change in circumstances with the delta variant and rising COVID-19 cases, infections in children(link is external), and an ongoing effort by the union to educate members and communities on the

School districts across the United States are hiring additional teachers in anticipation of what will be one of the largest kindergarten classes ever as enrollment rebounds following the coronavirus pandemic.

As they await the arrival next fall of students who sat out the current school year, educators are also bracing for many students to be less prepared than usual due to lower preschool attendance rates. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-kindergarten-preschool-surge-enrollment-95d6ce871622f527f16588c68dff3371

We Need To Be Nurtured, Too': Many Teachers Say They're Reaching A Breaking Point. More...

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/19/988211478/we-need-to-be-nurtured-too-many-teachers-say-theyre-reaching-a-breaking-point

 Educators use union power to ensure safety for students, staff

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of the ways in which teaching and learning happens in and out of school buildings. For the 2020-21 year, local school districts were allowed to make decisions for their schools and communities on which learning models would be used and how. This left many local educator unions stepping in. Using the power of negotiations, many unions came to agreements with districts, making sure that the safety and health — both physical and mental — of staff and students were at the forefront of those

Early care, learning focus of research

Every child deserves access to quality early care and learning. Our new EPIC report calls for raising revenue to provide universal child care and early childhood education. https://educationminnesota.org/advocacy/Educator-Policy-Innovation-Center/EPIC-reports

When teacher and author Torrey Maldonado was in third grade, his mother brought home A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats—the beloved book about a young Black boy exploring his city in fresh snow. 

Until then, Maldonaldo—who is Black and Afro-Puerto Rican—had never seen a kid who looked like him in a book. “I thought that book was me! I thought the mother was my mom,” he says. “What made that book so precious to me is it took my neighborhood and made me see the magic in it.” https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/why-we-need-diverse-books

President-elect Joe Biden unveiled an ambitious plan on Thursday to help the nation emerge from the economic and public health wreckage that has devastated millions of lives across the country over the past ten months. He called on Congress to provide the necessary investments to help reopen schools safely, save educator jobs and attack the crippling inequities the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated. https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/biden-pledges-critical-investments-public-education-combat-covid