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Texas College Teacher Fired For Free Speech

Support is building within the labor, academic, and Palestine solidarity movements in defense of Tom Alter, a history professor at Texas State University in San Marcos. Shortly after receiving tenure, Alter was hastily fired on September 10 by university President Kelly Damphousse. He had spoken in his private capacity at an online socialist conference, where his presentation and comments were flagged by a self-described “fascist” and reported to the university administration. Alter is a member of the Texas State Employees Union, part of the Communications Workers (CWA).

An Interview With A Chicago Teacher On Fighting Back Against ICE

Since early September, Chicago has been the latest target of the Trump administration’s brutal Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) raids. Trump  has declared war on the city and threatened to send in the National Guard, — as he has done in Los Angeles and Washington, DC — with the intent of undermining what few protections exist for immigrants living in these cities and expanding federal repression against working-class and oppressed communities as a whole. Over the past two months, ICE has terrorized communities daily, including military-style raids in apartment buildings and even entering a daycare and abducting a teacher in front of her students.

Teachers Unions Leverage Contracts To Fight Climate Change

In Illinois, the Chicago Teachers Union won a contract with the city’s schools to add solar panels on some buildings and clean energy career pathways for students, among other actions. In Minnesota, the Minneapolis Federation of Educators demanded that the district create a task force on environmental issues and provide free metro passes for students. And in California, the Los Angeles teachers union’s demands include electrifying the district’s bus fleet and providing electric vehicle charging stations at all schools. 

General Strike In Alberta Possible

Workers across Alberta have begun the process of organizing a general strike after the province legislated an end to the teacher’s strike using the notwithstanding clause, according to the Alberta Federation of Labour.  Teachers across the province were on strike from October 6 until the government passed Bill 2 early Tuesday morning, forcing teachers to be back in classrooms the next day. Teachers were calling for better pay, more per-student funding in public education and smaller class sizes.  “Although this legislation will end the strike and lift the lockout, it does not end the underfunding and deterioration of teaching and learning conditions—our schools will not be better for it,” the union wrote on their website. 

Teachers And Unions Fight Back As US Campuses Prepare To Fuel Witch Hunt

Outrage flared last week about the University of California’s capitulation to this era’s resurgent McCarthyism, as news spread that the university has provided the names of at least 160 students, faculty members, and staff at the University of California, Berkeley, to federal officials who — under the guise of investigating “alleged antisemitic incidents” — are scrutinizing people who have expressed opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Judith Butler, a UC Berkeley philosophy professor and Jewish critic of the Israeli government, said in a recent interview with Democracy Now!, “There is no good evidence that antisemitism is rampant on campus,” adding, “To take a position against genocide is certainly not an antisemitic thing to do.

How NYC Teachers Ran A Slate To Build Member Power

Teachers measure time in school years, not calendar years. As the new school year begins, I’ve been reflecting on my experiences from last year as an unexpected candidate for president of the 200,000-member United Federation of Teachers in New York City. When last school year started, I was focused on teaching my students, supporting colleagues, and coaching middle school soccer. Running for the highest office in the largest local union in the country was not on my radar. I didn’t see myself as a potential presidential candidate, but fellow organizers within the UFT reform movement did. In January 2025, I accepted the nomination to lead the Alliance of Retired and In-Service Educators (ARISE), a coalition slate uniting three major reform caucuses in the UFT: MORE (the Movement of Rank-and-File Educators), New Action, and Retiree Advocate.

Teacher Strike Threat And Community Support Stop Bad Proposal

As educators fend off attacks at the federal and state level, they’re also seeing some local wins. From striking for more recess to demanding more nurses and support personnel, teachers across the country have successfully organized for policies that improve children’s school day. In May, members of the Coquille Educators Association in Oregon challenged the district on a critical decision and won. And they did it in a way that built unity between the union and their small community. It started when the district superintendent announced a new schedule. As in most elementary schools, fifth-grade classes in the district had operated on a whole-class model: students stayed with one teacher all day except for special classes like art or gym.

CTU Hosts ‘Billionaire Bake Sale’ At School Board Meeting

Chicago, IL – A crowd of Chicago Teachers Union members attended the school board meeting, July 24, carrying giant cardboard cupcakes with price tags representing the net worth of Illinois billionaires. Their demands are for Governor JB Pritzker to call a special legislative session and secure more funding for public education and other services, and for higher taxes on the rich to counteract the effects of Trump's “Big, Beautiful Bill.” “The top 5% of top earners in Illinois got $7.7 billion in tax cuts from the Big Horrible Bill,” Jackson Potter, the CTU vice president, explaining that these tax cuts are happening while public education, healthcare and transportation each face hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts.

Tens Of Thousands Of Teachers In Mexico Are On Strike

For over a week, thousands of teachers across Mexico have been on strike, with the CNTE teachers union putting forward a set of longstanding demands. At the center is the demand to repeal the 2007 ISSSTE law which privatized the pensions of public sector workers including teachers. It was passed by Mexico’s right-wing governments during the neoliberal offensive, but it was part of many anti-worker policies that have continued through the administrations of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and now his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum. There are also demands for a 100 percent pay raise, a defense of public education, and support for the universities that train teachers.

California Educators Sync Up Negotiations For More Leverage

Public school educators in 32 union locals across California are joining forces to maximize their power in a campaign called “We Can’t Wait.” It covers 77,000 educators—about a quarter of the California Teachers Association’s total membership—serving a million students. The campaign started with 11 locals that worked to align their contract expiration dates for the end of June: Anaheim, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Natomas, Oakland, Richmond, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Twin Rivers. And it quickly spread from there. Locals have organized educators to sign onto the campaign’s platform, rally before school and walk in all together, and join informational pickets. The goal is to have educators strike-ready in the fall.

US Cities Need More Diverse Teachers; Philadelphia Has An Answer

Public education is at a crossroads. Federal funds for public education have been threatened over the Trump administration’s war on DEI. Mental health funds for schools have been cut. The federal government’s move to slash AmeriCorps programs is already hitting classrooms in low-income ZIP codes hard. And all the while, teacher shortages continue to rise, and stark disparities in educational opportunities persist. The future of our students depends on how we invest in and support our educators, especially teachers of color, who face systemic barriers to recruitment and retention despite their vital role in student success.

Chicago Teachers Approve Contract With Remarkable Gains

This month, 85 percent of the Chicago Teachers Union’s 27,000 active members voted on a tentative agreement covering 500 public schools across the city. A record 97 percent voted yes. The contract will run from 2024 to 2028, expiring at the same time as the UAW’s contracts with the Big Three. The negotiation drew the greatest level of member participation and support in the CTU’s history and was achieved without a strike or a strike vote. The new contract addresses both bread and butter concerns and common-good demands. Said CTU president Stacy Davis Gates, a member of the union’s Caucus of Rank and File Educators: “It was the whole buffet.”

Los Angeles Teachers’ Union Defends Students Anti-Migrant Crackdown

On April 7, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attempted to enter two elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). According to LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, the agents were trying to contact five students who they alleged entered the U.S. without documentation, and they lied to school officials by claiming that the students’ families gave them permission to contact the students. (“Any assertions that officers lied are false,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Truthout in a statement.) It was the first attempt by federal agents to enter a Los Angeles public school during Donald Trump’s intensifying assault on immigrants.

A Teacher’s Approach On How To Fight Back Against ICE

The Trump administration’s racist, anti-immigrant offensive is targeting sanctuary cities and the few remaining spaces where undocumented immigrants can feel safe — even where they go to learn and receive healthcare. As a teacher in New York City, this is a direct attack on my students, their families, and my coworkers. A new directive from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has authorized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to raid schools, hospitals, and religious institutions like churches and mosques — locations previously designated as “sensitive areas” under a 2011 policy.

What Can Education Can Look Like Without High Stakes Testing?

Ballot Question 2 passed with more than 59% of the vote, ending the MCAS as a graduation requirement in Massachusetts. Students will still take the MCAS, beginning in grade 3 up through high school, and they will still be required to pass their high school classes that are aligned with the state standards, so public education will not devolve into chaos as the opponents warned in their scare ads. There will still be a focus on serving all children in all of our classrooms, children will still be assessed through multiple measures, and there is hope that freedom from the one-size-fits-all straight jacket that is a high-stakes testing regime will allow teachers to more fully respond to the diverse learners in their classrooms.
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