Teachers
From districts large and small, teachers are on the front lines of the education debate and AFT MA is here to offer information, advice and support so that they can all do their jobs with courage and confidence.
Sen. Warren’s Office Seeking Feedback on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: Please Complete a Brief Survey
Established in 2007 by the U.S. Congress, the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program is a critical student loan forgiveness program for public school educators and employees, municipal librarians, other public sector workers, and individuals employed by certain non-profit organizations. The program provides eligible borrowers with student loan debt relief in exchange for a decade of service in their communities.
AFT Massachusetts and its parent organization, the national AFT, are committed to fixing these problems, and we are working with allies, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, to ensure the program is implemented as intended.
Senator Warren’s office is conducting a survey to learn more about Massachusetts public servants’ experience with student debt and the PSLF program. All responses are anonymous. The survey results will help to inform future policy.
For Berklee Faculty Union’s Anti-Racism Committee, Action Starts with Historical Perspective, Clear Facts, and Substantive Conversations
Last summer, in response to the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the protests against police brutality that took place across the country soon after, the Berklee Faculty Union formed a new Anti-Racism Committee (ARC). Many other organizations, including AFT Massachusetts locals, have formed similar groups to more actively participate in the Black Lives Matter movement and to organize against racism in our institutions.
For Prince Charles Alexander, a Professor at Berklee who teaches advanced production and mixing and serves as Chair of the Berklee Faculty Union’s ARC, this moment is reminiscent of the Civil Rights Movement of the 50s and 60s.
“Right now is as interesting of a climate as the Civil Rights Movement; there’s as much momentum as I’ve seen since then,” said Prince Charles, who recalls his aunt traveling to Washington, D.C. to attend the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. “The Civil Rights Movement included white people, Black people, Hispanic people, and Asian people in a unified effort – that’s what it takes to achieve real change. If Black people didn’t create racism, how can they solve it? We need white people to step up and be involved in these goals.”
Salem Teachers Union, Salem Public Schools Reach Collective Bargaining Agreement - Negotiations Involved Innovative “Bargaining for the Common Good” Strategy
“At one of the community forums we held, I remember parents saying that they went through their entire education without having teachers that looked like them,” said Ann Berman, President of the Salem Teachers Union. “We are proud to work with Salem Public Schools to make an intentional effort to remedy that problem.”
The new contract builds upon Salem Public School’s key priorities including the desire to be an anti-racist district and specifically contains multilingual material and incentive requirements. These requirements include:
- job postings be made in English and Spanish
- recruitment differential for bilingual staff,
- and efforts to expand culturally responsive library materials in every school.
The Union and Salem Public Schools also reached agreements on other “common good” provisions such as affirming the district’s previous strong commitment to safe and well maintained school facilities for all. Salem Public Schools invested substantially and early during the pandemic in investigating and improving air handling equipment in every school in the district. The FY2022 City capital budget includes an additional $1,134,000 in investments in school buildings and equipment, further demonstrating the district’s commitment to ensuring safe and accessible learning environments for all Salem staff and students.
Summer Leadership Institute 2021
Join us for our Summer Leadership Institute, a series of virtual workshops for local leaders and members to refine their leadership skills as well as to promote participation and initiative in our union! We have a range of different classes and with this institute we aim to come together across the state for conversation and learning.
“Over the last year, we’ve seen clearly just how important unions are for working people. By joining together through our union, we can win safer working conditions, earn better pay and benefits, and advocate together for public policy changes that we would never get on our own,” says AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “Our success as a union depends on individual members joining together to win changes in their communities. We’re excited to bring our Summer Leadership Institute back this year to train and engage union members and leaders across the state.”
“The Summer Leadership Institute helped make me a stronger and more engaged union activist,” says Kim Luz, Fall River Federation of Paraprofessionals. “It’s a terrific opportunity to connect with union members and leaders from across the state, learn new skills, and develop strategies to bring back to my union.”
Follow the link and complete the form to register for the workshop. Sign up for one or as many as you'd like!