Over 100 AFT Massachusetts members served as delegates at the AFT’s 89th biennial convention, with union delegates addressing critical issues in education and healthcare over the course of four days in Washington, D.C. 

AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang was re-elected to serve a two-year term on the AFT Executive Board, topping the ticket among the 43 elected Vice Presidents. This was her third election to the Executive Board and third time topping the ticket. President Tang was also re-appointed to the Board’s 10-member Executive Committee.  

Delegates debated and passed resolutions on a range of pressing issues—from reclaiming the promise of public education, to protecting immigrant communities, to rebuilding public health, to preparing for the age of artificial intelligence, to tackling the affordability and student debt crises. Dozens of breakout meetings and receptions covered rural issues, faith and religion, international solidarity and more.

In July, AFT Massachusetts and the Boston Teachers Union hosted a book giveaway as part of the National AFT’s Summer Reading Cup, which is giving out more than 30,000 soccer-themed books across the country to build upon the excitement of the soccer matches and promote summer reading. 

Players from Boston Legacy Football Club, the 15th team to join the National Women’s Soccer League, helped educators distribute over 5,000 free soccer-themed books. The Kick-Off Into Reading event included a World Cup watch party featuring Match 97 between Switzerland and Colombia. 

The Summer Reading Cup includes its own World Cup-inspired bracket to see which book takes the cup for students this year! After reading eight books, students can score them against each other, find their winning book, and upload their bracket results for a chance to win a back-to-school pizza and book party for their school, as well as a classroom collection of books for their classroom next year.

A signature component of the Trump Administration’s agenda to dismantle public education is slated to take effect in 2027.

Tucked away in the reconciliation act signed in July 2025 was a hallmark of The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a federal school voucher program that threatens to gravely undermine public education in the Commonwealth and across the United States.

The most recent iteration of this plan provides individuals who donate to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) a dollar-for-dollar tax credit, up to $1,700. SGOs distribute the money as vouchers to students to pay for school tuition and fees. By comparison, taxpayers can only claim 35 per dollar donated to every other charitable cause, including food banks, disaster relief, and more. No other donation is eligible for a 100 percent tax credit. Governors, including Governor Healey, have until the end of the year to decide whether their state will opt-in.

Under this framework, states would be prohibited from issuing their own guardrails or holding SGOs to specific accountability or evaluation measures. The program is designed to help the wealthiest families the most. Unlike federal childcare assistance eligibility requirements, which are only available to those making 85% or less than the state median income, families earning up to 300% of their county’s median income are eligible for these vouchers.