AFT President Jessica Tang joined legislative leaders, policymakers, students, and Governor Maura Healey for a ceremonial signing of new legislation designed to improve student literacy across Massachusetts and provide schools and educators with additional tools to support early reading success.

“Teaching children to read is one of the most important things we do as educators. Ensuring educators have the tools and resources they need to improve reading instruction will always be a priority for us,” said President Tang. “Having educators involved early and often as regulations—especially those around professional development—are crafted and implemented will ensure these new guidelines and support are provided in an equitable, realistic, and timely manner.” 

“The AFT Massachusetts fully supports evidence-based literacy curriculum and will continue to work with our partners in the State House to realize the full potential of our students,” continued Tang.  

Haitian residents, like so many other immigrants in the United States, are an integral part of communities across Massachusetts and have been for decades. 

They live here. They’ve raised their families here. They’ve sent their kids to our public schools. They’ve given back to our neighborhoods in immeasurable ways. They’re vital members of our local economy, especially in our state’s numerous healthcare settings.

Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court to strip protections from our Haitian neighbors and others living here legally through a program that has been in place for nearly 40 years is devastating and inhumane.

Sending Haitians, Syrians, and others back to countries they fled because of violence is irresponsible and cruel. 

“We stand with our Haitian neighbors who make our Commonwealth stronger and brighter today and every day. We urge all elected leaders in power to use all available resources to protect the Haitian community, our immigrants, and all others impacted by this reckless and depraved ruling.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision on June 18, 2026 barring the proposed income tax cut ballot initiative from appearing on the November ballot.

The ballot initiative would have cut the state’s income tax rate on long-term capital gains, but the constitutionally required summary of the initiative omitted this key element, and in fact erroneously stated that long-term capital gains taxes would not be impacted, hiding a massive tax break for the state’s richest taxpayers from petition signers and voters. The court ruled that “[b]ecause this summary materially misstates the true scope of the proposal, it is unfair” and that “allowing a new summary at this stage would…call into question the validity of the more than 85,000 signatures already gathered on forms bearing the unfair summary.“ 

“This reckless ballot question would have pushed many families and communities over the edge. Now, it’s time to shift the discussion to what would really support our working families and communities, including strategic investments to support our schools, increase workforce training opportunities, and lift up the things that make Massachusetts a place people want to live and work and raise their families. Our state and our communities need more resources and support right now, not less. Children need more educators in their classrooms and more students are needing greater services. Residents need more opportunities toward homeownership. Working families are having to choose between paying their health insurance bills or their energy bills," said Jessica Tang, President of AFT Massachusetts

The AFT PSRP leadership conference last month came chock-full of advice from activists on how to optimize campaigns, whether they focus on organizing, politics, a living wage or community service. PSRP co-chairs Carl Williams and Sarah Wofford led the proceedings. Williams is president of the Lawndale (Calif.) Federation of Classified Employees, a former school custodian and president of California’s classified members. Wofford is an accounting specialist for Rogue Community College and president of the Oregon School Employees Association. Eighteen AFT locals sent paraprofessionals and school-related personnel to Chicago April 10-12 for the conference.

As the Trump administration continues to attack higher education—cutting research grants, targeting free speech and restricting classroom materials—the AFT and the American Association of University Professors have unveiled a powerful new blueprint to restore and preserve higher education, just in time for the 2026 midterms.

AFT nurses and healthcare professionals from across the country gathered in Detroit April 13-15. They came carrying the weight of understaffing, growing patient demand and a healthcare system under attack but left with something stronger: a shared sense of purpose and concrete plans to act. The “Together We Care” 2026 professional issues conference wasn’t about passive listening. It was a rehearsal for what comes next. 

When the president of Colorado WINS learned that the president of the United States might be targeting Denver next in his anti-immigration campaign of terror, she knew how she’d begin to mobilize. One simple thing Diane Byrne does is deck out her activists in matching T-shirts. Wearing union colors promotes team spirit and builds confidence, she says. The AFT Public Employees program and policy council, meeting in New York City Feb. 5-6, abounded with tips to help locals mobilize. PPC chair Gary Feist, president of North Dakota Public Employees, recommended finding members who can tell a personal story to draw media attention. With more media on the issue, he said, legislators will become more motivated to fix the problem.

Federal immigration actions are rapidly expanding, with deadly consequences. The killings of poet Renee Nicole Good and nurse Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis have brought intense focus on the use of excessive force. An AFT webinar, co-hosted by AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang on Jan. 28, featured experts on immigration and the law. It highlighted AFT resources and showcased how our locals are showing up to minimize fear and trauma.

On her very first day of student teaching at Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, N.Y., Martha Strever pushed, pulled and pounded on the school’s door, which was locked. No one came. Where was everybody? It was, after all, the first day of school.

It turned out everybody was exactly where they were supposed to be: inside, having entered through the school’s front entrance. Strever had been knocking on a side door. Flustered but undeterred, she not only found her way inside, she also found her life’s calling.