As the Obama administration moves to overturn a judge’s ruling that blocked the president’s executive action on immigration, it’s worth hearing from someone whose story shows what immigration reform is all about.
This is AFT member Rosa Alvarez, a second-grade dual language teacher in Austin, Texas:
“My mother and I immigrated to Wisconsin in 1995, when I was just 9 years old. This August will mark 20 years since my arrival to the United States. It has been my dream to become a teacher since I was just 5 years old. My teachers have always been my heroes; they saw potential in me that I myself did not believe I had and encouraged me to set and achieve my goals. My desire to become an educator grew throughout my childhood, and I made the decision to study education in college.
"Because of my immigration status, however, my journey to college graduation was very difficult. In 2009, after a lot of hard work, I received a bachelor of science in education with minors in bilingual education and English as a second language. Unfortunately, because of my continued lack of immigration status, I had to wait over three years to use my degree and become a teacher. During those three years, I lost a lot of hope of ever becoming a teacher; I thought that relief would never come, and I even considered returning to Mexico.
"In 2012, relief finally arrived, and I became hopeful again. Thanks to President Obama’s executive action, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), I am finally a second-grade dual language teacher in the Austin Independent School District.
"DACA has restored the energy and passion I once had for education. It has re-instilled the notion in me that I can make a difference. Every day in my classroom, my students serve as a reminder of the impact my teachers made in my life. I often find that my students and their parents have very similar stories to mine. Because of this, I can relate to their experiences and serve as part of their support system. In this way, I believe I can make an impact in their lives, just like my teachers made an impact in mine. If it weren’t for DACA, I would not have this opportunity to serve and contribute to my community in this capacity.”
Read the AFT’s statement about the Texas judge’s temporary injunction delaying the executive action.
© From the AP history ban to university budget cuts, education in America is taking a hit from the right.
I am here today to ask that you defeat HB 402-FN: establishing the Franklin Partin right-to-work act. AFT-NH represents 4,000 employees in NH, mostly public employees who work in your cities, towns…
Sorry this will be a short diary, but in all honesty, I could write as much as I want about this story and it wouldn’t have the impact of the words written by in Claudia Klein Felske, one of …
“Dear Governor Cuomo: We are teachers. We have given our hearts and souls to this noble profession. We have pursued intellectual rigor. We have fed students who were hungry. We have celebrated at student weddings and wept at student funerals. Education is our life. For this, you have made us the enemy. This is personal.”
Most members who take AFT training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation never get a chance to use it.
That was not the case for Robin Herrin, a special education paraprofessional who saved a woman’s life on New Year’s Eve. She was ringing in the new year with her husband and sister-in-law at a resort casino when, after dinner, she heard a woman cry for help because her wheelchair-bound mother had slumped over and stopped breathing.
“I didn’t want the mother to die in front of her daughter,” says Herrin, a member of Red River United in Shreveport, La.
Herrin had taken CPR training at the AFT several years ago. She found the older woman without a pulse, her lips and nails turning blue. As she’d practiced in AFT training, Herrin stated that she knew how to do CPR, asked a bystander to call 911, and told another bystander to bring the hotel’s defibrillator.
It seemed like just a few breaths and a couple of rounds of compressions before paramedics arrived. By the time they did, the woman had resumed breathing.
“I was a little bit shaken up,” Herrin says, but “glad I was able to help.“
Dear Supporter,
We are dedicated teachers working at ASPIRA charter schools in Philadelphia. We have been striving to form a union at our schools to help us better advocate for our students and ourselves. In order to ensure our effort to have more input in our school is successful, we need your help.
We are proud to be a part of ASPIRA; an organization which has dedicated itself to helping the communities of North Philadelphia since 1969. ASPIRA’s mission has been to bring unity and empowerment to the community, to instill in each citizen a sense of value and self-worth. The staff at ASPIRA is asking for that same respect and support as we exercise our legal right to form a union.
We deserve a peaceful and unobstructed pathway to union recognition free from threats, intimidation, and the waste of valuable resources. Our success in the classroom requires that ASPIRA value us as professionals and include our voices in decisions that affect our students and community.
Please stand with us in asking ASPIRA to respect our decision to form a union.
Respectfully yours,
Hanako Franz, Olney Charter High School
Elizabeth Kim, John B. Stetson Middle School
Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl - in quotes (via guardian)
Today is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
(via npr)
External imageOn Super Bowl Sunday next week, some of our larger and faster union brothers—members of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA)—will be battling it out in Glendale, Ariz., at Super Bowl XLIX (49 for those of us who are shaky on Roman numerals). While the Super Bowl carries a union label, from players to broadcast crews to stadium workers—your Super Bowl party spread can, too, with union-made in America food and drinks.
Check out these union-made Super Bowl party products, compiled by our friends at Labor 411, the union business directory from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Food and drinks are brought to you by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), the UAW, Machinists (IAM), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the Teamsters (IBT).
Beer
Beck’s, Budweiser, Busch. Goose Island, Hoegaarden, Land Shark Lager, Leffe Blond, Michelob, Natural, O’Doul’s (non alcoholic), Shock Top, Stella Artois, Iron City, Rolling Rock, Red Stripe, Kirin, Labatt Blue, Stegmaier, Lionshead, Steelhead, Butte Creek, Red Tail Ale, Blue Moon, Henry Weinhard’s, Killian’s, Mickey’s, Molson Canadian, Olde English 800,
Steel Reserve, Miller, Keystone Light, 1845 Pils, Bass Pale Ale, Moosehead, Schlitz, Pabst,
Sam Adams, Hamm’s and Kingfisher Premium Lager.Meat
Alexander & Hornung, Always Tender, Ball Park, Banquet, Butterball, Dearborn Sausage Co., Farmer John, Farmland, Hebrew National, Hormel, Omaha Steaks, Oscar Meyer, Thumann’s and Tyson.Snack Food
Act II Popcorn, Bagel Bites, Lay’s, Cheetos, Cheez-It, Chex Mix, Chips Ahoy, Doritos, Fig Newtons, Fritos, Rice Krispies Treats, Rold Gold Pretzels, Ruffle, Triscuit and Wheat Thins.Chips and Salsa
Mission Chips, Old El Paso Chips, Dips and Salsa, Pace Salsa, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Sun Chips
Tostitos Chips and Salsa.
Take a minute to read this editorial from an award winning NYSUT United teacher. The question is fundamental to who we are as a state and a society. Do we want teachers or do we want technicians?