MK Maslanka

Why do you appreciate unions?

I’ll start:

Weekends off
Paid vacations
Work breaks
Sick leave
Paid holidays
No child labor
Safer working conditions
Health care and retirement benefits

Banning books. Silencing teachers. Defunding schools.

It’s starting to feel like some folks want public education to fail. Here’s how we fight back: Run for school board and city council. Run to protect our kids.

We’ll help you start 👉 runforwhat.net

Wages of unionized workers are 13% higher than their nonunion counterparts.

But unions also set a higher pay standard that all workers enjoy.

In high-union-density states, median household income is $12,000 higher than in low-union-density states.

This is why unions are vital.

We told you they were going to do project 2025 and it’s 2025 and they’re doing project 2025

#ReleaseFunds4Schools - Network For Public Education Just weeks before the school year begins, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is refusing to release $8.6 billion in federal funds that Congress approved for public schools.

Just weeks before the school year begins, Secretary of Ed Linda McMahon is refusing to release $8.6 billion in federal funds that Congress approved for public schools. Tell Linda McMahon to #ReleaseFunds4Schools. We make it easy with Action Network networkforpubliceduc...

By my count, 6 texts or review books for the AP Psychology exam. Two that primarily contain practice test questions.

U.S. History teachers you have a very important job to do

“Why can't we attract and retain teachers the way we used to? We know the answer: We’re forcing them to earn less & work longer. We’re telling them the bargain they made to work in public service & have the benefit of a public pension is being taken away from them.” - @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social

"You read books, eh?" A 1949 red scare Herblock cartoon about pressures on teachers that hits hard once again.

Trump gave states 10 days to sign anti-DEI policy. NY Education Department is refusing. In a Friday letter to the U.S. Education Department, New York officials said they will not certify that the state is eliminating DEI in schools, despite threats to pull federal funding.

NYSED: “We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion’… But there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI. USDOE has yet to define what practices it believes violate Title VI.”
www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

West Ada teacher stands firm after she’s told to remove ‘Everyone is welcome here’ signs Sarah Inama said she was told by administrators that her signs “don’t allow people to express differing opinions.”

What are the “differing opinions” administrators want to make room for? “No, some people are not welcome here?” What does “here” refer to? The classroom; the school; the community; the US? Some or all of the above? This is what resegregationist politics looks like at the local level.

What They Are Saying: Advocates, Labor Leaders, Elected Officials, Parents and Educators Support Governor Hochul’s ‘Bell-to-Bell’ Distraction-Free Schools Proposal Advocates, labor leaders, elected officials, parents and educators speak out in favor of restrictions on cell phone use in schools.

As @nysut.bsky.social President @melindajperson.bsky.social said: "Experts say this is how to best support students’ learning and mental health, and we can’t compromise when it comes to our kids.” www.governor.ny.gov/news/what-th...

AFT President Randi Weingarten joins The Katie Phang Show YouTube video by AFT

Instead of creating opportunity for students, the president wants to gut funding to public education and give the $ to the wealthy through tax cuts and vouchers. Thank you to @katiephangshow.bsky.social for having me on today. youtu.be/CwToTNO277E

They don't want to teach history so they can repeat it.

If you wanted to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, you would empower the inspectors general.

If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.

I guess we all teach History now

With Sweeping Executive Orders, Trump Tests Local Control of Schools The orders seek to encourage “patriotic education” and restrict discussions about racism and gender by threatening to withdraw federal funding. But schools are often resistant to change.

Trump campaigned on a fundamental paradox: Shutting the Department of Education while also using its power to investigate/control schools on race, gender and civics.

Turns out, he does have the appetite for a muscular fight to reshape public education. My story: www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/u...

With a barrage of orders, Trump seeks to amplify his power over schools. Will they resist? The president wants DEI out and school choice in. But it will take time to see just how much his executive orders about education change classrooms and schools.

“Some of the high-profile orders have had little or no tangible effect on schools so far…At the same time, some observers worry schools will preemptively make changes to their teaching or programs — even if they aren’t legally required to.”

www.chalkbeat.org/2025/02/03/t...

They will have our children’s data soon, including SpEd kids…

AFT’s Weingarten on Trump Pausing All Federal Aid WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to pause all federal aid:“The effect of the current president’s unlawful pause...

Americans need a federal government that works for them, not against them. The president's actions harm all Americans including children with disabilities, families in need of housing, seniors who rely on Medicaid for healthcare, and first responders. www.aft.org/press-releas...

Free speech organizations denounce Education Department's calling book bans a 'hoax' Organizations that track the removal of books from schools and libraries are denouncing last week’s Department of Education announcement that calls bans a “hoax.”

Free speech orgs denounce Ed. Dept's calling book bans a ‘hoax'

Such language is "dismissive of the students, educators, librarians, and authors who have firsthand experiences of censorship... (in) school libraries and classrooms,” said PEN America's Kasey Meehan www.nbcdfw.com/news/nationa...

A screenshot from the US Department of education, saying the US Department of Education and Biden’s book ban hoax.

The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.

~George Orwell, 1984

LifeWise Academy draws criticism from some Ohio parents, support from religious organizations • Ohio Capital Journal Ohio school districts will soon be required to have a religious release time policy, paving the way for an expansion of LifeWise Academy. While supporters praise it, some parents say their kids have b...

"Religious release time" during the school day, absent an increase in the length of the school day, supplants academic education

“These girls are pressured to try to get other kids to join, so now my kids are asked to proselytize & that’s not part of the school day”

ht @tracynovick.bsky.social

AFT’s Weingarten on President Biden’s Approval of Student Debt Relief for 5 Million Borrowers WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after the Biden administration announced new measures bringing the total number of borrowers receiving debt relief to over 5 mi...

From Day 1, Biden has stood up again and again for the millions of Americans who want to pursue college without having their lives derailed by unsustainable student debt. Biden had borrowers’ backs, even after political extremists tried to derail his plans in the courts www.aft.org/press-releas...

The Movement to Redirect Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Private Religious Schools Private letters reveal the strategy behind the decadeslong quest — successful in 12 states and counting — by politicians, church officials and activists to make taxpayer-funded school vouchers availab...

Yes, the defunding of public education is intentional. www.propublica.org/article/scho...

How School Choice Became a Right-Wing Cause Making sense of the Red State Strategy

You're not imagining it - the politics behind school choice advocacy really have changed. The bipartisan, civil rights sales pitch is out. A *hyperpartisan* red state strategy that takes aim at GOP hold-outs is in. I wrote about it for my (free) newsletter open.substack.com/pub/educatio...

Republican lawmakers seek further expansion of Missouri charter schools • Missouri Independent Missouri lawmakers propose a variety of changes to the state's charter school law, including bills seeking to expand charters.

Missouri is 50th in starting teacher pay and 49th in classroom funding. For over a decade, Republicans said they couldn’t budget for public schools but now they found millions for charters ? Weird. missouriindependent.com/2024/12/31/m...

Arizona Regulators Closed a Failing Charter School. It Reopened as a Private Religious School Funded by Taxpayers. Arizona’s acclaimed voucher program provides zero transparency into private schools’ history, academic performance or financial sustainability to help parents make informed school choices.

NEW: Arizona does not vet new voucher schools. Not even if the school or the online school “provider” has already failed, or was founded yesterday, or is operating out of a strip mall, or offers just a half hour of instruction per morning.

propub.li/3PovCyh