Fund Our Future Press

America's School Funding Struggle: How We're Robbing Our Future By Under-Investing In Our Children
It’s time to stop being penny wise and pound foolish about funding schools in low-income communities, and finally make the educational investments that will benefit us all.

Deal On Education Funding Still Elusive As Lawmakers Recess
By the time the Massachusetts Legislature resumes formal sessions in September, students will be back in class while the state’s 26-year-old education funding formula remains in place, despite the seemingly broad and bipartisan agreement that it must be revamped to better address the needs of low-income, immigrant and special needs students.

Frustrated education activists stage ‘beach party’ in front of Statehouse
Activists outraged by the lack of progress on an education funding bill set up a “beach party” outside the State House Wednesday, hoping to tie the scene to what lawmakers will encounter on their coming August recess.

Senator Lewis Welcomes Fund Our Future Activists
Senator Jason Lewis recently welcomed activists from the Fund Our Future campaign to the State House. As the Senate Chair of the Education Committee, Lewis is helping to lead the effort to reform the state's school funding formula.

Detroit News: Educators urge 'fund our schools' -GOP says aid at record levels
Thousands of Michigan educators rallied Tuesday outside the state Capitol, wearing “red for ed” as they called on the Republican-led Legislature to “fund our schools” and adopt Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget plan.

Michigan Advance: Whitmer, Gilchrist join teacher rally for more education funding
Michigan’s educators descended on the Capitol Tuesday in Lansing to advocate for increased funding to the state’s public schools, with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist addressing the crowd.

WWMT CBS: Teachers rally to support Whitmer's education budget - "We cannot do this on our own"
The Michigan State Capitol was filled with teachers Tuesday afternoon, and it wasn’t for the usual elementary school field trip.

Michigan Live: Whitmer blasts legislative education budget proposals - 'It is time for us to get serious'
State and national union leaders joined Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at the Michigan Capitol Tuesday to defend her K-12 budget plan, where they urged the legislature to support additional funding for education.

ABC News 6: 'Fund our future' - Students rally at Warwick City Hall in support of sports programs
Warwick students rallied at City Hall Wednesday morning after the school committee made millions of dollars in cuts in their budget Tuesday night, including sports and other after-school activities.

The Inter-Mountain, Weirton Daily Times: Teachers’ unions promote poll critical of Act
Representatives of three teacher and school service personnel unions released a poll Monday showing vast opposition to the West Virginia Senate’s Student Success Act.

Education Week: West Virginia education bill advances as teachers protest
Republicans in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Monday advanced a sweeping education proposal to allow the state's first charter schools after a similar Senate bill sparked massive teacher protests at the state Capitol.

KIVA 7 ABC: El Paso school teachers get 6% raises under newly-approved pay plan
Teachers in the El Paso Independent School District will receive pay raises averaging 6 percent under a compensation plan approved by the school board on Tuesday night.

Framingham Source: Letter - Not Enough Educators & Resources in Framingham Public Schools
Another school year has finished and another generation of students has had to experience education in our Commonwealth’s underfunded public schools.

Detroit Free Press: All schools, including charters, need to be rooted in the community (Op-ed by AFT-MI President David Hecker)
As people who have worked with the parents and staff of Southwest Detroit Community School for many years, we were of course disappointed to learn of its abrupt closing. Much of the media coverage understandably connects this closure with that of Delta Preparatory Academy in September, with the implication that we should be grateful that at least students at this school get to finish out the year. We hope it shines a spotlight on the missing element of real community voice in our charter sector and convinces decision-makers of the need for change.

WickedLocal.com: BPS signs contract with teachers union
Boston Public Schools Interim Superintendent Laura Perille announced a tentative three-year contract has been signed with the Boston Teachers Union. The contract provides a 2% salary increases, a full-time nurse in every school, additional licensed mental health professionals, reduced class sizes for English learners and strengthens the ability of school principals to hire effective and diverse educators.

Penn Biz Report: Fund Our Facilities Coalition announces legislation to fund school building repairs
The Fund Our Facilities Coalition announced Wednesday legislation sponsored by State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D), which would invest a total of $250 million in repairs to Pennsylvania’s school buildings.

LA Times: Measure EE will cost you a few bucks. Its failure could cost you more
Voters need to ask themselves what happens if Measure EE goes down. Will decades-old buildings deteriorate further, will layoffs be unavoidable, will the students who get a cut-rate education end up costing us more as adults than they contribute? Measure EE needs two-thirds approval to pass, and that’s a high bar. The turnout was great in January, though, when supporters of teachers and students marched downtown. On Tuesday they need to march to the polls.

US News and World Report: The Latest - Pritzker Celebrates Victory on Income Tax Plan
In a victory for working people in Illinois, the state House approved a constitutional amendment to ask voters next year if the state’s flat tax structure for income taxes should be removed from the constitution. The measure was approved by the state Senate earlier this month.

WickedLocal.com: Melrose teachers rally for education: “Fund Our Future”
On Thursday, May 16, hundreds of teachers, students, and others gathered at the State House in Boston and other locations in Massachusetts for the Fund Our Future rallies, advocating for revisions to the state’s public education funding formula. Several Melrose educators were among them.

WickedLocal.com: Thousands rally for education funding
In a full day of lobbying and action in the Massachusetts State House and on Boston Common, thousands of activists from across the state came together Thursday in support of the Promise and Cherish Acts, two bills which would fund public K-12 and higher education in the state.

WWLP: Hundreds of educators and students attend 'Fund our Future' rally in Springfield
Hundreds of educators and supporters took over the steps of Springfield City Hall Thursday evening for a rally they dubbed 'Fund Our Future.'

Bay State Banner: Thousands rally for education funding
In a full day of lobbying and action in the Massachusetts State House and on Boston Common, thousands of activists from across the state came together Thursday in support of the Promise and Cherish Acts, two bills which would fund public K-12 and higher education in the state.

Boston Globe: Hundreds rally for changes to school funding formula
Hundreds of teachers, parents, and students rallied on Boston Common Thursday evening for more school funding and then marched in the streets, cheering, clapping, and tooting horns.

Hood River News: ‘Red For Ed’ march and rally draws 300
About 300 people, most dressed in bright red shirts, gathered at Jackson Park for the so-called “Red For Ed” event, picking up dozens of hand-made signs with messages including “Fund Our Future”, and “WTF: Where’s The Funding?” carried by Cooper Rust, 10, and “Teachers Just Want to Have Funds.” Speakers included Superintendent Dan Goldman and Education Association President Kelvin Calkins.

FEA summit to discuss Legislature’s ‘attack’ on public schools
The Florida Education Association has announced an upcoming summit to discuss the state of Florida’s public schools after several education reform measures were approved by lawmakers.

The Oregonian: Thousands gather for walkout to support Oregon education
About 25,000 teachers, students and supporters rallied and marched through downtown Portland Wednesday as part of the statewide teacher walkout demanding increased funding for Oregon schools.

WickedLocal.com: Melrose teachers plan bus trip to Boston for Fund Our Future rally
Teacher, parents, and others concerned with education funding will gather in Boston on May 16 for the Fund Our Future rally, and Melrosians will be among them.

ItemLive.com: Lynn Union Representatives, Activists Join Workers for Annual May Day March
For more than 100 years, workers around the world have been fighting for fair wages and better working conditions. With hundreds of people packed outside of City Hall rallying before the city’s annual “May Day March for Immigrant and Worker Rights,” it’s clear the fight is still in progress.

MySanAntonio.com: Students can’t learn if they can’t read
Do you know how many pallets it takes to carry 80,000 books? We do, because for the past year, Northside AFT and North East AFT union leaders and volunteers have spent countless hours planning and working to qualify for more than 80,000 free books.

Teachers and students protest the D.C. education budget, calling it inequitable
More than 100 teachers, students and activists joined a rally organized by the Washington Teachers Union to demand full funding for Washington, D.C.’s public schools. AFT President Randi Weingarten spoke at the rally and stressed how all students deserve a fair shot, no matter their ZIP code or ward. “This is about saying this is one city, in this capital, that should be funding all its schools fairly.” As is the case in most states across the country, D.C.’s schools are suffering from inadequate and inequitable funding, which makes it harder for schools with dwindling enrollment to attract more students.

WUSA9: 'Fund our future' | DCPS teachers rally to change budget
"Fund our schools, fund our future." DCPS teachers and supporters rallied outside of the Wilson Building Thursday afternoon in protest of the funding cuts in the FY 2020 budget.

The Notebook: Randi Weingarten calls on superintendents: Listen to your teachers
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten spoke Thursday in Washington, D.C., about how teachers are leaving the profession at record-breaking rates and how the AFT can help. She wants to create partnerships between local unions and superintendents so that decisions are made based on feedback from teachers — not dictated by the whims of national foundations. The address, “Freedom to Teach”, was followed by a panel discussion with education and union leaders from states and districts that have moved toward this approach.

88.5 WMNF: Teachers and allies “Walk-In” to support Florida public schools
At hundreds of public schools across Florida, teachers gathered before school started with students, staff and parents to draw attention to how the Florida Legislature is under-funding public education. It was organized by the Florida Education Association.

The Massachusettes Daily Collegian: UMass student organizations hold march for college affordability
Several student organizations at the University of Massachusetts came together to march from Goodell Lawn to the Whitmore Administration Building in support of three pieces of legislation that would tackle the student debt crisis. The march is part of a week of action by the Public Higher Education Network Of Massachusetts (PHENOM), which is aimed toward their Fund our Future campaign to support the Promise Act and Cherish Act.

WCJB: Florida education supporters creates campaign to advocate for funding
The Alachua County school board has signed a resolution with the Florida Education Association in support of a campaign that is advocating to get Florida schools more funding.

Penninsula Clarion: Students take to Capitol steps in rally for school funding
Hundreds of people gathered outside of the Alaska State Capitol. The rally, called Fund Our Future, brought together hundreds of students, educators, advocates, lawmakers and community members in opposition to hefty cuts to education in Dunleavy’s budget proposal.

LowellSun.com: Higher education, and its students, need more support
Fitchburg State University student Alexander Ramos Jr., speaking at a "Fund Our Future" forum at FSU, said he's frustrated with both financial and education demands. He said he was forced to work 30 hours a week, plus loans, to pay college expenses.

Elko Daily Free Press: The Indy Explains: How the state's K-12 funding formula works
Fund Our Future Nevada, a grassroots-powered coalition that wants to see the funding formula modernized, notes on its advocacy site that the Nevada Plan doesn’t reflect various state and federal education mandates, which have increased school costs.

Associated Press: FSU Forum Raises Alarm for Higher-ed Cost Relief
More than 50 people gathered Tuesday at the university for a “Fund Our Future” forum to support state legislation that would increase funding for public higher education.

American Federation of Teachers: Capital city teachers plead to 'Fund Our Future'
The Washington Teachers’ Union launched a Fund Our Future campaign March 29, demanding adequate staffing, funds for computer labs and libraries, and even basic custodial supplies and repairs.

The Point: Students Express Concern Over Student Loan Debt
On Tuesday, Mar. 26, Fitchburg State hosted the “Fund Our Future Forum” which brought together students, faculty, Fitchburg local government officials, and Massachusetts State Representatives. All were present to discuss the growing concern of student debt and cost of higher education.

Philly.com: Price tag for fixing all urgent Philly school building problems? $170M, union, lawmakers say
A group of state and local lawmakers and AFT leaders has done the math: It would cost $170 million, they said Friday, to remedy all the urgent health and safety problems inside the Philadelphia School District.

Philly.com: Unacceptable condition of Philly’s school buildings sends a tragic signal to students
AFT-Philadelphia President Jerry Jordan pens an op-ed about the Fund Our Facilities Coalition, a group of elected officials, labor organizations, and community groups, who present a commonsense approach to ensuring that every child — in Philadelphia and across the country — has the opportunity to reach his or her fullest potential in healthy schools.

The Chief-Leader: Unions Turn Out in Force to Add To PSC Pressure to Boost CUNY Funding
Some of the city’s most prominent labor leaders came out to support the Professional Staff Congress, which has been pushing for a fair contract that includes funding for adjuncts to earn $7,000 per course, at a City Hall press conference March 14.

WNYC: City University Names New President
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, president of Queens College and chancellor-designate of The City University of New York, discusses his vision for the future of the nation’s largest urban public university system and one of the country’s most potent engines of social mobility.

Public News Service: Major Education Hearing, Advocacy Day at MA Capitol
In Boston, there is a higher education advocacy day on Thursday and a public hearing on Friday at the Joint Committee on Education about 17 education-related bills. The Fund Our Future campaign – a coalition of education activists, students and parents – supports the PROMISE and CHERISH acts. These bills are asking for $1.5 billion per year in additional education funding for pre K-12 and higher education.

CapeCod.com: Cape Cod Educators Discuss Funding Concerns at Community Forum
A coalition of Cape Cod educators held a forum to discuss what they call funding shortfalls by the state for public schools and colleges. The Fund Our Future forum featured a panel of students, parents, educators and elected officials who shed light on the impacts they say under-funding has on students in pre-K through higher education.

LowellSun.com: Forum on school funding formula in Lowell
The event is a collaboration with Fund Our Future Coalition and in support of two bills before state legislators, the Promise Act for elementary and secondary education and the Cherish Act for higher education.

LowellSun.com: Advocates make case for more public ed. funding
Several parents, grandparents, educators and students addressed the panel of legislators. Issues in area schools raised by the nearly 20 speakers included rising class sizes, withering school infrastructure and the elimination of programs and education opportunities.

WFSU: FEA's Fedrick Ingram Talks House's Proposed Education Budget, 'Schools Of Hope' Expansion Bill
On Tuesday, the Florida Senate proposed a $1.1 billion increase to the main funding mechanism for public schools. That would allow for a $350, or five percent increase in per-student spending over the current year. The House, however, appears to be taking a more frugal stance with its proposed education budget. House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Chris Latvala highlighted some numbers from his chamber’s proposed budget Wednesday. It would fund the Florida Education Finance Program at $21.6 billion, a total increase $579.3 million over the current year. Fedrick Ingram, president of statewide teachers’ union The Florida Education Association, says the budget proposal doesn’t go far enough.

WCTV: Teachers union launches campaign to fully fund public schools
The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, has launched a new campaign urging lawmakers to properly fund traditional public schools.

The Progressive: Teachers Strikes Prompt Renewed Calls for More Education Funding
The American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teachers union in America, hopes to seize on this increase in teacher-led actions. They just launched a nationwide campaign, "Fund Our Future," which they describe as a "major education initiative aimed at pressing lawmakers in state capitals and Congress to increase funding for public schools and universities."

Newbury Port News: Amesbury teachers union calls for full state funding
Cindy Yetman is the president of the American Federation of Teachers Amesbury Local 1033 and has endorsed her union's "Resolution in Support of Full Funding for Our Public Schools. The resolution is part of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts’ Fund our Future campaign and makes the case that the state’s Chapter 70 education funding formula "has been woefully out of date for years, thereby underfunding our districts by more than $1 billion a year for essential educational services.

The Register-Herald: AFT-West Virginia kicks off 'Fund Our Future' campaign
The American Federation of Teachers—West Virginia launched the "Fund Our Future" campaign Wednesday at the Capitol in Charleston, demanding lawmakers invest in public education. In a press conference, AFT-West Virginia President Fred Albert said the campaign is about prioritizing the needs of students, and demanding those in power provide resources to invest in public schools, colleges and universities.

Florida Phoenix: Educators, teacher unions launch national initiative to fund traditional public schools
Educators and teacher unions across the country are joining a national initiative to bolster traditional public schools that need funds for smaller classes, higher teacher pay, investments for disadvantaged and special needs students and repairs for crumbling facilities.

Education Week: Union Campaign Seeks More Money for Special Education, Disadvantaged Students
A national teachers' union, a Democratic U.S. senator, and others are launching a new push for Washington to spend more on students with disabilities, students from disadvantaged backgrounds, school construction, and other federal and state education programs.

Floridapolitics.com: FEA seeking $743 bump in per-pupil funding
Teacher unions from across the country are fed up with low funding and minimal pay, and they’re planning to do something about it in the halls of statehouses. During a “Fund Our Future” conference call, teacher union leaders from Minnesota, Texas and Washington state took turns detailing what they described as dire funding levels for both K-12 schools and public colleges and universities.

Floridapolitics.com: Florida teachers to school lawmakers on need to ‘fund our future’
Teachers will monitor the halls of the Florida Capitol Monday and try to grab the ears of lawmakers. The Florida Education Association holds its Day of Action on the eve of the 2019 Legislative Session. Expect calls to fund neighborhood public schools. “We are united in delivering one message,” said FEA President Fedrick Ingram. “State leaders must fund our future. They must invest in neighborhood public schools, invest in the success of our students, and invest in the teachers and staff who work in our schools.”

Mypanhandle.com: Bay County Educators to Hold 'Fund Our Future' Rally
Bay County educators are on a mission.The teachers union is calling on all teachers, paraprofessionals, students, and parents as they rally Florida legislators for funding.

US News and World Report: Teachers Union Launches National Education-Funding Campaign
The union is looking to capitalize on a wave of teacher activism in recent months that has sparked protests and rallies nationwide.