In Support of Our Profession, Our Public Schools, Our Students

WHEREAS, public education is vital to safeguarding our democracy, is the manifestation of our civic values and ideals, and can help bridge differences between people with divergent backgrounds and beliefs; and

WHEREAS, we are at a critical moment requiring us to renew our commitment to public education and its central importance in the lives of students, their families and communities, and in maintaining a thriving democracy and healthy economy; and

WHEREAS, as educators, our job is to prepare our students for life, for careers, for college, for civic opportunities and engagement, and to advocate for our expertise in our knowledge of content, context and the students we serve; and

WHEREAS, educators are leading schools’ recovery in the midst of their own pandemic challenges, including mental health and well-being issues, while extremely focused on helping students overcome literacy challenges, learning loss, behavioral health challenges, and social media-induced isolation and loneliness; and

WHEREAS, families want their children to have access to a well-rounded education; develop strong fundamental academic and life skills; and have pathways to career, college and beyond; and

WHEREAS, challenging, well-rounded curriculum supported by deeper learning that allows students to engage in robust, hands-on learning experiences will enable students to leave school with the ability to analyze, apply, synthesize, problem-solve, evaluate, collaborate and create; and

WHEREAS, experiential learning—a process for students to learn through hands-on experiences, also referred to as “learning by doing”—is a powerful way to address students’ learning needs in an engaging, relevant and fun manner; and

WHEREAS, experiential learning is crucial in helping students to think and write, solve problems, apply knowledge, and discern fact from fiction because it provides real-world life skills and builds background knowledge, also referred to as content or prior knowledge, which allows students to make meaning of what they are reading, and can boost academic achievement; and

WHEREAS, teaching for deeper learning is essential for an education system grounded in educational equity for all students; research shows that schools focused on deeper learning demonstrate stronger student achievement, with pronounced gains for students from low-income families, new immigrants and students of color; and

WHEREAS, authentic systems of assessment that are culturally and linguistically responsive; provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their learning and development in a variety of ways; and are designed to measure growth and progress are more equitable than the narrow, annual high-stakes standardized tests that incite fear and anxiety and undermine cognitive capacity; and

WHEREAS, research in neuroscience and the developmental and learning sciences shows that students’ emotional and psychological safety supports their ability to learn and take risks, and is undermined when they feel threatened or unsafe; and

WHEREAS, research has documented that well-designed systems of support communicate to students that they are respected, valued and loved; can enable resilience and success for youth who have faced serious adversity and trauma; and have significant positive effects on student progress, attendance, mathematics and reading achievement, and overall grades, in addition to measurable decreases in grade retention, dropout rates and absenteeism;[1] and

WHEREAS, partnerships with parents, the community and community-based organizations through the community schools model offer schools and school districts additional capacity to improve schools, by offering responsive programming for all students and families; and

WHEREAS, the AFT is committed to these strategies, and has pursued them through our Real Solutions for Kids and Communities campaign this year. The campaign has also fought against the undermining of public education through culture wars, denying honest history, draining funds from public schools through voucher programs, and de-professionalizing teaching; instead, the campaign works to strengthen public schools through proven solutions and positive supports:

RESOLVED, that the AFT and our affiliates will engage in strategic actions and partner with families, communities, and allied organizations to transform teaching and learning in America’s public schools by continuing and building on the Real Solutions for Kids and Communities campaign to:

• Create joyful and confident readers by helping teachers access, learn, use and advocate for evidence-based strategies for reading instruction; and
• Care for children’s mental health and well-being through school-linked supports and services and related specialized instructional support personnel such as school counselors, psychologists and social workers; and
• Expand community schools as a proven strategy for addressing academic learning and development along with well-being, providing needed services and deepening family and community engagement; and
• Provide all students as early as possible with opportunities to learn by doing via experiential and project-based learning that provides them with real-world, real-life skills as well as opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge through performance-based assessment; and
• Bring additional resources and attention to career and technical education, to link education to economic development as well as to expand career pathways, internships and apprenticeships for students, by working with districts to offer high-quality pathways in areas of high demand, such as cybersecurity, welding, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and robotics; and
• Elevate the work of the Biden-Harris administration around investments made in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and the environment that support well-paying, safe and sustainable jobs, and work with companies and school districts partnering to prepare youth for these opportunities; and
• Renew our focus on educator and school staff health and well-being to ensure they have the support, tools and strategies to make teaching and other school-based careers more sustainable so that staff can adequately care for themselves and their families, and remain in the profession; and
• Secure investments that public schools need for improved teaching and learning conditions, adequate staffing, fair pay for teachers and school staff, and other fundamentals for a high-quality education in every school; and

RESOLVED, the AFT will utilize new avenues and partnerships for accessing existing professional learning content that helps educators:

• Build on and refine student-centered practices grounded in a strong foundation in child and adolescent development and learning; and
• Learn to use data about school climate and other student outcomes to pursue continuous improvement; and
• Problem-solve around the needs of individual children; and
• Build their knowledge of how to create engaging, effective instruction that is culturally and linguistically responsive; and
• Strengthen skills for implementing and integrating social-emotional learning and restorative justice practices; and
• Work with families and community to create a shared supportive approach for teachers and school staff alike; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will continue to advocate for equitable school environments that affirm student identities and include culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy and curriculum that is inclusive of multidiverse groups’ history, contributions and insights by providing local affiliates with regular opportunities for educators to support their cultural proficiency and professional growth; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will press for transformative accountability and assessment practices at the classroom, school, district and state levels that actually assess what students need to know and do, and lessen the damage of current standardized assessments practices, while large-scale change is being advocated for and worked toward at the federal level; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will share best practices on:

• Using pedagogical practices that ensure students are active, not passive, participants in learning, and infuse hands-on student-centered practices that foster student ownership of learning across grade levels; and
• Procuring resources for a variety of learning environments; and
• Extended learning outside the classroom; and
• Structuring school days to allow educators and school staff time to collaborate, plan, grade, and foster relationships with students and families and incorporating these practices in collective bargaining or memoranda of understanding where possible; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will identify and disseminate information on how affiliates can:

• Negotiate practitioner-led district-level committees on curriculum, assessment and instructional strategies; and
• Provide input on the job descriptions for instructional coaches and other related roles that support the development of educators and school staff; and
• Collaborate with educators and school staff, families, community organizations, and municipal and/or regional partners to develop a variety of publications that provide actionable practices around social-emotional learning and restorative justice that families can use in the home and other learning environments; and
• Advocate for culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and curriculum that is developmentally appropriate, and inclusive of the history, contributions and insights of diverse groups; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT, with our affiliates, will work to remove barriers that impact students, teachers and schools, including access to broadband internet, negative effects of unchecked social media, culture wars and censorship laws, voucher and choice schemes that siphon public funds, underinvestment where it is needed most, and anything else that weakens the ability of public education to be a main avenue to freedom and prosperity for all; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT, with our affiliates, will continue our unwavering commitment to advancing opportunity, justice and freedom for every educator, as they are the basis for preparing all children for bright futures as active and engaged citizens in our democracy.