AFT Holds National Day of Action to Protect Our Kids, Our Families and Our Communities

NATIONWIDE-Thousands of educators, students, parents and community allies will participate in over 100 in-person events and online actions around the country today as part of the AFT's "Protect Our Kids, Our Families and Our Communities" March 4 national day of action.

AFT members and community allies are marching forth on March 4 to join walk-ins, teach-ins, vigils and online community actions stretching from New Hampshire to Hawaii. Together, the union's 1.8 million members are making it clear who they are, what they're fighting for, and what their kids, families and communities need to thrive.

"Life is getting harder for working families," said AFT President Randi Weingarten, "but instead of helping kids, families and communities get ahead, the administration is cutting schools, attacking student borrowers, muzzling academic freedom, slashing healthcare and public services, and launching immigration raids that make communities less safe."

As the AFT hits the streets to fight back, it is also fighting for progress in the face of serious headwinds, chalking up big wins over the last year for members and the students, patients and families they serve.

"When this administration tried to cut education funding, the AFT fought to stop it," added Weingarten. "And because of our advocacy, a bipartisan majority in Congress prevented those cuts from going forward. When Education Secretary Linda McMahon tried to erase civil rights protections with the stroke of a pen, the AFT and our allies went to court and won. And as this administration uses violence and fear to intimidate Minnesotans and others, our members are building mutual aid networks and protecting kids and communities."

AFT officers will spread out around the country today to attend several in-person March 4 events. Weingarten will meet with members at an elementary school in Reston, Va., AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram will join with the Florida Education Association in Miami, and AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus will address a rally in Houston.

The AFT day of action comes a year to the day after the union first mobilized en masse to push back against the disastrous education policies of the incoming Trump administration. In the intervening 12 months, those unpopular cuts have hurt the most vulnerable K-12 students and their families, ended popular community schools and career and technical education programs, and mired millions more Americans in student debt, drawing bipartisan condemnation.

AFT officers are available for interview. For a full list of today's events, click here.cr

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The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.