John,

Teachers and school support professionals across the country are working hard to help kids with their learning loss, loneliness and literacy challenges. As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must invest in our public schools to create real solutions for kids and communities.

But instead of investing where we need it most, extremists in Congress are trying to make massive cuts to the programs we depend on, and they’re threatening to shut down the government if they don’t get their way.

It’s up to us to stop them. Click here to write to your lawmakers and tell them: We need real solutions, not cuts.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden and Congress came to an agreement and prevented a catastrophic default. But now, Republican extremists aren’t keeping up their side of the bargain. They’re trying to leverage this deal to eviscerate the budget for kids and shut down the government—a move that would have catastrophic ripple effects for working families and our economy.

In the short term, Republicans are trying to cut funding for education and other vital programs by 8 percent. In the long term, they hope to cut more than 20 percent of funding. Their full-year plan would:

• Cut Title I funding by 80 percent, which could force a nationwide reduction of 220,000 teachers from classrooms serving low-income students. This would make our already unsustainable nationwide shortage of teachers and school support professionals even worse.
• Eliminate programs for English language learners (Title III), supports for teachers (Title II-A), social and emotional learning grants, Promise Neighborhoods and Magnet Schools.
• Cut funding for community schools—schools that serve not just students but their families.  
• Decimate funding for job training, cancer research, mental health initiatives, addressing the opioid crisis, eliminating HIV/AIDS and more.  
• Continue their attacks on women’s health by cutting programs to support maternal health, eliminating programs that provide contraception and health services, and adding amendments to push their draconian agenda to ban abortion and make reproductive healthcare harder to access.

We can’t let this happen. It’s up to us to spread the word and show lawmakers that the public refuses to allow our educational institutions to be attacked by political extremists. Click here to write to your lawmakers and tell them to vote against this extreme spending package.

At the AFT, we’re working to ensure that every child has what they need to thrive. Our Real Solutions for Kids and Communities campaign is all about focusing on students’ learning loss, loneliness and literacy challenges. It takes resources to support teachers and school staff, and our communities must understand who is trying to cut vital education and community programs.

We need your help to do that. Please write a letter to your lawmakers and tell them: We need investments, not cuts, to help kids and communities thrive.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President