John,

I’ll be frank here. We are battling three intersecting crises right now that pose a major threat to our public education and our economic recovery. If our senators don’t pass the HEROES Act and fund our future, our states and communities will see massive job losses in education, healthcare, public safety and elsewhere that will deepen this recession. Our public schools won’t have the resources needed to open safely. Our communities will struggle to provide essential services. We can’t let Mitch McConnell and the Senate forfeit our children’s future this way.

We need your help to get the HEROES Act passed. Will you take five minutes and click here to write to your senators and ask them to invest in our communities and pass the HEROES Act?

The HEROES Act contains $1 trillion in federal aid to fund essential services at the local level, including public K-12 schools, public colleges and universities, and public hospitals. This funding would support the frontline workers in this pandemic, and it is critical to reopening our society safely. Our public schools, colleges and community hospitals desperately need this money. Without it, we will see thousands of layoffs and draconian cuts to essential services, and we won’t be able to reopen safely, as that requires more money and staff right now, not less.

The House already passed the HEROES Act. But Mitch McConnell would rather see states go bankrupt. That’s why we need to act. Click here to write to your senators now.

To reopen the economy, we need to get our children back to school. McConnell and Trump know that. But it’s not a matter of simply flipping a switch. Reopening schools must be done safely and responsibly, not recklessly. That means using the public health tools we know can limit and prevent the spread of the virus, including reduced class size, staggered schedules, regular school cleanings, split bus routes, masks, temperature checks and more. This will take more resources, not fewer.

The funds in the HEROES Act will support the frontline heroes battling the pandemic. Our country’s schools, colleges, state and local services, and hospitals need these funds to keep these critical workers on the job. Without this assistance, essential public services and jobs will be cut just when they are needed most. There will be layoffs at the state and local levels, which will cripple our local economies and deepen the recession. We need these heroes on the frontlines, not on unemployment and food lines. The HEROES Act will help ensure this.

Power does not concede without activism. Senators must hear from us. Please click here and write to your senators NOW.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President