Friend,

As I continue my 20-state cross-country Back to School for All tour, I want to take a moment to tell you about what I’ve seen and let you know about our upcoming virtual town hall on how we can return to in-person teaching and learning safely.

I was just in Petaluma, California, visiting the amazing schools there; their programs to engage their students represent the promise and the potential of public education. I witnessed an incredible level of collaboration and commitment to meeting the needs of students. Educators talked about wraparound services and meeting students’ social and emotional needs, and they showed me an impressive conservation program, including a fish hatchery and a natural history museum run by the students.

As we reopen schools for a new year, our members are working hard to engage parents about the importance of vaccines and how to keep our children safe, and to fight disinformation in our communities. As parents and educators, we want to help ensure that schools are able to safely reopen in ways that make all students and educators feel welcome and supported. That’s why we’re having a special virtual town hall on Tuesday with parents, health professionals and education experts.

I invite you to submit a question for the town hall—whether you are an educator, a parent, a healthcare worker, a school staff person or a member of our community. If you have a question for any of our guests, please submit it here. I will do my best to ask as many as possible.

Our town hall will be livestreamed on both Facebook and YouTube on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at 6:45 p.m. EDT. Our list of speakers includes:

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy
Dr. Samira Brown, pediatrician and co-founder of Little Lives PPE
Nathan Monell, executive director of the National PTA
Dr. Pamela Cantor, physician and founder of Turnaround for Children
Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association
Randi Weingarten, AFT president as moderator and host

Thank you and see you then,
Randi Weingarten
AFT president

Randi Weingarten, President Fedrick C. Ingram, Secretary-Treasurer \| Evelyn DeJesus, Executive Vice President
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