iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Workers at Blue Mountain Hospital are union strong! Congratulations to the advanced practice providers, RNs, techs, professionals and service workers who won their union with the @oregonnursesassoc.bsky.social. Welcome to our union family!

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ORGANIZING WIN: Advanced practice providers at Legacy-GoHealth have reached a tentative agreement on their first union contract with @oregonnursesassoc.bsky.social! Congratulations to these healthcare workers on this major milestone.

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WATCH: @rweingarten.bsky.social and @aftnewjersey.bsky.social President Jennifer Higgins highlight the Red Hawks Rising program in Newark, NJ—a shining example of how investing in local students can build a powerful pipeline of future teachers right from their own neighborhoods. Watch here ⤵️

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Protect your whole family with the latest IDProtection Plus Family Plans features by Aura. Get flexible family sharing, personalized safety tips, and tools to help remove personal info from websites and reduce Google Search exposure. Explore plans: unionplus.click/5o2

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@rweingarten.bsky.social: We are here because most of our grandparents & ancestors came to the US for a better life. If we want team humanity to win - to address affordability & ICE & higher ed & healthcare & housing - we have to vote like our lives depend on it. @weareunidosus.bsky.social

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@rweingarten.bsky.social: I’m headed to Hungary tonight. Why? Because for years, Orban demonized immigrants, closed schools, demonized and suppressed the press, and spread corruption. Sound familiar?

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100%, @rweingarten.bsky.social! “Knowledge and freedom aren’t cheap - but they’re enduring. And when they’re done well, it means there’s broad based opportunity. But you can’t have that without #AffordableCollegeNow. Anything else is a joke.” @apscuf.org @afthighered.bsky.social @aaup.org

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@rweingarten.bsky.social:If we mean opportunity for all, we must fund opportunity for all. More for less is not a concept that works in the United States. All “more for less” means is that workers and students and families get less. #AffordableCollegeNow

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Ian Hill is a current college senior in PA and one of 7 kids. “If Pennsylvania’s economy is growing, then why can’t that economy help us get a college education?” #AffordableCollegeNow @aaup.org @afthighered.bsky.social @apscuf.org

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“A students opportunity to pursue an education should be determined by their dreams, not by their family’s bank account.” - @neatoday.bsky.social’s Noel Candelaria #AffordableCollegeNow @apscuf.org @afthighered.bsky.social @aaup.org

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“You cannot make higher education stronger by starving it.” - Todd Wolfson, @aaup.org Todd’s right. It’s time to pass the PA Promise Act! #AfdordableCollegeNow @afthighered.bsky.social @apscuf.org

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“US News & World ranked PA 50th in the nation for higher education. This isn’t an accident - it’s a political choice, and students are the ones paying for its choice.” @aaup.org President Todd Wolfson explains how disinvestment makes college more expensive for students. @afthighered.bsky.social 🎓

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“We want to be in school! This funding isn’t cool!” Incredible, hyped up crowd here at the state house. We have students, parents, faculty and fellow workers rallying in solidarity for #AffordableCollegeNow! 🎓 @apscuf.org @afthighered.bsky.social @aaup.org @afscme.bsky.social

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VIDEO: Ken Mash is the president of @apscuf.org and he explains why hundreds of students and faculty are in Harrisburg today to fight for colleges & universities. 🎓 @afthighered.bsky.social @aaup.org

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Happening now at the PA State Capital in Harrisburg - students, faculty, and activists are rallying for affordable, accessible, and fully funded higher education. Join us! #AffordableCollegeNow

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Have questions about your medical bills? Join the AFT's next Affordability Clinic on medical debt tomorrow, 9/29 at 3pm EDT to learn tips and resources to manage medical bills in ways that work best for you. Sign up ⤵️ web.cvent.com/event/e9c61181-c2f6-4…

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We’ve got music, snacks, and lots of books to explore down at Nesbitt Discovery Academy. Join us until 4 PM! #ReadingOpensTheWorld

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"Devastating events like [Hurricane Helene] remind us of the central role that public schools play in our communities and in ensuring children’s well-being." - @rweingarten.bsky.social Read more about today's #ReadingOpensTheWorld fair in Asheville, NC: www.aft.org/press-releas...

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The #ReadingOpensTheWorld festival just opened at 12 PM - and already, 500 kids, parents, and educators have joined us to celebrate reading and grow their home libraries. We’re open until 4 PM, so come join us at Martin Nesbitt Jr Discovery Academy.

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Hello from Asheville, NC! We have LOTS of excited readers here for our #ReadingOpensTheWorld literacy festival - and we have more than 30,000 books, clothes, and more to give away. Thanks to our partners Read2Succeed, the NC A. Phillip Randolph Institute & AFPENC for helping put this together!

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@rweingarten.bsky.social: The bottom line for us is, we have an obligation to find a way to navigate AI - not only in schools, but in society. For us, safety is more important than innovation. Safety for children - not just on wellbeing, but in terms of privacy, security & education - is important.

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@rweingarten.bsky.social: With COVID accelerating its spread, EdTech has spread through our classrooms - and there's a ton of AI incorporated into these tools in ways we don't fully understand. And especially when it comes to young students, it's our responsibility to keep them safe.

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Happening now: @rweingarten.bsky.social joins a panel at the @network4pubed.bsky.social conference titled "Artificial Intelligence: What Should Be Its Role in Our Classrooms and Schools?" Follow along in the thread below.

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@zephcapo.bsky.social: We can't outspend billionaires or out lobby grifters. But we have something they will never have: The unbreakable trust of the communities we serve. We have parents, educators, bus drivers, and millions of families who rely on public schools to give their children a future.

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@zephcapo.bsky.social to @network4pubed.bsky.social: Starve. Shame. Shutter. These three words that underpin a national strategy to undermine public education across the country. Thank you all for being here on the frontline of fighting back against this playbook.

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@rweingarten.bsky.social: TX workers don’t have collective barging rights. But they organize because they know unions are foundational to democracy and a better life. Zeph and @texasaft.org ensure that kids have the opportunities LBJ envisioned.

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Great point from @rweingarten.bsky.social. We need to support what Texans are doing across the state to get out the vote this fall. And one of the Texans doing that hard, important work is @texasaft.org President Zeph Capo. @zephcapo.bsky.social

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@rweingarten.bsky.social to @network4pubed.bsky.social: LBJ said that poverty and race should not be the deciders of whether or not you have opportunities for a better life. This state has the opportunity to continue that work and create pathways for working families to thrive.

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As always, @dianeravitch.bsky.social gives an incredible breakdown of how privatizers and voucher proponents are working to dismantle public education and funnel our tax money away from the students and communities that need the resources most. Thank you for fighting for the schools kids deserve.

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September is Life Insurance Awareness Month! 🧡 Don't wait for "someday" to help secure your family's financial future. Discover how affordable an AFT+ Term Life Insurance Plan can be and apply today. #ad unionplus.click/ywx

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Share what makes you #PublicSchoolProud or tell us about a public school educator or school staff member who made an impact on your life → go.aft.org/proud

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In Providence, librarian Natasha White is helping fifth-graders find their voices through the “Lima News,” a bilingual, student-run news show where they learn reporting, media literacy and the power of telling their own stories. #PublicSchoolProud 🎤 medium.com/school-house...

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In Scranton, @aftpa.org members are seeing what increased public school funding can make possible, including more STEM teachers, new autism support classes and greater access to books. #PublicSchoolProud 📚 www.wnep.com/article/news...

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In Kanawha County, @educationwv.bsky.social member Becky Turner protected students on her bus. Her quick action earned her recognition as a Unions Power America Hometown Hero. #PublicSchoolProud 🚌 www.aft.org/news/school-...

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From keeping students safe to expanding opportunities and helping young people find their voices, AFT members show up for their students in countless ways. This week’s #PublicSchoolProud stories celebrate that commitment.

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Thank you to all of the panelists on today’s AI panel at @nysut.bsky.social’s Unplugged conference!

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Great perspective on this panel from Nalique Smith, a student at University at Albany. She says that AI is helpful in organizing her ideas sometimes, but sees her peers' growing reliance on the tool and worries. She says that the tools feel like Google, but collects more personal info from users.

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@rweingarten.bsky.social: We're not going to stop AI or educational tech. Think about what happened during prohibition - it didn't stop people from making and drinking alcohol. The way we navigate this is learn enough to improve them, to use our leverage as educators & make them safe.

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@rweingarten.bsky.social: The #1 thing teachers are asking for is how to deal with cognitive offloading in the age of AI. Teachers taught the Big Tech companies this. This is why it's so important that we learn these tools, how to use it, and how to advocate for guardrails to keep people safe.

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@rweingarten.bsky.social: I want to take a moment to acknowledge Megan L. Garcia for telling her story. The syncophancy that chatbots are coded with is really dangerous, and as tough as it is, when we see something we need to say something.

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Hello from Albany, NY! @rweingarten.bsky.social is joining @nysut.bsky.social at the Unplugged conference for a panel on "AI in Schools — Tool, Tutor or Threat?" where we discuss the ways technology is changing the classroom landscape. Follow along in the thread below.

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Thanks to all of the volunteers at Nesbitt Discovery Academy for setting up this weekend’s #ReadingOpensTheWorld festival in Asheville. We have 30,000 books to give away - it looks like some students are getting a head start! 📚 Special thanks: Read2Succeed, A. Phillip Randolph Institute & AFPENC

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