AFT Higher Education

You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.

KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Costs, Expiring ACA Tax Credits, and the 2026 Midterms | KFF Looking ahead to the midterm elections, health care costs are the public’s top economic concern, and many voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote. On health care issues, including ...

2 out of 3 Americans are worried about paying for health care.

A majority of the public also says they expect health care costs for them and their families to become even less affordable in the coming year.

www.kff.org/public-opini...

This administration is throwing chaos at people every day—from rising costs to attacks on our schools, healthcare, and public services. We have to show up and fight for what our kids, our families and our communities need.

Join AFT's March 4 day of action here ⤵️
aft.org/protect-our-communities

Black History Month at 100: Influence Cannot Be Erased, Even When Credit Is Denied Black influence shapes music, media, sports and technology. As we commemorate 100 years of Black history, how do we make sure students learn not just the impact but also who deserves the credit?

Black influence has shaped music, media, sports and technology—often without credit. In a new @sharemylesson.bsky.social blog, Dr. Lisa Thomas writes about the importance of working to help students analyze how systems respond to Black influence.

Read more here ⤵️
sharemylesson.com/blog/teachin...

Warren Joins Protect Borrowers, CFPB Union, Advocates on 1-Yr Anniversary of Trump's Attack on CFPB YouTube video by Senator Elizabeth Warren

One year after Trump's hostile takeover of the CFPB, borrowers are still paying the price. Advocates and lawmakers are demanding protections that put people over billionaires.
www.youtube.com/live/JUnEBdo...

Read @bakerdphd.bsky.social’s piece on the need for institutions and their associations to stand up to this kind of behaviour, and then re-read the UNC story.

Why do we want collective bargaining rights?

Cc @senbillferg.bsky.social @mddems.bsky.social

Sounds like you have a good start for the next column! Looking forward to it.

Today's must read for higher ed workers. There is a single sentence with SIX links to AAU members stifling academic freedom since Trump took office.

nationally of course there are no consequences for anything but, locally, i am happy to report that the union successfully delivered the "find out" portion of the "fuck around" program 🙏

"[A]fter a year it’s dawned on most people that the MAGA proposition wasn’t Free Speech For All—Even If It’s Racist. It’s more like Know Your Place."

Today I was in San Francisco to be with our members as they go on strike for the schools students deserve. From walking the picket line at James Lick Middle School, to meeting with the bargaining team, to joining educators, families, and community members at the rally, we showed the strength of SF.

Eight Myths about Tenure Myths about tenure help keep not only the public but much of the professoriate from recognizing the harsh reality that tenure, under sustained assault, is in danger of becoming a myth itself.

From the @academemagazine.bsky.social archives: Hank Reichman's "Eight Myths About Tenure."

"Tenure, for nearly a century the strongest bulwark in defense of academic freedom, protecting independent scholarship from shifting political winds & whims of scholarly fashion, is under withering assault."

FAMU can't use the word Black on anything posted around campus related to Black History Month, to stay in compliance with Florida state laws against DEI. Black students can't use the word Black at their Historically Black College during Black History Month.

Hundreds of faculty from across Maryland submitted testimony for today’s hearing on SB 6, demanding collective bargaining rights for non-tenure track faculty at our public universities. @uam-umd.bsky.social @afthighered.bsky.social

Collective Bargaining Rights for Faculty For far too long, faculty at Maryland's public universities have been left behind when it comes to collective bargaining rights. Almost every other public and state employee in the state of Maryland h...

We are in Annapolis fighting w/ our partners @aft.org, @aaup.org, @aftmaryland.bsky.social, & @afthighered.bsky.social for our rights to collectively bargain.

Tell @senbillferg.bsky.social & @mddems.bsky.social, the time is now for equal labor rights for faculty!

actionnetwork.org/letters/coll...

Texas A&M Ends Women’s Studies and Overhauls Classes Over Race and Gender

Texas A&M ends its women's & gender studies program while hundreds of syllabi remain flagged and censored under top-down review policies.

“I have never seen anything like this.”

— Dr. Leonard Bright, @tamu-aaup.bsky.social President

@texasaft.org
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@cwa-tseu.bsky.social

AFT’s Weingarten Responds to Senate Deal to Separate ICE Funding, Avert Shutdown WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following response to the Senate’s bipartisan deal to avert a government shutdown and give lawmakers time to negotiate reforms to an unchecked U.S....

The bipartisan Senate deal to separate the DHS appropriations bill from other spending bills is necessary step to fund essential services Americans need, avert another government shutdown and give lawmakers time to negotiate measures to restrict, restrain and reform ICE www.aft.org/press-releas...

'Don't cheapen our degrees': A&M students, faculty protest for academic freedom A&M students held posters that read: "I'm sorry that higher education hurts your feelings," "Plato isn't 'woke'" and "Don't cheapen our degrees."

The Houston Chronicle is paying attention!

www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

Higher education starts to fight back against attacks on its value and policies The higher education industry has launched several new marketing campaigns in the hope of reclaiming the message about itself in the face of political attacks and public skepticism.

The bosses have discovered solidarity? “There’s this thought that if you stand up, you’re sort of a fish in a barrel. But if you do it together, that’s safer,” There IS that thought indeed! hechingerreport.org/value-polici...

Opinion | Senator Tina Smith: I Won’t Vote to Fund ICE Until It Gets Out of My State

Thank you @smith.senate.gov. We need Republicans to find their courage and take real steps to protect American values and our Constitution. I think we can all agree that ICE has not made Minnesota safer. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/o...

Nurses hold vigil for Alex Pretti, call for accountability Nurses gathered in Portland on Jan. 27 to honor Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old registered nurse who was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. The vigil, organized by the Oregon...

@oregonnursesassoc.bsky.social & @ofnhp.bsky.social members gathered this week to honor Alex Pretti and call for accountability. Nurses are facing intensified fears about federal enforcement in the workplace underscoring their duty to patients' safety, rights and dignity.
www.aft.org/news/nurses-...

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If you aren't already connected to a local network, "when ICE comes to MY city" will be too late to get started. Start now. Look for trainings now. Look for solidarity opportunities now. Connect with your local chapter of Indivisible, immigrant solidarity groups, some unions - start now.

Themes for Higher Education Reform Higher education in America is in a state of crisis.

The Heritage Foundation wrote Project 2025, which helped motivate many federal policy changes in the last year. Here is their follow-up document, which will definitely get traction at the Department of Education and in red states.

Join @aft.org tomorrow at 6 pm for a webinar to examine the current state of immigration enforcement, the implications of these policy shifts, and what they mean in practice for educators, healthcare workers, students and families.

Register here: event.on24.com/wcc/r/520923...

Join us tomorrow! Featuring higher ed members but all are welcome

Faculty firings over Kirk commentary are unraveling The fierce First Amendment clash between faculty and their colleges sparked by the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is starting to tip in the educators’ favor.

"These court victories tell us that … we have a right to say that Charlie Kirk said some disgusting things, and just because we’re faculty members doesn’t mean we don’t have the right to say those things.”

– Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

Why Parents and Students Should Care About Academic Freedom • NC Newsline More than anything that draws students to our campuses — more than winning sports teams and fancy dining halls, state-of-the-art labs and well-stocked libraries — academic freedom is what makes our un...

Academic freedom is the freedom to discuss current events in the classroom, to research topics that may be poorly understood or controversial, & the freedom from censorship (even when critiquing the workplace) Like all freedoms, academic freedom calls for ethical use.
ncnewsline.com/2026/01/26/w...

Congress Proposes Increasing NIH Budget, Maintaining ED Appropriators have released legislation that wouldn’t defund Education Department programs or slash the National Institutes of Health budget. And it would prohibit the federal government from capping ...

In September, @AFT.org and @AAUP.org members went to the Hill to lobby for full funding for life saving research and programs that create opportunities for students. Glad to see Congress agrees that #HigherEdBenefitsEveryone. @AFTHigherEd.bsky.social www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Opinion | One Year of Trump. The Time to Act Is Now, While We Still Can.

This is important. We must fight–right now–to strengthen our democracy against this administration’s attacks because we can no longer count on our freedoms to be available tomorrow.. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/o...