Our Community

As a member of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, the AFT joins a national coalition of parent, youth, community and labor organizations fighting for educational justice and equity in access to education for all.

The AFT and First Book are working together to help bring free and low-cost books and educational resources to students, families and communities in need. By engaging community partners, AFT members, school districts and local businesses, we have helped distribute more than 1.5 million books, with the shared goal of increasing literacy and promoting a lifelong love of learning.

The AFT works closely with Food Research and Action Center on promoting healthy school nutrition policies at the local, state and federal levels. We are committed to health and wellness in our schools— to helping all children come to school ready to learn, reducing absenteeism and ensuring access to healthy school food programs.

The AFT has been a longtime supporter of Special Olympics. Many AFT members are active in Special Olympics programs and competitions across the country as supporters, volunteers or coaches. The AFT is a proud sponsor Special Olympics’ Team USA, which competes every two years in the World Games and the annual USA Games.

The BlueGreen Alliance unites 14 of our country’s largest unions and environmental organizations. Acting together, through more than 15 million members and supporters, we are a powerful voice for building a cleaner, fairer and more competitive American economy. The BlueGreen Alliance advocates the growth in the number and quality of jobs in the clean economy by expanding a broad range of industries, including renewable energy; energy efficiency; the substitution of safer, cleaner chemicals; modern transportation systems and advanced vehicle technology; domestic manufacturing; high-speed Internet and a smart, efficient electrical grid; green schools and other public buildings; improving our nation’s water infrastructure; recycling; and sustainable agriculture.

The AFT works with the Healthy Schools Campaign to help ensure that all children have a safe and healthy school to attend and a safe and healthy living environment. Together, we advocate for children to have fresh air, healthy food and physical activity to shape their lifelong learning and health.

Education is a right, but unfortunately not a reality, for many girls and young women around the world. Globally, 61 million children do not attend primary school, more than half of them girls. No...

Estimates by the Association of Farmworker Opportunity programs, based on figures gathered by the Department of Labor, suggest that there are approximately 500,000 child farmworkers in the United States.