Here’s a letter to the editor in The Hill by Diann Woodard, president of the School Administrators (AFSA), the only national education union representing principals, assistant principals and school administrators.

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at DemocraticDiva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

Hundreds of high school students walked out of their Tucson, Ariz., schools Monday in a coordinated protest against the banishment of the district’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program. This from Common Dreams:

AFT and West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced they are leading an unprecedented public-private partnership to improve educational opportunity and address complex social and economic problems in the Central Appalachia community of McDowell County, W.Va.

The labor movement, the union-owned financial services company Ullico and the state of Oregon are partnering in a $15 million “Cool Schools” initiative that includes repairs, rebuilding and energy retrofits. Says AFT President Randi Weingarten:

In “The State of Young America: The Databook,” the economic experts at Demos demonstrate that by virtually every measure, the fortunes of America’s young people are falling under a deluge of debt, shrinking opportunity, rising costs of living and lack of access to health care.

Jennifer Wright Dorr of Union Plus reports on the Union Plus Credit Card’s education rebates.

Sharon Wallace, of Ewing, N.J., a 32-year member and activist of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1036, recently learned that being a Union Plus Credit Card holder pays—$250, in fact. Wallace, a state government environmental engineer, received a $250 rebate for paying her college expenses with her union credit card as part of the Union Plus Education Rebate program.

When housing prices began to take a dive, revenues to state and local governments plummeted. Housing construction shuddered to a halt, creating ranks of unemployed workers who began drawing unemployment benefits rather than paying local taxes on their previously middle-class salaries. The businesses of suppliers and  service-providers to contractors were forced into downturn. And many states continued to cut taxes, causing a perfect storm of budget woes for the states.

Kenneth Bernstein, a National Board Certified Social Studies teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt. Md. sends us this report.  He is a nationally known as a blogger on education and other topics as “teacherken”

Yesterday, Oct. 5, was World Teachers Day.  As you can see at UNESCO’s website, the annual celebration honors “the essential role of teachers in providing quality education at all levels.”   The day is the anniversary of the 1966 signing of The Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers adopted by the Special Intergovernmental Task Force on Teachers.

The economic and social problems, the hate and the fear we see around us today can only be solved by a fresh generation of committed, smart, tireless and creative activists, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told the nearly 800 young workers, activists and student  at the Next Up Young Workers Summit today.

President Obama’s American Jobs Act includes $25 billion to repair and modernize public schools and another $30 billion to prevent layoffs of teachers and other educators. It would help keep as many as 280,000 educators on the job.