Unions

Read more about labor groups that organize teachers and other educators around workplace issues and negotiate contracts with districts
Em DePriest of Kansas speaks on behalf of a proposal to create an early career teacher working group. Members of the National Education Association's Aspiring Educators Program move to bring an initiative to a vote during the NEA Representative Assembly in Portland, Ore., on July 3, 2025.
Em DePriest, a teacher in Kansas, speaks in favor of a proposal to create an early-career teacher working group. Members of the National Education Association's Aspiring Educators program moved to bring the initiative to a vote during the NEA representative assembly in Portland, Ore., on July 3, 2025.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession ‘You Can Lead Now’: Inside the NEA’s Plan to Engage New Teachers
In an aging workforce, the nation's largest teachers' union seeks ways to engage younger educators.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 9, 2025
3 min read
Illustration of female teacher in classroom using artificial intelligence.
iStock/Getty
Artificial Intelligence Microsoft, OpenAI Partner With AFT to Train Teachers on AI
The announcement comes as a rising number of school districts are providing AI training to teachers and administrators.
Alyson Klein, July 8, 2025
4 min read
The National Education Association's Republic Educators Caucus tabled at the NEA Representative Assembly on July 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore
The National Education Association's Republic Educators Caucus had a table at the NEA representative assembly on July 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore. The national teachers' union has been working to engage conservative teachers and communities.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession Can the National Education Association Win Over Republican Members?
Union leaders seek common ground with conservative teachers while managing an active, mostly liberal membership.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 8, 2025
5 min read
NEA President Becky Pringle sits for a portrait during the union's annual representative assembly in Portland, Ore., on July 4, 2025.
NEA President Becky Pringle sits for a portrait during the union's annual representative assembly in Portland, Ore., on July 4, 2025. She is entering her final year as the president of the nation's largest teachers' union.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession Q&A 'We’re Not Done Yet': NEA President Becky Pringle on the Union's Next Steps
The leader of the nation's largest teachers' union promises more activism.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 7, 2025
4 min read
The National Education Association choir sings before the union's annual representative assembly on July 3, 2025, in Portland, Ore.
Attendees of the National Education Association's 2025 representative assembly cheer during a speech by NEA President Becky Pringle on July 3, 2025, in Portland, Ore. Delegates voted on a wide range of measures, including some related to teacher safety, immigration, and cellphones.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession Trump Looms Large as the Nation's Largest Teachers' Union Sets Its Priorities
During its annual meeting, the NEA strategized about its response to federal education policies.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 6, 2025
8 min read
Houston ISD's appointed school board votes on the "District of Innovation" status during their monthly work session meeting at HISD Central Office on Sept. 7, 2023 in Houston.
Houston's appointed school board takes a vote during a meeting on Sept. 7, 2023 in the district's central office. A number of studies from recent years have answered questions about school boards' makeup, how competitive board elections are, whether conflict is on the rise, and more.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP
School & District Management What the Research Says About School Boards: How Much Conflict Really Is There?
Plus, how competitive are board elections? How much do teachers' union endorsements matter?
Caitlynn Peetz, July 3, 2025
7 min read
Shannon Perry, a special education teacher from Centreville, Va., wears a handmaids costume while attending a "No Kings Day" protest on Presidents Day in Washington, in support of federal workers and against recent actions by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, on Feb. 17, 2025, by the Capitol in Washington. The protest was organized by the 50501 Movement, which stands for 50 Protests 50 States 1 Movement.
Shannon Perry, a special education teacher from Centreville, Va., wears a handmaid costume while attending a No Kings protest against the Trump administration on President's Day in Washington on Feb. 17, 2025. The two national teachers' unions helped organize the rallies, which culminated in huge walkouts nationwide on June 14.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Teaching Profession How Teachers' Unions Are Confronting the Second Trump Era
Can teachers' unions thread the needle between countering widespread anti-union measures and broadening membership and public support?
Sarah D. Sparks, June 25, 2025
17 min read
A kindergarten teacher works one-on-one with a student during a small-group math activity.
A kindergarten teacher works one-on-one with a student during a small-group math activity.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Teaching Profession Data Average Teacher Pay Increased Again This Year—Sort of. See How Your State Fared
Inflation is taking a bite out of teachers' paychecks, according to new state-by-state salary data.
Jennifer Vilcarino, May 7, 2025
3 min read
Sarah Hinger (center), deputy director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, takes questions from reporters after oral arguments in a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire seeking to block the Trump administration from requiring public schools to end DEI programs on April 17, 2025.
Sarah Hinger (center), deputy director of the ACLU racial justice program, takes questions from reporters after oral arguments in a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire seeking to block the Trump administration from requiring public schools to end DEI programs on April 17, 2025. Two federal judges on Thursday issued orders limiting the Trump administration's ability to enforce its anti-DEI directives to schools and colleges.
Courtesy of Ethan DeWitt/New Hampshire Bulletin
Law & Courts Trump Can't Enforce Anti-DEI Directives in Schools, 3 Judges Say
Three judges, including two Trump appointees, said the administration had overstepped its authority in its efforts to rid schools of DEI.
Matthew Stone, April 24, 2025
7 min read
Kim Anderson, the executive director of the National Education Association (NEA), speaks during a demonstration at the headquarters of the Department of Education, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Washington.
Kim Anderson, the executive director of the National Education Association, speaks during a demonstration at the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education on March 14, 2025, in Washington. The NEA and the American Federation of Teachers have both filed lawsuits seeking to block President Donald Trump's efforts to dismantle the Education Department.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Law & Courts NEA, AFT Sue to Block Trump’s Education Department Dismantling
The nation’s two largest teachers’ unions are asking federal courts to halt efforts to close the U.S. Department of Education.
Brooke Schultz, March 24, 2025
4 min read
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, left, greets Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, left, greets Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. The National Education Association and ACLU are suing the U.S. Department of Education over its letter seeking to end race-based programming in schools.
Ben Curtis/AP
Law & Courts Nation's Largest Teachers' Union Sues Education Department Over DEI Threats
It's the second lawsuit to challenge the guidance that seeks to end diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools.
Brooke Schultz, March 5, 2025
4 min read
President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is reviewing federal agencies’ data systems, which includes personal information.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal Teachers’ Union Sues Over Sensitive Data Accessed by Elon Musk's DOGE
The American Federation of Teachers and others allege that three federal agencies improperly disclosed sensitive information.
Lauraine Langreo, February 12, 2025
4 min read
Mary Kay Baum joins hundreds of labor union members at a rally to protest collective bargaining restrictions at the Wisconsin State Capitol Building in Madison, Wis., Aug. 25, 2011. Matthew Ziebarth, a high school social studies teacher in Beaver Dam, joined a lawsuit to overturn the law.
Mary Kay Baum joins hundreds of labor union members at a rally to protest collective bargaining restrictions at the Wisconsin State Capitol Building in Madison, Wis., Aug. 25, 2011. Matthew Ziebarth, a high school social studies teacher in Beaver Dam, joined a lawsuit to overturn the law.
John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Teaching Profession In Their Own Words Why This Teacher Fought Back Against a Law Curbing Teachers' Unions
A high school social studies teacher talks about why he joined the lawsuit against Wisconsin's Act 10.
Sarah D. Sparks, December 18, 2024
7 min read
Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) vice president Betsy Kippers leads a chant during a rally to protest Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill, at the Brown County Courthouse in downtown Green Bay on February 16, 2011.
Wisconsin Education Association Council Vice President Betsy Kippers leads a chant during a rally to protest then-Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill in downtown Green Bay on Feb. 16, 2011. The law severely restricted the scope of collective bargaining for teachers, but was thrown out by a judge more than a decade later.
H. Marc Larson/The Green Bay Press-Gazette via AP
Teaching Profession Law Restricting Teachers' Unions Falls After More Than a Decade
The Wisconsin law, a poster child for efforts to curb collective bargaining over the past decade, was deemed unconstitutional.
Sarah D. Sparks, December 3, 2024
4 min read