AFT Book Club: A Conversation with Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider

Join us for our September AFT Book Club session featuring AFT President Randi Weingarten and distinguished authors Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider, discussing their compelling new book The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual.

Engage in a critical conversation as Berkshire and Schneider, renowned experts in education policy, delve into the current culture war engulfing our schools. They'll shed light on the efforts of extremist groups to ban books, limit educational content and undermine the foundations of public education. Through their insights, you'll gain a deeper understanding of the sudden obsession with race and gender in schools, the rise of book banning, and the impact of school vouchers on education finances.

In this session, they will also explore the "parents’ rights" movement, student and taxpayer rights, and how the pursuit of "religious freedom" can lead to discrimination against vulnerable children. Their book serves as a road map for parents, teachers, and students to navigate and combat these pressing issues, ensuring the survival of public education amid these challenges.

AFT President Randi Weingarten will join the discussion, adding her valuable perspective and expertise on the fight for public education and the challenges facing our schools today.

Don’t miss this enlightening and essential discussion that promises to inform and empower the millions of Americans who believe in the value of public education.

Save the date and join us for this vital dialogue on the future of our schools and democracy.

REGISTER HERE

Learn more about the AFT Book Club: https://bit.ly/aftbookclub

Jennifer Berkshire writes about education and politics for the , the , the , the , and other publications. The creator and co-host of the education policy podcast “Have You Heard,” she teaches in the Pr*son Education Program at Boston College. She is the author of two previous books, including (with Jack Schneider).

Jack Schneider is the Dwight W. Allen Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he leads the Beyond Test Scores Project. An award-winning scholar, his work broadly explores the influence of history, culture and rhetoric in education policy. The author of five previous books, Schneider writes frequently about education in outlets like the , the , and the . He is the co-founder of the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment, co-host of the education policy podcast “Have You Heard,” and co-editor of History of Education Quarterly. He lives in Somerville, Mass., where his daughter is enrolled in the public schools.

Randi Weingarten is president of the 1.7 million-member AFT, AFL-CIO, which represents teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state and federal government employees; and early childhood educators. The AFT champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for students, their families and communities. The AFT and its members advance these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through members’ work.

Professional Credit

Available for one-hour of PD credit. A certificate of completion will be available for download at the end of your session that you can submit for your school's or district's approval.

Share My Lesson is a New York State Education Department-approved provider for Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) requirements, an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) approved professional development provider, and a Texas Education Agency (TEA) approved professional development provider.

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