The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins today! This joyous time is celebrated by close to two billion people around the globe. To all of our members and communities celebrating, we wish you a blessed and peaceful Ramadan.

Happy Lunar New Year!! Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Fire Horse -- a time celebrated by millions around the world with festive gatherings and vibrant traditions. To our members and their families celebrating, we wish you prosperity, health, and happiness in the year ahead!!

Happy Presidents Day! As we honor our nation's Presidents, we are reminded that the qualities that make great leaders -- courage, integrity, and service to others -- are taught in our classrooms and school communities. Thank you to our members who lead by example every day!

Franklin Park Teachers in District 84 turning out for Full Funding Friday!! Thank you for supporting our students and public schools across Illinois!!

Argo, Elmhurst, District 88, and Mannheim Teacher's Council wearing blue in support of Full Funding Fridays!!

WSTU571 will be sharing educational resources for our members looking to celebrate Black History Month in their schools and classrooms!

On Jan 27, we join people around the world to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust as part of International #HolocaustRemembranceDay. @sharemylesson.bsky.social has great resources that can be found here: sharemylesson.com/blog/holocau...

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr today.

"To understand the administration’s true aim, it is helpful to consult the policy playbook that has guided their work since President Trump took office last January: Project 2025, the manifesto that President Trump immediately embraced after taking office."

Follow WSTU571 on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.

Thank you to Argo Teachers, Riverside Education Council, District 88, Rosemont 78, and the Elmhurst Teacher's Council for the great pics!! #FirstFridays #DayofAction #IFT

You don’t lose your right to express yourself the day you become a teacher. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/u...

Democrats are comfortable fighting Trump, but to change the country we need to do more than critique; Americans want solutions & there’s lots of room to work on economic pathways to success and creating opportunity for all. Thanks @DashaBurns for the conversation. www.politico.com/video/2025/1...

"Public school supporters are concerned the program will lead to reduced funding for public schools and worry about educational equity and accountability at private schools. "

“This is about workforce development and supporting our domestic—including immigrant—talent pipeline that colleges and universities train, educate, nurture, and that go on to fuel the workforces … in communities and states,” she said.

"Since the start of the Trump administration in January, Head Start, like many federally-backed programs, has come under the microscope of budget-cutters operating largely under the "Project 2025" governing blueprint that urged the termination of Head Start."

Visit our site for scholarship links!

"Only about 1 in 4 U.S. teachers believe that their profession is valued in society, a 10 percentage-point drop since 2018... While educators may feel that their communities value their work “in a general way,” Kreamer said, many are “not feeling like they have a lot of voice in education policy.”

Looking for a listen? Hear AFT President Randi Weingarten speaking about her new book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers: www.wmnf.org/wide-awake-a...

"Illinois’ new complaint details Trump’s rhetoric over the last month or so, including his social media post that reads “I love the smell of deportations in the morning” and adds that Chicago is “about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”

"Now, amid the government shutdown, Trump is moving to further fulfill Project 2025’s goals of reducing the federal workforce and extending his executive powers—and, it appears, openly embracing the plan. Project 2025 is a sweeping policy agenda spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation."

"States that have weakened labor rights by enacting so-called “right-to-work” laws shed 179,000 union members last year and their workers now earn about 7% less than their peers in states such as Illinois — even after adjusting for cost of living."

Know Your Rights.

"[Authoritarians] fear what educators do—the teaching of critical thinking, of honest history, of pluralism—because their brand of greed, power and privilege cannot survive in a democracy of diverse, educated citizens." More from @rweingarten.bsky.social: www.aft.org/column/why-f... @aft.org

Grateful to all who attended the 20th Annual Legislative Breakfast!

“Thousands of Illinois residents rely on these programs to lawfully seek critical health care without fear of deportation,” said Melissa Kula, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, noting that any federal cut would be “impossible” for the state to backfill."

"Some teachers have out-of-date history textbooks, and online resources from institutions like the Smithsonian can fill the gaps."

Happening now! Join @rweingarten.bsky.social, @proftwolf.bsky.social, @afthighered.bsky.social, @aaup.org and more for a webinar discussing the current threats to higher education - and how we as educators, students, and activists can come together to protect it. Follow along in the thread below!

What are your plans this Labor Day? Join us and stand up for what #WorkersDeserve: Chicago RSVP: https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/event/806237/ Events around the state: https://www.mobilize.us/aft/?country=US&state=IL&tag_ids=26595

This Labor Day we will continue to stand strong, fighting for public schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, shared prosperity over corporate politics. #workersdeserve ✍️ Register for Chicago's Labor Day event: https://www.mobilize.us/aflcio/event/806237/

"We found that public education has been essential for not only creating an educated workforce but for inculcating the United States’ fundamental values of liberty, equality, fairness and the common good."

"Unions don’t just improve workers’ paychecks—they shape the social and political fabric of the communities they operate in, lifting standards for union and nonunion workers alike."

Wishing all of our members heading back to school a wonderful year ahead!!

This Labor Day is our chance to stand together with the people we fight for every day: our members, families, and communities. Across Illinois, educators and allies will be in parades and at events, calling for fairness, respect, and real investment in our public schools and public services.

📣📣📣 WSTU 571 represented at #TEACH25 where members collaborated with government leaders to strengthen public education, challenged efforts to undermine and underfund our public schools, and came home feeling invigorated and inspired for the year ahead!!