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From Chalkboards to AI: A Teacher’s 65-Year Journey

On her very first day of student teaching at Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, N.Y., Martha Strever pushed, pulled and pounded on the school’s door, which was locked. No one came. Where was everybody? It was, after all, the first day of school.

It turned out everybody was exactly where they were supposed to be: inside, having entered through the school’s front entrance. Strever had been knocking on a side door. Flustered but undeterred, she not only found her way inside, she also found her life’s calling.

Strever’s sentences are punctuated with laughs when she recounts the story to

Photo credit: SDI Productions / E+ / Getty Images

Paraprofessionals and school-related personnel are often overlooked because of their support roles. They are the last ones hired and often the first ones fired when budgets get tight. This certainly seems true right now as the Trump administration withholds nearly $7 billion in education funds, effective July 1, which has hamstrung summer school programs, hindered English language support, halted professional development this summer, and left before- and after-school programs in limbo for the coming school year.

Paraprofessionals are key employees in all these programs. For example, in Alabama

It is clear that higher education is under attack. The Trump administration has frozen funding for science, from cancer research to reproductive care; has hamstrung student financial aid programs; has stripped colleges and universities of diversity, equity and inclusion programming; has strangled affirmative action designed to expand access to college; and is demanding that some institutions sign a “compact” that forces them to adopt Trump’s ideology in exchange for federal funding.

On Nov. 7, students, faculty and staff rose up at more than 100 universities and colleges across the country and

New Louisiana Education Laws for 2025-2026

As an educator, it's important to keep yourself informed about our new laws, especially those related to education, Here's a rundown of many of this year's education-related laws, with links to more information about each, should you want to take a deeper dive into the language.

We Stand with Our Immigrant Students and Their Families

A wave of panic is spreading through immigrant communities, especially in families with children in our schools.

New Louisiana Education Laws for 2024-2025

Gov. Landry's term started with multiple legislative sessions and more than a thousand bills filed between them. Though the volume was overwhelming, we were able to fight off some horrible bills—this year.

UTNO Joins with Unions Across the Country in Calling for a Ceasefire

UTNO joins our voices with other labor unions across the country to call loudly for a ceasefire as part of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire.

UTNO Statement on Tawfic Abdeljabbar

We deeply mourn the tragic loss of all life, including the recent murder of 17-year-old Tawfic Abdeljabbar, former student of Muslim Academy Gretna Islamic School in the Greater New Orleans region, by an Israeli settler in the West Bank.

UTNO Event Calendar

On Friday, the Policy and Planning Board of the Louisiana Office of Group Benefits (OGB) met to consider a proposed rate hike. Increasing rates would result in added health insurance costs for teachers and school employees across the state, along with other public employees.

LFT sent out an action alert as soon as news of the meeting was made public. In less than 24 hours, thousands of teachers and school employees wrote to the board, asking them to vote ‘no’ on the proposed increase to the cost of their insurance.

LFT Legislative and Political Director Cynthia Posey spoke before the Board on Friday, relaying the concerns of our members and asking the board members to oppose any rate hikes this year. While we fully recognize the importance of having a stable, well-funded account balance that will ensure reliable insurance coverage for our members, we oppose efforts to unnecessarily increase costs. Currently, the OGB fund is well above target rates. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor recommends that the OGB fund balance should be roughly $275 million. Currently, it sits at $430.8 million. This is money that state agencies and state employees, like teachers and school employees, have paid into the system.