WHEREAS, the American Federation of School Administrators has joined with other leading education groups to form the Coalition to Support Grieving Students; and

WHEREAS, coalition members have developed educational materials for the use of educators, parents and community members to deal with all areas of grief and loss; and

WHEREAS, the coalition has set up guidelines on how to respond to the death of a student or staff member; and

WHEREAS a bipartisan Congress overwhelmingly approved the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA); and

WHEREAS, ESSA provides new opportunities for states to use Title II, Part A funds to invest in principal leadership; and

WHEREAS, many states already have taken advantage of the optional 3 percent of Title II, Part A funds for school leadership activities; and

WHEREAS, states also report that Title II, Part A funds make possible the majority of their professional learning activities for teachers; and

WHEREAS, several locals of the American Federation of School Administrators have developed chapters within their locals to serve the needs of retired administrators; and

WHEREAS, retired administrators can serve as valuable resources for active administrators in helping with ongoing issues within the locals; and

WHEREAS, retired administrators benefit from continuing their membership within the American Federation of School Administrators;

WHEREAS, Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Puerto Rico has determined that public education is a foundation of our democracy; and

WHEREAS, there are some 300,000 students in more than 1,000 public schools in Puerto Rico; and

WHEREAS, the growing number of school closures is having a profoundly negative impact on the students of Puerto Rico; and

WHEREAS, there are proposals in Puerto Rico to close or privatize more schools; and

WHEREAS, the American Federation of School Administrators currently does not have a recruitment program to encourage public charter school administrators to become members of AFSA; and

WHEREAS, there is a growing number of public charter school administrators who could be eligible for membership in AFSA; and

WHEREAS, public charter school administrators would benefit from membership in our organization;

WHEREAS, public school administrators play a crucial role in educating our nations children; and

WHEREAS, local aspiring teachers and educators understand the educational needs of the local student population; and

WHEREAS, highly qualified teachers and educators should be encouraged to become school administrators; and

WHEREAS, local AFSA members have the talent and experience to act as mentors and coaches for aspiring school administrators;

Whereas, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United has given unprecedented power to corporations and special interests to finance political campaigns; and

Whereas, the decision has resulted in massive amounts of campaign contributions being contributed to Political Action Committees (PACs) whose funds are directed, often in complete secrecy, to political candidates willing to do the bidding of corporations and special interests; and

Whereas, the nation is faced with a multipronged attack on the rights of workers, in both the private and public sectors, and the negotiated contracts that have been earned through the collective bargaining process at the negotiating table; and

Whereas, many states and interest groups have embraced an exclusionary trend toward immigrants’ rights, voter rights and the placement of restrictions on such rights as granted by the 15th Amendment to the Constitution; and

Whereas, members of the American Federation of School Administrators are engaged participants in the political process that defines and strengthens our democracy; and

Whereas, as along—time affiliate of the AFL-CIO, AFSA shares the federation’s concern for the well being of all workers and recognizes the necessity of engaged political activism in the electoral process to ensure the rights and benefits of all union members; and

Whereas, federal policies for performance standards, educator evaluations and strategies for turning around underperforming schools have been developed without input from the school leaders responsible for overseeing these policies; and