For the subsequent month or so, I’ll be republishing my finest posts from the final half of 2025.
Throughout my nineteen yr neighborhood organizing profession, we (and most different organizing teams) sometimes had two forms of campaigns.
In a single, the neighborhood points had been recognized via scores, if not a whole lot, of home conferences and particular person conferences. Leaders of these efforts would meet with organizers to develop methods to work on these points. We’d begin with small actions, resulting in large-scale negotiations. We’d usually win, and the group was a lot stronger afterwards. Although our member establishments paid dues, foundations who really understood organizing and had a long-term imaginative and prescient for what was potential supported us doing this sort of work.
Within the different, we both ran after basis cash or the muse cash ran after us. Funders would determine their precedence problem or points, and we’d type of determine a solution to do a “shotgun marriage” between these points and the problems recognized by our constituents. We’d carve out a while paid for by these funds to do a number of the first sort of organizing, however needed to spend extra time on this second sort, which typically led to concrete wins for our leaders and members, however most of the time didn’t result in stronger organizations.
The American Federation of Academics at present introduced they’re beginning an AI coaching middle for academics and the true query is which a type of two examples is their origin story:
OpenAI and Microsoft Bankroll New A.I. Training for Academics www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/t… reward hyperlink
[image or embed]
— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) July 8, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Did AFT members and leaders spend the previous yr recognizing that districts had been dropping the ball on offering steering to academics, and discover methods they fill that vacuum? And, then, did they spend time inviting members to replicate on what their AI priorities may be – how you can educate the ethics of AI to college students? Are there some areas, like with ELLs, that AI could possibly be useful and others the place it was not? What could possibly be gained and misplaced in having AI develop lesson plans and assess scholar work?
And, then, after figuring out these points via an in depth listening effort amongst their members, did AFT management then develop a plan for the way the union may systematically experiment and provide steering?
Lastly, in any case that was finished, did the AFT go to the massive AI corporations and say, “That is our plan. Do you wish to give us cash to implement it?”
Or, did AFT simply run after the cash?
I’ve a number of respect for AFT president Randi Weingarten and don’t consider she would, however I’ve no inside data – simply what’s in The NY Instances article.
Actually the Instances article tells an origin story of the second means. However that positively doesn’t imply it’s correct.
However we’ll all know the true origin story of this effort by its outcomes, or lack of outcomes, a yr or so from now.
Source link
#True #Origin #Story #AFTs #Training #Center #Success #Flop
