AFSA has submitted three major resolutions to the upcoming AFL-CIO Convention in Minneapolis this June, urging organized labor to take a stronger national stand on school safety, gun violence prevention, workplace protections, and civic education.
The resolutions, developed from priorities adopted at AFSA’s convention last year, are expected to place public education issues prominently before delegates representing millions of union members from across the country. Once adopted, AFL-CIO resolutions help shape the federation’s legislative agenda, advocacy campaigns, organizing priorities, and policy direction for the next three years.
AFSA leaders say the proposals reflect growing concerns among educators and school employees about violence, political polarization, declining civic engagement, and the increasing pressures facing public schools nationwide.
One of the centerpiece resolutions focuses on the alarming rise in threats, harassment, intimidation, and violence directed at school leaders, teachers, and education workers. The proposal describes a nationwide pattern of escalating hostility toward educators both in schools and online, creating unsafe working conditions and contributing to burnout, attrition, and staffing shortages.
The resolution calls on the AFL-CIO to treat violence against educators as a major labor and workplace safety issue. AFSA is urging the labor federation to support stronger criminal penalties for assaults and threats against school employees, advocate for enhanced workplace violence prevention laws, and push for stronger enforcement mechanisms to protect educators and their families from intimidation and harassment.
The proposal also calls for comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans in schools, mandatory safety training, improved reporting systems, greater investment in mental health and conflict resolution programs, and the creation of a National Task Force on Workplace Violence in Education made up of educators, labor leaders, public safety experts, and policymakers.
AFSA argues that attacks on educators are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader rise in workplace violence affecting public-sector workers nationwide. The resolution states that safe schools depend on safe working conditions for teachers, principals, school administrators, and education support staff.
A second AFSA resolution centers on strengthening civics education and democratic participation.
The proposal highlights growing concerns that students are not receiving adequate preparation for informed participation in democratic life at a time when misinformation, declining civic engagement, and political division are increasing across the country.
The resolution urges the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions to support expanded civics instruction that includes government structure, constitutional principles, media literacy, critical thinking, labor history, workers’ rights, and economic justice. AFSA argues that the labor movement itself has historically served as one of the nation’s strongest democratic institutions by educating and mobilizing working people.
The proposal comes as the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, which AFSA says should serve as an opportunity to recommit to democratic values and civic participation.
AFSA’s third resolution directly addresses gun violence and school safety, describing gun violence as both a national public health crisis and a workplace safety emergency for educators and school employees.
The proposal, titled “Protecting School Communities from Gun Violence,” points to the lasting trauma caused by school shootings since the Columbine High School massacre and states that thousands of lives continue to be lost each year due to gun violence across the United States.
The resolution calls on the AFL-CIO to support comprehensive federal action to reduce gun violence and improve school safety. Among the measures AFSA is advocating for are stronger universal background checks for firearm purchases, closing loopholes that allow unregulated gun sales, and banning military-style semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines for civilian use.
At the same time, the proposal strongly opposes policies that arm teachers, principals, or school staff. AFSA argues there is no credible evidence showing that arming educators prevents school shootings and warns that such policies could escalate dangerous situations while placing educators in roles they were never trained to perform.
Instead, the resolution calls for investments in proven safety strategies, including improved coordination with law enforcement, trained school safety personnel, modernized security infrastructure, comprehensive emergency preparedness plans, and expanded mental health resources for students.
AFSA is also urging increased funding for counselors, psychologists, social workers, crisis intervention programs, and violence prevention initiatives that address the root causes of violence while preserving welcoming and inclusive school environments.
The proposal further calls for expanded training for school leaders and staff in threat assessment, emergency response, and crisis management, as well as community education programs that promote shared responsibility for school safety.
Taken together, the three resolutions represent a broad effort by AFSA to elevate public education issues within the national labor movement and frame school safety, educator protections, and civic education as core labor issues affecting workers, families, and communities across the country.
As AFL-CIO delegates prepare to gather in Minneapolis this summer, AFSA leaders say they hope the convention will send a strong national message that protecting educators, strengthening democracy, and ensuring safe schools must remain central priorities for organized labor and public policymakers alike.
