TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009   * AFT President Comments on "American Education Week" * AFT and Save the Children Team Up   Lessons for American Education Week: Celebrated November 15-21, American Education Week spotlights the importance of providing every child in America with a high-quality public education from kindergarten through college, and recognizes the need for everyone to do his or her part in making public schools great.   AFT President Randi Weingarten suggests that American Education Week "is a good time to focus on the best methods to ensure that our public schools are places where all students can get a high-quality education so they can navigate life, compete in our knowledge-based economy, and reach their God-given potential." She adds:    "I have seen firsthand that the best way to strengthen education and turn around low-performing schools is to create a collaborative environment in which all stakeholders work together and share their best ideas. Teachers, students, parents, school administrators, elected leaders and community groups need to join forces to create positive change.    "AFT is committed to supporting ideas to improve education. Last month, we announced the first recipients of the AFT Innovation Fund (www.aft.org/innovate). We asked our members to think outside the box, and they responded with promising, bottom-up, teacher-led reform initiatives. From creating innovative teacher evaluation and compensation systems, to establishing community schools, to developing more effective teacher recruitment and retention programs, AFT is leading reform efforts that are good for kids and fair to teachers.   "Student success is our first priority. We are dedicated to creating a culture of collaboration and cooperation in our schools to make them 21st-century learning centers."   Uniting a Generation:  AFT is teaming up with Save the Children (STC) on its campaign to end child poverty in the United States. For its 2010 campaign, Valentine's Day cards designed by students that illustrate this year's theme, Uniting a Generation, will be given as a gift with a donation to benefit Save the Children's efforts to end child poverty in the U.S.   One of your student's cards could be selected for the campaign! Students across the country are encouraged to design a Valentine's Day card that illustrates one or more of the values needed to be successful in school and life and to help work to end childhood poverty in the U.S. Cards must be submitted by the student's school and will be voted on by children across the country. Each school may only submit one entry for each of the following grade categories: PreK-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-10, 11-12. The top vote-getters in each of the five categories will be turned into the STC Valentine's Day cards and the winning artists will receive a $500 savings bond. For complete lists of rules, prizes and information on how to enter the contest, go to: www.savethechildren.org/cardcontest.   AFT encourage all schools to get involved in this campaign and has provided activities (at http://www.aft.org/tools4teachers/generation-united/index.htm) for all grade levels to help you engage your students around the important values and virtues that are needed to help end child poverty in the U.S. and that will help all children build resilience and be successful in school and in life.