You can make a powerful difference in our democracy today—by signing this petition to support a national transformation of K-12 education. At the heart of our nation’s educational crisis is a truth no one wants to admit: America is failing its children, and the people who know how to fix it—our teachers—have no real power to lead.

Two Urgent Problems:

Let’s start with just two of many glaring issues:

• Literacy Failure: Despite spending billions on standardized textbooks and corporate curricula, the U.S. ranks in the bottom half globally for literacy rates.
• The Unseen Teacher Shortage: We don’t have reliable national data on the scope of the teacher shortage. But we do know this—rural, urban, and special education students are being hit the hardest. The lack of transparency and accountability in tracking teacher shortages spans red, blue, and purple states alike.

How is this possible? How did we let the most basic functions of public education collapse? 

While it’s tempting to blame the U.S. Department of Education, the truth is more complicated. The real decision-making power in K-12 education lies with local school districts—and therein lies the problem.

Local school boards often consist of individuals with no educational experience. District leaders and superintendents who haven’t taught in decades (if ever) are making decisions about what happens in classrooms. Billion-dollar textbook and ed-tech corporations profit while veteran teachers are sidelined. Meanwhile, administrators serve at the pleasure of local politicians, with little protection from political pressure or community backlash.

Even the state and county offices that should be overseeing local districts are underfunded, underpowered, or entirely absent from the conversation.

The Root of the Crisis

Our public education system was originally designed in the 1830s—for women who couldn’t vote, own property, or lead. That legacy still haunts us. Today, teachers—our nation’s true experts in education—have no formal, national governing body, no professional board, and no say in how their own profession operates.

We are the only credentialed workforce in America without a national professional organization guiding standards and protecting the integrity of our work.

The Result

A system that rewards profit over people. Corporations rake in billions while classrooms are short-staffed, under-resourced, and over-regulated. Politicians and administrators impose top-down mandates while teachers, who know what actually works, are ignored.

The Solution: A National Professional Teaching Association

It’s time to put teachers back at the center of education. We are calling for the creation of a national professional association of current classroom teachers—like the American Medical Association or the American Bar Association—to:

• Set professional standards and practices
• Ensure accountability in curriculum and governance
• Create paid leadership roles for veteran teachers
• Share equal power with school boards and administrators
• Represent the only voice in K-12 education not influenced by politics or profit

Why Teachers?

Because we are the only group that:

• Holds real, current classroom and K-12 education expertise
• Has earned tenure protections
• Is committed to our students over any political or financial agenda

How Will It Work?

This national association would empower current teachers to lead—by releasing them from part of their classroom responsibilities and giving them official leadership roles at the school, district, state, and national levels. They would work alongside, not beneath, administrators and school boards, with equal power in decision-making.

What We Need from Congress:

Creating this teacher-led workforce will require congressional action. The U.S. Congress must create and fund this national professional teacher association. And if the current Congress won’t act—we’ll keep bringing this petition forward until one does.

What You Can Do:

Sign this petition. Help us reach 100,000 signatures to bring before the U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

By signing, you are:

• Demanding a seat at the table for teachers
• Challenging the unchecked power of corporations and NGOs in education
• Supporting a system led by the people who know what students truly need

This Is Bigger Than Education

If we don’t act now, we risk losing more than our schools—we risk the future of our democracy. Public education is the foundation of self-governance. Without urgent reform, we are watching that foundation crack beneath us.

We’re not asking to be the only leaders—but we are asking to lead alongside others, to help rebuild a system that actually serves our children.

Join us. Sign. Share. Speak up.

Let teachers lead.