Books Not Bombs

The threats to federal education programs have become acute, with funds for PELL grants, title I and disability programs at risk in the Trump/Musk Administration. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, has proposed termination of many Dept of Education programs which local school districts count on. This is in part due to right wing hostility to public education, and in part to the Administration priority of vastly increasing investment in military budgets by hundreds of billions of dollars. These include funds for Israels for Israel, for war in Ukraine and for new and dangerous nuclear weapons.

Though organizations representing teachers and educators, including NEA, AFT and AAUP, have come together to resist the proposed cuts, it remains difficult to reach parents, who generally lack statewide organizations. Their local school district organizations rarely address the federal budget.

One goal of The Books not Bombs campaign is an effort to link parental concerns with educator concerns, over the cuts in the Federal Dept of Educatoin budget, and the diversion of taxpayer’s dollars to the machinery of war. The program of two recent Forums Oct 26, 2024 , and Saturday May 24th, explored paths to protect the federal budget supporting public schools, and continuing to try to reach out to parents and grandparents among our Peace Action affiliates and their local allies including chapters of Progressive Democrats of America and Our Revolution.

A second goal functions in cooperation with the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers. The AAUP and AFT have organized a national campaign resisting the Trump attacks on our campuses, to engage faculty, staffs, students and alumni The call is for teach-ins on the first Fridays of the month leading up to a national event on Friday May 1, 2026. The Greater Boston area is home to more than 50 colleges and universities, but few have active AAUP chapters or AFT locals. To advance the Days of Action Campaign in Greater Boston the Books Not Bombs Committee has organized a series of Zoom Teach-ins. The Programs of these Teach-ins can be found below under “Teach-ins”.

The Books Not Bombs Committee is hosted by the Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund. It includes parents, grandparents, teachers and campus faculty. We meet monthly by Zoom. Members include representatives of the Mass Teachers Association, the American Federation of Teachers MA, Citizens for Public Schools, AAUP chapters, and other peace and justice groups. To be added to our listserv please e-mail books-not-bombs@masspeaceaction.org.

Events