Kids are heading back to school across the country, and already districts are reversing openings and grappling with teacher shortages because of coronavirus outbreaks.

Our federal government—and many state governments—haven’t done enough to safely reopen schools, and the negative effects will fall on all of us: reduced opportunity for kids, financial uncertainty for parents and teachers, and an uptick in death and disease for many communities.

We need leaders who understand how high the stakes are. That’s why for back-to-school season, we’re debuting a new slate of the most competitive red-to-blue Congressional races, all featuring candidates who are former teachers.

Give $5 or more to each of the seven women on our Back to School | Teachers Take Congress slate.

People making policy should have actual classroom experience, which these women have in spades.

• Joyce Elliott (AR-2) and Rita Hart (IA-2) were high school teachers before serving in their respective state senates—Joyce as the majority leader.
• Jill Schupp (MO-2) was an elementary school teacher before also serving in the state senate.
• Betsy Dirksen Londrigan (IL-13) worked for Teach for America in Baltimore before becoming a nonprofit leader in her own community.
• Alyse Galvin (AK-AL) worked as a K-12 substitute teacher before founding Great Alaska Schools to advocate against education budget cuts.
• Dana Balter (NY-24) and Candace Valenzuela (TX-24) both worked as special education teachers.

We desperately need leaders in government who can get the virus under control, so we can open schools and parents can go back to work, safely.

Chip in $5 to these seven former teachers who can be the leaders we need.