Some 300,000 teachers and others might lose their jobs this year as administrators make difficult school cuts. One union launched a campaign on National Teacher Day to highlight the issue.

Some 300,000 teachers and others might lose their jobs this year as administrators make difficult school cuts. One union launched a campaign on National Teacher Day to highlight the issue.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) launched a “Pink Hearts, Not Pink Slips” campaign designed to bring attention to the 300,000 teachers, school staff, and college faculty who it says are in danger of losing their jobs this year. The campaign supports legislation that would provide an additional $23 billion in federal money to help avert layoffs.

“The level and magnitude of these cuts are unsustainable,” said AFT president Randi Weingarten in a press conference Tuesday morning. “It’s lunacy to be making cuts of this magnitude as we’re working on education reform to help all students learn.”

Rep. George Miller (D) of California and Sen. Tom Harkin (D) of Iowa also spoke about the legislation they’ve introduced: The $23 billion “education jobs fund” would be modeled after the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which was created last year with education stimulus money and helped many states with tough budget situations.