We are (still) the change we seek
“We must be the We in ‘We the People!’”
This was just one takeaway in a stemwinder of a speech by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten in Eugene this week as part of the Margaret Hallock Program for Women’s Rights at the University of Oregon’s Wayne Morse Center.
Weingarten, a dynamic speaker with decades of education and labor experience, fears that the ladder of opportunity provided by public schools could erode under a presidency that promises further cuts to public education and a push toward outsourcing our schools.
“They’re working to disrupt and dismantle public schools,” Weingarten said of anti-public school advocates like Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. “They really believe privatization is the be-all and end-all… I call (DeVos) a public school denier because I’m not sure there’s any evidence that will change her mind.”
AFT President Randi Weingarten outlined a path for strong unions and great public education at a speech in Eugene.
Weingarten is troubled by the Trump administration’s evidence-free push to defund preschool, literacy intervention and other programs designed to narrow and close the achievement gap between the haves and the have-nots.
“How do you say nutrition programs don’t help children, but vouchers that have never been shown to help will?” Weingarten said.
Still, while Weingarten isn’t wearing rose-colored glasses, she said the path forward to a more just society relies on good jobs, good healthcare, strong public education, a focus on democracy and fighting bigotry.
“I still believe there is more in America that binds us than divides us,” Weingarten said. “And when you really listen to people, and put your own preconceived notions at bay, you do hear similar hopes and aspirations regardless of who people voted for in the national election.”
Weingarten connects a national rise in poverty — half of public school students are now considered poor — to a steady decline in union membership. This particularly harms women and people of color, she said.
“There is a path to what works that will help create broad-based economic and educational opportunity,” Weingarten said in her closing remarks. “So I ask you: What do we want? Do we want a country that settles for some kids getting the education they need and deserve, or all?”
Contribute to our political action fund
