Statement of Sandra Feldman, President
American Federation of Teachers
On Passage of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill

Washington, D.C.--The Omnibus Appropriations bill that passed the Senate today reads like the White House’s wish list: using public dollars to fund private school vouchers in the District of Columbia, providing inadequate increases for education programs marking an eight year low, and denying workers their right to overtime pay.

Vouchers and overtime limits didn’t survive straight up-or-down votes on their merits, so the Bush administration pushed their inclusion in the omnibus bill. Slipped in with countless vital projects, their passage was all but guaranteed.

This maneuver is an affront to the American public. Americans want Congress and the President to keep their commitment to support public schools. They have rejected school vouchers every time they have had a say on the issue, as they have twice in the District of Columbia. They expect that when they work an hour of overtime, they will be paid for that work. Just as important, they expect such fundamental rights to be protected, not ripped away from them through back door tactics.

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The AFT represents more than 1.3 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.