Press Release

AFT’s Weingarten on the Republican Education Forum

For Release: 

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Contact:

Kate Childs Graham
202/393-6354; cell 202/615-2424
kchilds@aft.org

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the Republican education forum:

"At an event where the big public education ideas are test, blame, punish and privatize, it's sad but no surprise that our union was the piñata. That just emboldens us to keep fighting to reclaim the promise of public education: High-quality early childhood education, great neighborhood schools and affordable, debt-free college. Sadly, the policies these candidates are pushing have undermined that promise. Our children deserve better than what these Republican candidates are selling."

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The AFT represents 1.7 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.

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The Parents, Educators and Owners Partnering for Learning in Early-education for the Kids (PEOPLE for the Kids) includes New Mexico Early Educators United, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers; the Quality Early Learning Association, which represents preschool owners; and the OLÉ Working Parents Association, which represents more than 4,000 parents of young children throughout New Mexico.