And today we are filing suit against Betsy DeVos for her role in sabotaging the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. We must practice what we preach about empowerment and civic participation.The goal of our endorsement process is to determine the candidate (or candidates) who shares our values and can get elected—and for our members to feel ownership of it. It’s in places like Cleveland, where the new teacher evaluation system is more about teacher and student development and less about test scores, and where the union and district are collaborating to reduce unnecessary and unhelpful testing. That we defeated demagoguery and preserved our democracy.The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. This can happen at the state level as well. Too many Americans sat on the sidelines in the last presidential election. But, too often, that optimism wanes under the stress and disrespect we soon experience.It’s being told to teach lockstep to a pacing calendar, even if students need more time on a particular topic. It’s getting in trouble for allowing students to continue a debate over two days instead of one. Those moments of activism—of “red for ed”—must grow into a movement for sustainable funding. Dewey's ideas were never broadly and deeply integrated into the practices of American public schools, though some of his values and terms were widespread.While Dewey's educational theories have enjoyed a broad popularity during his lifetime and after, they have a troubled history of implementation.Simultaneously, other progressive educational theories, often influenced by Dewey but not directly derived from him, were also becoming popular, such as Several versions of progressive education succeeded in transforming the educational landscape: the utter ubiquity of guidance counseling, to name but one example, springs from the progressive period.
Democracy in education has always been the foundation for providing education for democracy.When students understand that our democracy rests upon free and fair elections, then they see that their first and most important right and duty as a citizen is to vote and to defend the right of all Americans to vote. So we can make every public school a place where parents want to send their kids, where teachers want to teach and where students feel safe and engaged. Today, the 400 richest Americans, less than one-fourth of 1 percent, have more wealth than the bottom 60 percent of people in our country. We’re putting the force of collective bargaining behind the “freedom to teach.”I have talked today about things worth fighting for and things that keep me up at night, like Katie’s experience with Navient. Not simply because our opponents aren’t going away, but because we are the change agents; the movement builders; the dreamers; the fighters for a better life, a better world and the soul of America.And that’s why this year the AFT has used our collective voice and harnessed our power:Let’s start with investment: The root cause of every single teacher walkout in the last two years was deep and prolonged inadequate investment in public schools, higher education and public services. pp 177-178 We enter the profession excited, optimistic and determined to make a difference in our students’ lives. At this moment when we need more civic participation, not less, subjects like American government and civics are squeezed out because standardized testing still compels schools to fixate on math and language arts.This is not the first time our democracy has been at risk, but today its survival falls on us. That’s why they fight to suppress the vote, defund our schools and destabilize our unions. And, too often, it’s not being heard, or even asked, about decisions that affect our classrooms. But we can’t lose sight of Trump’s unconscionable cruelty or forget that his erratic behavior is intended to create chaos and confusion.
My friends, we need to own our power. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”While our democracy has never been perfect, today its very existence is threatened.Our national government has become a platform for the promotion of hatred and prejudice, a pulpit for authoritarianism, and a megaphone for shouting down the democratic ideals that have motivated what is best in America. shaped by the adults and young people in a community or educational setting If not now, when?”So while I would never ask you to take on all these issues or to go it alone, the fight to safeguard American democracy begins in our classrooms and our schools. Sure, teachers have always had power: The power to ignite a spark that engages a disaffected student. And we can’t assume that things won’t get worse.Most of us didn’t become educators because we wanted to be political activists. With the growth of civilization, the gap between the original capacities of the immature and the standards and customs of the elders increases. I know that many of you feel the anxiety of student debt firsthand, every day and with every loan payment.The AFT’s student debt work falls under three categories.