At the NEA representative Assembly in Boston, President Lily Eskelsen Garcia brought some 8,000 delegates to their feet as she denounced Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump for their abandonment of America’s most vulnerable children and public education.
““This is not a drill,” NEA President Lily Eskelsen García told the 2017 NEA Representative Assembly. “We stand in a dangerous place. We stand between a profiteer and his profits. We have a president who resides at the dangerous intersection of arrogance and ignorance and travels with a moral compass that always points to his own self-interest.”
“In her keynote address on Sunday, Eskelsen García laid out in stark terms the dangers posed by the agenda of President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, but reminded the 8,000 delegates gathered in the Boston Convention Center that “we can win. We have the power, and they know it.”
“Eskelsen Garcia recalled how she had to turn down an invitation from DeVos to meet because the new Education Secretary failed to answer simple questions about her commitment to accountability and transparency for charter schools and to protecting our most vulnerable students.
“We have have already seen some of Devos’ answers. She has made it clear that the Education Department under her leadership will pursue the most egregious school privatization agenda in the form of charter school and voucher expansion, and will not protect our most vulnerable students. The Trump/DeVos administration rescinded the Office of Civil Rights letter that the Obama administration sent to districts clearly stating that they were legally responsible for protecting transgendered students from discrimination.
“I will not allow the National Education Association to be used by Donald Trump or Betsy DeVos,” Eskelsen García told the delegates to resounding applause. “I do not trust their motives. I do not believe their alternative facts. I see no reason to assume they will do what is best for our students and their families. There will be no photo-op!”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Okay. Now help mobilize your members.
LikeLike
Exactly!
LikeLike
The NEA/AFT might be more effective if they were unions that defend their members.
LikeLike
If leadership cannot find the will and the skill to stand up and fight the hideous atrocities of the Dumpster regime’s education policy nightmare then they MUST BE REPLACED.
LikeLike
Have either of them, considered putting the needs and futures of America’s children first, before their own union jobs?
I believe sincerely, that if the teacher’s groups were to think “outside the box”, and place children first and foremost, then the other problems, like job security would be on their way to be solved.
LikeLike
Charles,
I don’t belong to a union.
I believe in the value of unions to protect the rights of teachers
LikeLike
You have got to be kidding, Charles. How about backing up that statement? Teachers and their families can’t eat pretty speeches about their sacrifice for the children. It’s not like they are all treating kids like trash now.
LikeLike
I have never belonged to a union. I believe in the value and worth of unions, nevertheless.
Teachers rights, should be protected. We are in agreement. Teachers are like any other public employee, and deserve protection.
“There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime,” – Calvin Coolidge.
LikeLike
Charles, Cal Coolidge is dead. Lots of things have happened since the Coolidge era. But you think like him
LikeLike
I’ve played many gigs for tips. I’ve been asked why I would do this when, as a musician, I should be playing for the love of the music.
Just because I want to get paid doesn’t mean that I love the music any less, Charles. And just because, as an educator, I want to be paid, have benefits, and be allowed due process doesn’t mean that I don’t love the kids and want to do everything I can in my power to make a positive impact in their lives.
LikeLike
Waiting to see if Weingarten has the guts to do the right thing and pile on. It’s now or never for Randi, no more triangulation on this issue or on those incompetant grifters. It is long past time for a nationwide strike. 25 cents says that DeVos will ask for more security at taxpayer expense
LikeLike
During the presidential campaign (according to leaked e-mails), Weingarten chose to offend the nurses union. A teachers’ union leader who fails to build alliances with unions whose members have children attending public schools, is a failure.
LikeLike
Eskelsen & Weingarten were/are doing the bidding of the “billionaire-boys-club”. Their biggest problem was convincing the union membership that they were fighting for them.
LikeLike
Well after accepting how many millions from Bill Gates?
LikeLike
The marching orders of Gates-funded New Schools Venture Fund, “to develop diverse charter school organizations to produce different brands on a large scale”. All top union leaders must be aware of the slide in private sector union membership. Contractor schools are the private sector. The referenced quote was published, publicly, in Philanthropy Roundtable, in 2003. There is no defense to build around Weingarten. There are still public teachers who are surprised to learn Bill Gates has spent $1 bil. to destroy public education.
LikeLike
Why do our union leaders, when they make a pronouncement like this, always sound like they are a day late and a dollar short?
LikeLike
Because they are!
LikeLike
I found this clip in a column from the Washington Post written by Ishaan Thardoor. Erdogan has turned into being a cruel dictator in Turkey and the fact that Trump defends him is lunacy.
This isn’t about education but reflects how potentially dangerous our malignant narcissist is.
……………………
…The German newsweekly Der Spiegel put it most starkly in a February editorial: “Erdogan and Trump are positioning themselves as the only ones capable of truly understanding the people and speaking for them. It’s their view that freedom of the press does not protect democracy and that the press isn’t reverent enough to them and is therefore useless. They believe that the words that come from their mouths as powerful leaders are the truth and that the media, when it strays from them, is telling lies. That’s autocratic thinking — and it is how you sustain a dictatorship.”
Tellingly, the two leaders have defended the other from their critics. In the wake of Erdogan’s purge, Trump said the United States didn’t have much right to criticize the Turkish president’s crackdown; in the wake of Trump’s inauguration, Erdogan described protests against the new president as “disrespectful” and applauded Trump’s singling out CNN as “fake news” during a testy exchange at a news conference.
That day, Erdogan congratulated Trump for putting the CNN reporter “in his place.”…
LikeLike
Lily can now make such statements b/c a very unpopular Republican Pres. is in the White House. She will not organize her members to fight for public education despite her safely brave words and she will not utter such words when any Democrat runs for office or gets elected.
LikeLike
Thanks.
LikeLike
The bio. of a current member of the Massachusetts higher ed board states he served on national NEA committees (was President of the Mass. Teachers Association 2010-2014). He is a Fellow of the Gates-funded Pahara Aspen Institute. Why?????
LikeLike
You obviously missed the time that ArneDuncan was asked to be relieved of his duties as Secretary of Education when he asked for test scores to be a component of teacher evaluations.
LikeLike
Happy fourth of July…..
Nathan Zimmerman • 8 hours ago
Translated the secretary would not submit to federal control of local education, would not promote the trans-gender and homosexual agenda, would not provide favoritism to LGBT, and other special interest groups, would not agree to absolute control of education on the part of the federal government.
Kjoe777
Translated…..give me a break. It’s a holiday. I don’t have time for anything more than a routine hack job on the NEA trying to match the my stupidity to the level of drunken ignorance required for general maintenance. http://neatoday.org/2017/07/02/eskelsen-garcia-nea-representative-assembly/
LikeLike
I was there and she had us fired up! I love her passion and how well she gets the point across with respect and professionalism.
LikeLike
And WHAT has she done for Utah teachers? She’s from Utah. She knows the issues here. She, the UEA, and the NEA at large, have done NOTHING to help the drastic situation in Utah. She didn’t even speak out against Brad Smith, our “Chiefs for Change” superintendent.
She is an excellent speaker and really knows how to fire up an audience. BUT, she doesn’t follow up on those words with actions.
LikeLike
With all due respect, you are unaware of what Lily has done for Utah. I would suggest contacting your local Association as well as UEA, and ask what she has done for us. One message that is clear here at the RA, is that friendly debate is happening across the isles, regardless of what each of us are passionate about and advocate for. We encourage each other to be informed, even about the information from the other side that you don’t agree with; knowledge is power.
Let me ask you this, Threatened OUT West…did your local negotiate a salary increase for you? Lily was part of that. Utah was recognized and applauded yesterday for making history in such a critical and controversial time. And, it happened without adequate funding to the WPU this year. Utah also is recognized for a phenomenal increase in membership numbers in the past year; and we are a right to work state.
When I teach my 5th graders how to write a good opinion essay, I drill it into them that you have to have reliable and valid details to support your opinion. Simply complaining doesn’t convince your reader. Logical facts presented makes an impression, even if your reader still does not agree with you. They learn how to do this. You should too. Again…with all due respect.
One last thought: If you choose to complain, you should also be part of the solution.
LikeLike
I was a member of UEA for 13 years. The experiences I had were awful, and teachers were NOT supported by my local. I went to Educator Day on thh Hill four or five times. I was a building rep. I was involved.
And all I was told when concerns came up is that the district or state-mandated “solutions,” “could be worse.” Teachers left high and dry. Policies and politicians supported that destroy education.
And when I left the UEA, I was called a “sell-out” and a “traitor” by my local president. I complained about that horrible email to UEA. No response.
LikeLike
PS: My district has NOT had a raise in 9 years. We’re getting a 3% raise this year, when all of the other districts are getting double-digit raises.
LikeLike
Wow, and you expect people to join UEA with that kind of an attitude? I’m with Utah’s AFT now, and I AM working to help effect change. You bashing on a fellow teacher is not going to make your argument. I’m a debate teacher–so email me if you want a real debate. There, we can use real names.
threatenedoutwest@yahoo.com
LikeLike
Has the NEA denounced these 3 Gates-funded organizations? Pahara Institute, NSVF, and Bellwether, which referred to schools as “human capital pipelines”?
LikeLike
Now the AFT, social justice, parent groups, and supporters of public education must join together to fight against the oppression of the Trump/DeVos regime. We need a massive mobilization of public education supporters. A united front would be impossible to beat.
LikeLike
The more I see of school “reform” and the past 3 administrations’ agendas, the more I’m convinced that they just want to give up on the most vulnerable kids.
The poor. The “disabled”. ELL students. I think that these kids are considered a financial drain on the system. Catering to the “least common denominator” (yes, I’ve heard this said).
Public schools are mandated to follow the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Charter, private, and parochial schools are not. Maybe that’s why the reform movement is bipartisan.
LikeLike
That is a pity! I was an ESL teachers for many years. While this group is generally seriously under educated, many of these students have lots of untapped potential. They are often resourceful, creative problem solvers, and many of them are fast learners. Necessity is the mother of invention. These young people will be living here. They are not looking for “handouts.” They want a chance to learn and grow. Do we want them to contribute to the economy or wind up in jail? Educating ELLs is an investment in our collective future.
LikeLike
I know, rt. There are many bright, talented kids in special ed, as well. And children from impoverished areas who need more time to grow…
The people who would set policy for our children seem more intent on immediate results from the children who show the most promise, NOW. And those “results” aren’t always indicative of real learning, considering the constant reliance on testing that’s become the norm in today’s world of education.
LikeLike
“Class struggles: The UFT story”
1)
“In public hearings NEA/TBO spokespersons warned that teacher ties to organized labor and the use of strikes were unbecoming of “professionals.” “Illegal” strikes, said the TBO, undercut a teacher’s “responsibility for inculcating respect for the institutions of democratic society and adherence to the laws.”
2)
“Finally, Van Arsdale said, “Look! We aren’t getting anywhere. When I get to this point in my negotiations with employers I say, ‘Gentlemen! (slamming his palm down on the table for emphasis) ‘Your shops will not open tomorrow.’ [Van Arsdale] stopped and glared at the committee before continuing. ‘If you can say that and make it stick, all right. You have my support. But if you don’t have the troops, we might as well stop wasting time. You’ve got all you’re going to get.’”
3)
“How many members you got?” Meany inquires.
“Five thousand,” I lie.
“How many teachers are there?”
“Forty thousand.” There were really forty-five thousand, but I shaded the number downward to improve our odds.
“How many will strike?”
“At least 10 thousand, maybe 20,” I say.
Meany grunts contemptuously. “They won’t pay dues to you but they’ll strike for you. Is that it?”
Meany was right the strike was a total disaster but in an age of a still powerful labor movement a failed strike was turned into a victory.
So take a chill pill Teachers you have gotten the leadership you deserve and they the membership they deserve . Do not look to the leadership for solutions when the membership is not willing to make the required sacrifice. You are not Professionals and the sooner you realize that the better . It is not that I don’t think you are professionals the Plutocracy,Oligarchy call it what you like, never has. They would prefer that you were the “school mom” going from house to house for room and board. You can be replaced by TFA’s with little or no experience soon to be a hall monitor and a computer screen.
But that once powerful labor movement is on life support partly due to its own failings to be a true representative of the working class . I will define working class as the 85-90% of Americans who labor for a living. The plutocracy would love to call many independent contractors (professionals ) . Try eating the title for dinner. When labor stopped being about class struggle and devolved into individual unions eking out a few bennifits for their own members the battle was lost .It left them relying on political power to secure those benefits. But to do otherwise would have required personal sacrifice that has not been seen since the thirties. Sacrifice the leadership nor membership was up to. That may be the true story of American labor .
Today as I type, one small division of VanArsdale’s (he is long gone)own local union is on strike against Charter/Spectrum in NYC formally Time Warner . After the buyout the company can not afford Pensions and Healthcare . Yet they have no problem with 99 million to the CEO.
1700 members have now been out over 3 months, replaced by scabs from out of state . This would have been settled differently 60 years ago . At some point we will be back to that . Probably when there is nothing else to lose. Something VanArsdale said on his death bed, early in Reagan’s assault.
LikeLike
Joel,
It’s just hard to side with supporters of neoliberalism. It’s confusing because we teachers no longer know our friend from our enemy. If we’re going to to engage in class struggle, we need to know our leaders won’t go Race to the Top on us. And speaking from local experience, when we have teachers ready to fight the good fight, the union won’t even give them endorsements, but instead spends millions out of our strike fund to support the neoliberal school board candidates.
LikeLike
Agree, LeftCoastTeacher!!!!👍
LikeLike
LeftCoastTeacher
I would say that the history of aligning with Democrats grew out of the Roosevelt era possibly even before as the roots of the Northern Democrats was in the immigrant communities of the industrial North. Politically the alignment reflected that there was no choice since Nixon. Nixon actually appointed a labor leader as secretary of labor . That was a reward for NY construction workers attacking a group of anti war demonstrators. The painter union chief Peter Brennan might as well have been a painting on the wall. Marginalized and Ignored he contemplated quitting. At the same time Nixon and his Commerce Secretary facilitated the creation of the Business Round Table whose primary goal was to break up construction unions. During the Carter administration the BRT manage to get a Senate filibuster by one vote of a significant role back to the Taft Hartley law .
Teachers should be well aware that Common Core , national standards with a goal of a career ready (compliant) workforce became their pet project in 1989.
I am going to guess that Gates involvement grew out of the BRT drive. Coleman came out of McKinsey and if you compare the resumes of the Education sections of both those organizations it is a revolving door. Curiously Coleman’s qualification for the Job at McKinsey was probably, that his mom busted the faculty Union at Bennington college.
Since Nixon unions had nowhere to turn and Reagan then went to war on Unions . The old methods of organizing and enforcing settlements were out . Taft Hartley made it impossible to use the most powerful legal weapon labor had the secondary boycott. RICO statutes were applied to labor organizations which curbed violence as a response to abusive employers . A worker throwing a rock at a truck could put the Union President in Jail while it bankrupted the union.
That left the only avenue for labor aligning with the Democratic party
The Democratic Party who since Clinton some would argue since Carter was turning rightward (neo liberal)on economic issues. No longer able to count on labors votes partly because of members and partly because labor numbers had been crushed even before Clinton. Democrats settled for corporate cash.
So with out weapons what do you do . Reagan set the tone when he fired the Air Traffic Controllers and corporate America went on a tear attacking Unions . After, Caterpillar broke the UAW local. The UMW is a heart breaking story of Appalachian worker being pitted against Appalachian worker as non union workers died in Masey
mines. And the owners blew off the mountain.
So unless tremendous sacrifice is asked for and given by the members and leaders, even then it would have to be across industries because individual unions will be crushed. . The alternative is falling at the feet of the Democrats and asking for help.
But the failing of those Unions can also be traced to their origins which always pitted one group of workers against the next. You do not need secondary boycotts when you are a social movement . You are representing far more than your own members .
LikeLike
rollback
LikeLike
Joel Herman,
Your take on the psychodynamics within American union history is right on the mark! This is why America finds itself where it us today, with a unionized workforce that has gone from close to 34% back in the early sixties to about 6.9 % today, and it’s going to get worse as right to work will spread. The clamping down upon striking is going to be put on steroids and testosterone as the House and Senate now are considering a new piece of legislation known as the “Economic Terrorism Act”.
LikeLike
Some of what we’re seeing today is a result of the credit card industry and some of it is just the fact that it’s becoming more and more difficult to make ends meet as the cost of living increases and pay scale stays stagnant. Then, of course, there’s the fear (and reality) of losing a job, outright, and ending up working at Walmart at below minimum wage.
In terms of the credit issue: many people don’t budget like they used to. They acquire debt to the point where they’re living paycheck to paycheck just to make the minimum payments so that they can continue to lead the lifestyle that they’ve created for themselves.
Regardless of the reasons; the idea of a strike is unsettling to anyone who is living close to the edge, financially. It’s a big deal which requires a lot of thought and planning. I think one step would be for colleagues to unite in terms of buying food and necessities in bulk to last out the time that a strike would require. Possibly spend time cooking together, as firemen do when in the firehouse, on duty. Pool our resources.
Big problem here, though (and it’s been already mentioned) is that the big shots are selling the inexperienced teacher as an acceptable alternative in a world where technology is being placed front and center with the teacher as more of a monitor and record keeper. If we strike, they might see this as a golden opportunity to replace us.
LikeLike
All true . What do you suppose it was like from 1880 till 1936.
LikeLike
“At some point we will be back to that . Probably when there is nothing else to lose.”
LikeLike
Gordon Lafer in his book, “The One Percent Solution: How corporations are remaking America one state at a time”, on pages 175+, offers both signs of hope and warning. He cites a 2014 study in which scientists prepared a model of the history of advanced societies that have collapsed over the past 5000 years. The study showed that “in each case, dissolution followed the onset of extreme inequality ‘closely reflecting the reality of the world today’ “.
Last year the richest 1% shifted $4 tril. of wealth from the nation to themselves. The five richest men in the world have wealth equivalent to 50% of the world’s population and their share is growing.
LikeLike
They’ll do what’s best for their bank accounts. Devos is in conflict of interest pure and simple. Look where the money is and where the waltons are.
LikeLike
Dear Betsy DeVos,
Students are not blueberries. If you do not understand the metaphor, here is some background….
A businessman by the name of Jamie Vollmer spoke to teachers about how to better serve their students by applying the same business model he used to education. In doing so, teachers would produce the best possible product, students who perform well on national high-stakes tests. However, there was a teacher in the crowd who saw the travesty in his remarks.
“Mr. Vollmer, when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?”
“I send them back.”
“That’s right! And we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them with ADHD, junior rhemetuoid arthiritis, and English as their second language. We take them all! Every one! And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it’s not a business. It’s a school!” (Ravitch, 2013, pg. 300).
You see, Mrs. DeVos, schools are not, and never will be businesses. Our schools do not excel when you insert free market principles into the mix because our products are human beings, with different backgrounds, interests, and abilities. Our students are not uniformly manufactured products, but rather exceptionally unique beings.
Mrs. DeVos, one of the main policies that you support is the use of federal dollars meant for public education to fund vouchers for private schools and charter schools. This has a two-fold negative effect. Firstly, charters schools and vouchers endorse competition which is detrimental to true, authentic learning. Secondly, vouchers are channeling already scarce resources out of public schools, making it exponentially harder for public schools to prove that they are improving.
Charter schools increase competition by providing more options for students and their families but at the same time, decreases funding and resources for public education. In this case, a student’s choice ends up boiling down to “a choice between low-performing traditional public schools and charter schools that perform even worse” (pg. 293). This double-edged sword has the biggest impact on students in low-income areas and students who are black and/or Hispanic as they are being left behind in “failing schools.” Black and Hispanic students are experiencing the negative effects of de facto segregation as white, affluent students use school choice and vouchers to their benefit and move to high-achieving schools.
Betsy DeVos, are you a proponent of segregation?
Mrs. DeVos, are you aware of the implications of vouchers and so-called “school choice”?
In order to truly “reform” education, we must put power and control back into the hands of the people who understand what students truly need to learn and succeed: the teachers. For so long, teachers have been demonized as the problem with public education, the reason for plummeting test scores and failing schools. However, this information has been falsely misconstrued to lobby an agenda for vouchers. Teachers are rarely consulted in policy-making that directly impacts teaching and learning in the classroom.
Mrs. DeVos, you have the power to change this. If the United States wants to remain one of the strongest countries in the world, then we must make sure we are preparing students with the critical thinking and reasoning skills that will help them succeed in a global community. Teachers, with the support and backing of the community and government, can do this.
Mrs. DeVos, I want you to remember this: “The principles of competition and choice sound good, because they echo what we expect when we shop for clothing or automobiles. But competition among schools for students does not improve the quality of education” (pg. 312). Instead, what the neo-liberalist policies and reforms of competition and vouchers are doing is destroying our blueberries. Taking them and stomping on them until they are nothing but a sticky, forlorn pulp.
LikeLike
It’s important for us to understand that neoliberals intend for there to be no pubic schools and if you want your kids to recieve an education, you will have to pay for it. Vouchers are a means to an end. If the voucher isn’t enough, you will be unable to use it. It sounds reassuring, that education will be available in theory, but not in reality-just like healthcare.
LikeLike
Bravo, Lily!
LikeLike
I just read this online. Good grief. We have an ignorant bully for President who is encouraging hate crimes and now Pennsylvania is working to get guns inside schools. [Why was this bill sponsored by a Republican from Indiana? Glad he didn’t sponsor it in Indiana. At least I hope he hasn’t. I live here.]
……………..
Pennsylvania Senate Passes Bill Allowing Teachers to Pack Heat at School
By Annabel Thompson, ThinkProgress
03 July 17
The bill reflects a growing sentiment on the right: more guns means more safety, even in schools.
Pennsylvania’s state senate passed a bill that would allow teachers with concealed-carry licenses to carry guns on school grounds, with a vote of 28–22.
The bill, passed on Wednesday, was introduced to “provid[e] for protection and defense of pupils” and will enable school districts in Pennsylvania to decide whether teachers and other school workers are allowed to carry guns in schools. “Certainly, we can pass the bill and none of the school districts in the commonwealth will implement it, and to me, that’s OK,” said the bill’s sponsor Don White (R-Indiana). “However, my suspicion is that some school districts will exercise this option, particularly those in rural Pennsylvania that rely on state police for protection.”
“Teachers have come to me and said I want the opportunity to defend my children and to defend my life and give me something more powerful than an eraser to throw at these people,” White said of the bill when it was first introduced in April.
Whether that’s true or not, there are other teachers who vocally oppose the bill. A letter from educators who survived the Sandy Hook shooting was read on the state Senate floor, urging legislators not to vote for the bill. And the Pennsylvania State Educators’ Association, a union made up of over 180,000 Pennsylvania teachers, released a statement on Wednesday emphasizing their opposition…
LikeLike
Carol, Indiana is actually a place in Pennsylvania, east of Pittsburgh a ways, so relax, White won’t be making Indiana schools any worse than the “reformers” are already doing.
It helps to have a cousin who was a professor there. 🙂
LikeLike
The staff of Hechinger Report (Gates-funded) opined that Weingarten “normalized” Betsy DeVos as Sec. of Ed. when the pair visited an Ohio public school together.
LikeLike
DeVos will never be normal. She is the most unpopular member of the Cabinet. She always sneers at us peasants.
LikeLike
DeVos has the ignorance attributed to peasants. Without her $1 mil. a month security, she wouldn’t be sneering. She would be trembling in fear of Americans who actually contribute to GDP.
LikeLike