Overview:
Harris champions union strength, student debt relief, and defends freedom to learn at AFT Conference.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), focusing on public education and her vision for the future.
Harris highlighted her connection to public education and praised the work of teachers and education professionals.
“I am a proud product of public education,” Harris said, recounting how her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Frances Wilson, inspired and encouraged her throughout her life.
The vice president criticized the “Project 2025” plan backed by Donald Trump and his allies.
“Donald Trump and his extreme allies want to take our nation back, to failed trickle-down economic policies, back to union busting, back to tax breaks for billionaires,” Harris said.
She emphasized the Biden administration’s efforts to forgive student loan debt, particularly for public servants like teachers. Harris shared the story of Tanya Cabeza, a Philadelphia teacher whose $40,000 in student loans were forgiven after 20 years of payments.
The vice president addressed policy issues, including protecting the right to organize, defending collective bargaining, and ending union busting. If elected president, she promised to sign the PRO Act into law.
“When workers join together and demand what is fair, everyone is better off,” Harris stated.
Harris mentioned issues facing educators, including book bans, gun violence in schools, and restrictions on teaching certain aspects of history.
“While you teach students about our nation’s past, these extremists attack the freedom to learn and acknowledge our nation’s true and full history, including book bans in this year of our Lord 2024,” she said.
The speech concluded with a call to action, urging AFT members to make their voices heard through voting and civic engagement.
“When we fight, we win,” Harris declared.
