“Teachers have always had power,” AFT President Randi Weingarten told the crowd at the TEACH opening plenary Thursday afternoon. “We need to own our power. And we need to build our power so we can move our agenda—for our students and our families; for safe, welcoming and well-funded public schools; for affordable higher education; healthcare that is a right, not a privilege; a living wage; a decent retirement; a healthy climate and a strong democracy.” Weingarten described how the Trump administration has threatened democracy in so many ways and how educators, who stand at the nexus of two equalizing forces—education and labor—are in a pivotal position to fight back.
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