Our Voices - Articles

AFT’s Weingarten on President Biden’s Departure from the Presidential Race

AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after President Biden stepped aside from the race for president.

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Biden, AFT join rally for early childhood educators and all care workers

President Joe Biden addresses the care workers’ coalition: “You’re all somebody’s hero. We need you.”

President Joe Biden joined AFT President Randi Weingarten and other leaders from labor and the care community on April 9 to celebrate our nation’s caregivers. Along with a host of workers and activists, Biden and Weingarten celebrated the progress made for care workers, while also calling for legislative action. The event at Union Station in Washington, D.C., coincided with two milestones: the second annual White House proclamation of April as Care Workers Recognition Month and the first anniversary of Biden’s executive order to strengthen care work.

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SAVE-ing borrowers from student debt

Image of ladder arising form clouds to an open door in the sky. Credit: themacx/Getty

President Joe Biden’s new SAVE program has brought student debt relief to millions of federal student loan borrowers. Our AFT Voices blog post explains how it works and features the personal stories of two AFT members who were staggering under the weight of unimaginable debt, until SAVE changed everything. Credit: themacx/Getty

Poll shows student debt as an election issue

From left, John Della Volpe, Persis Yu, Michael Stratford (moderator, from Politico) and Randi Weingarten. Not pictured: Bharat Ramamurti.

Voters care deeply about student debt, and a new poll from Protect Borrowers Action, an advocacy group working to fight crushing student debt, suggests the issue could have a significant impact on this year’s presidential election. At a panel discussion March 26, experts discussed just how strongly voters favor student debt relief, which voters care most, and how to get the word out about the student debt relief the Biden administration has already delivered.

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Flipping the board in Brentwood: Kevin Coyne and his members transformed their local into a political powerhouse

Take a Look at Teaching group with banner

In May 2023, local union president and sixth-grade support specialist Kevin Coyne and the 1,500 members of the Brentwood Teachers Association on Long Island proved just what teachers and school staff can do when they see their students getting shortchanged: They achieved a school board composed entirely of pro-public school, pro-teacher allies.

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VP Kamala Harris, AFT activist Cassandra Davis headline webinar

Couple receiving good news by mail. Photo credit: andresr/ E+/Getty

A Feb. 23 Democratic National Committee webinar honoring Black History Month (and featuring Vice President Kamala Harris) highlighted the many concrete ways the Biden-Harris administration has been delivering on the promise of America for Black Americans. During the event, Detroit Federation of Teachers member and trustee Cassandra Davis spoke about the real-life difference for her: After decades, Davis is now free from nearly $100,000 in student debt. Photo credit: andresr/ E+/Getty.

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White House celebrates progress on racial equity

The White House marked the one-year anniversary of President Biden’s second executive order for Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government at an event Feb. 14, with a gathering of Cabinet members and deputies who enumerated the successes of the last two years and pledged to continue their work making government resources more accessible, more equitably, to the people who need them most. The order sweeps broadly over every level of government, improving access to education, entrepreneurship, veterans’ benefits, high-quality healthcare and more.

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