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AFT Slams Trump and DeVos at Biennial Convention

AFT Slams Trump and DeVos at Biennial Convention

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Nov. 1, 2017. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters)

By    |   Tuesday, 17 July 2018 08:56 AM EDT

The American Federation of Teachers slammed President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos at the organization's national convention this weekend in a series of resolutions.

More than 3,000 delegates endorsed 39 resolutions on a range of topics ranging from collective bargaining to school shootings, according to a statement released by the organization.

In one resolution endorsed by the 3,000 delegates attending the convention in Pittsburgh the organization it would "collectively fight back against the president and secretary of education’s agenda to dismantle public education" and for fully funded and safe public schools.

Another resolution condemned the Trump administration and Republican majorities in Congress and statehouses for so-called "attacks on American democracy," alleged voter suppression, supposed political collaboration with authoritarian regimes and allegedly stoking of racial resentments, calling it "a cancer in the American body politic."

The AFT statement said that the delegates set guidelines for federal political endorsements to help locals and state federations identify candidates that will support AFT issues.

Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, spoke to the convention on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted.

The audience booed at the mention of Trump and the recent U.S. Supreme Court Janus decision that banned unions from collecting fees from nonmembers in the public sectors, according to the Post-Gazette.

The AFT is a union that represents 1.7 million pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators, according to its website.

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TheWire
The American Federation of Teachers slammed President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos at the organization's national convention this weekend in a series of resolutions.
aft, trump, devos, convention
259
2018-56-17
Tuesday, 17 July 2018 08:56 AM
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