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The energy at the Democratic National Convention Aug. 19-22 was off the charts, registering a joyful resurgence of optimism about the presidential election and the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz candidacy. And the AFT was in the thick of it: There were about 120 AFT members who were convention delegates.
Of course the highlights of the four-day convention were speeches by national leaders—in addition to Harris and Walz, people like Barack and Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and so many others. For the AFT, another shining moment came when AFT President Randi Weingarten addressed the convention hall. Weingarten condemned Donald Trump and JD Vance for claiming they are pro-child while they gut funding for public schools.
“You have to walk the walk,” she told the crowd, relaying a concept she said her students taught her. “That means Donald Trump and JD Vance can’t claim they’re pro-child while gutting funding for public schools. It means being pro-family is supporting access to good union jobs and affordable housing, healthcare and higher education.” Weingarten said that’s exactly what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are fighting for, “and we are all in.” See her entire speech here.
Off stage, AFT delegates participated in a full roster of workshops, panels and presentations on everything from LGBTQIA+ rights to the climate crisis, labor, political trends and the potential of the vote from suburban women. There were meetings for caucuses and state delegations to plan out how to move the ticket forward and win the presidency—and other elected offices—for the Democratic candidates in 2024, and strategy sessions of all kinds.
“The energy is incredible,” said Jessica Tang, president of AFT Massachusetts and an AFT vice president. “It’s clear that Harris and Walz are the ticket that’s about working people, about joy, about inclusivity, and that’s what America needs right now. Everyone I’ve talked to … just feels so energized about the possibilities and the hope of a better future with Harris and Walz. I think that’s why the energy is spreading like wildfire.”
“#HarrisWalz represent[s] so many of [the] values that I fight for as a teacher, as a unionist, as a gay man married to a wonderful husband and so much more,” wrote Jeff Freitas, president of the CFT in California and an AFT vice president, in a Facebook post. “The feelings of all of the delegates just reverberate the joy and love that this ticket represents.” Freitas is shown above with Lacy Barnes, CFT secretary-treasurer, and Juan Ramirez, a vice president of United Teachers Los Angeles and the AFT.
Many delegates felt they were representing not only their districts but also their colleagues and union siblings. “I’m here representing teachers, representing people all across Ohio,” said Katie Hoffman, a music teacher in Cincinnati. And the convention welcomed them. “This is the most friendly to public school teachers we have ever seen,” said Sari Beth Rosenberg, who has been a New York City high school history teacher for 22 years. “I’m just so thrilled.”
Many delegates said they were ready to put the strategy to work, to hit the streets, go door-knocking, and commit themselves to an election with just over two months left for campaigning.
“I’m pumped up, I’m excited,” said AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus, describing the hope she felt from all the delegates. “We’re going to … take this momentum, take it back to our locals, take it back to our streets, take it back to our communities.”
Reflecting on the jam-packed days of the convention, Weingarten—who spoke at events including a student debt panel and a panel on career and technical education, and who received an award at Emerge America’s Trailblazing Women of Labor event—recounted the reasons she is all in for Harris-Walz. Harris is charting a course toward an “opportunity economy,” she said, quoting Harris’ acceptance speech. “She fully embraces America’s role in the world as a country that leads with democracy and fundamental freedoms, and our role at home to protect those freedoms—the freedom to make healthcare decisions about our own bodies, to live safe from gun violence, to love whom we want, to breathe clean air and to vote.”
Weingarten said that educators “felt the respect that they deserve and so rarely get” and added that “Harris is an advocate for opportunity and the pillars that provide it—unions and public schools.” And, riffing off a popular quote from Walz, who likes to say “never underestimate a public school teacher,” she said, “Never underestimate this ticket, including Gov. Tim Walz.”
“The AFT has 1.8 million members—including 600,000 members and their families in battleground states,” said Weingarten. “Between now and Election Day, we’ll make sure that our members are mobilized and our voices are heard.”
[Virginia Myers]