National union leader leads rally for funding, against Brownback
Visit from AFT's Weingarten takes political tone as unions blast Brownback, laud Davis
Posted: May 17, 2014 - 10:01am
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THAD ALLTON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Educators with the American Federation of Teachers and the Kansas National Education Association listened Saturday as American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten spoke on the south steps of the Kansas statehouse. |
Addressing a crowd of hundreds of teachers Saturday on the south steps of the Statehouse, Randi Weingarten thundered in a voice that belied her petite frame.
“We will not be silenced,” Weingarten said.
Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and its 1.5 million members, visited Topeka for the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision.
Her group used the anniversary to muster opposition to Gov. Sam Brownback and the conservative-led Legislature, saying their policies are leading the state to greater educational inequality in contrast to the 1954 court decision.
Blue-shirted educators from AFT joined red-shirted members of the Kansas National Education Association in a march from the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic site to the Statehouse, where they rallied for more K-12 spending and protections for teachers.
Weingarten whipped up the crowd of several hundred by telling them Brown v. Board's legacy demands they fight those seeking to destabilize public education to promote private alternatives that will leave some children behind.
"There is a real attack on the institutions that remain a ladder of opportunity," Weingarten said.
House Minority Leader Paul Davis, Brownback's Democratic opponent, spoke at the rally.
Davis said Kansans "believe that we have a moral obligation to give our children the very best education possible" but current leadership is failing to fulfill that obligation.
"Right now we have a governor and we have far too many state legislators who see