Delegates at AFT’s Convention Denounce Arne Duncan
In the second such action in two weeks, yesterday the delegates of a national teachers union at its national convention passed a resolution repudiating U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Yesterday the American Federation of Teachers, meeting in Los Angeles, formally disdained the policies of Secretary Duncan. On July 4, the National Education Association passed an even stronger resolution demanding that Duncan resign. The NEA and the AFT represent over 4 million school teachers across the United States. The AFT”s resolution—ironically commenting on Duncan’s relentless focus on evaluating teachers by econometric formulas and holding them accountable—demands that President Barack Obama hold Duncan himself accountable, put him on an improvement plan and—if he can’t improve—fire him.
Because teachers unions are democratic institutions, the drafting, debating, and voting on such resolutions—whatever their actually wording—is important because such actions move and shape the national conversation about education policy. Such strong resolutions coming from both of our largest teachers unions put pressure on the leaders of NEA and AFT, leaders who have tried to work with a Democratic administration in Washington, despite that this administration’s policies have been anti-teacher.
Despair, demoralization and rage among school teachers—growing from the lack of respect Delegates at AFT’s Convention Denounce Arne Duncan | janresseger:
