AFT’s Weingarten on the Republican Education Forum | American Federation of Teachers

AFT’s Weingarten on the Republican Education Forum | American Federation of Teachers:

AFT’s Weingarten on the Republican Education Forum

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the Republican education forum:

"At an event where the big public education ideas are test, blame, punish and privatize, it's sad but no surprise that our union was the piñata. That just emboldens us to keep fighting to reclaim the promise of public education: High-quality early childhood education, great neighborhood schools and affordable, debt-free college. Sadly, the policies these candidates are pushing have undermined that promise. Our children deserve better than what these Republican candidates are selling."

# # # #

The AFT represents 1.6 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.

# # # #

The Parents, Educators and Owners Partnering for Learning in Early-education for the Kids (PEOPLE for the Kids) includes New Mexico Early Educators United, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers; the Quality Early Learning Association, which represents preschool owners; and the OLÉ Working Parents Association, which represents more than 4,000 parents of young children throughout New Mexico.

- See more at: http://www.aft.org/press-release/afts-weingarten-republican-education-forum#sthash.BJ6wCF5d.bTEh4Odj.dpuf

Big Education Ape: RECAP: GOP New Hampshire Education Infomercial 2015 http://bit.ly/1J5tzEp

Big Education Ape: At N.H. forum, Christie again trains fire on teachers unions http://bit.ly/1TXksuC

At N.H. forum, Christie again trains fire on teachers unions

At N.H. forum, Christie again trains fire on teachers unions:

At N.H. forum, Christie again trains fire on teachers unions

Gov. Christie continued to wage verbal war against teachers unions at an education forum in New Hampshire Wednesday, saying the unions deserved a "political punch in the face."

The word political was a qualification to the sentiment Christie expressed in an interview earlier this month with CNN's Jake Tapper - spurring the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, to accuse Christie of promoting "a culture of violence."

But while he framed his attack slightly differently, Christie didn't soften his combative tone Wednesday.

"They're punching us all the time," he said at the forum, which was streamed online and held by The Seventy Four, a nonprofit news and advocacy site that says it aims to "challenge the status quo" in education.

The forum, in a Londonderry, N.H., high school, was led by Campbell Brown, a former CNN anchor and founder of the news site who interviewed half a dozen of the GOP presidential hopefuls one by one.

"My point I was making in that interview with Jake, is they deserve it back," Christie said to Brown.

Calling for a "fundamental fight" against teachers unions, he said the unions "and the educational establishment" were resisting changes because fixes to achievement gaps "take apart the monopoly they have on education."

Among the GOP presidential candidates at the event were former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has been a supporter of the Common Core educational standards unpopular with many conservatives.

Christie, who has walked back his support for the standards, embraced his backtracking Wednesday, saying he reacted after listening to his constituents.

"I actually have a thinking, operating brain," Christie said.

Christie's change of heart on the standards may have prompted a big New Jersey donor, billionaire hedge-fund manager and education reform advocate David Tepper, to join Bush's camp, according to the Record of Bergen County.

The newspaper, citing unnamed people familiar with Bush's efforts, claimed Sunday that Tepper was swayed to Bush in part because of Christie's withdrawal of support for Common Core.

A message for Tepper - who in May gave $250,000 to a super PAC supporting Bush - went unreturned Wednesday.

At the forum Wednesday, Christie went after Bush, who earlier in the day had said he would hope to work with Weingarten, but that she was "not going to change," according to the Associated Press.

Christie - who reached a deal with Weingarten in 2012 to provide merit pay for Newark teachers, with money donated to the school district by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg - accused Bush of "admitting to failure."

"Abandoning the idea of working with this problem isn't what an elected official does," Christie said.

In a Tweet Wednesday, Weingarten responded: "Sad state of affairs when one of the only GOPers willing to talk about listening to teachers also wants to punch us in the face."

During his remarks, Christie voiced his opposition to teacher tenure protections, which he said stood in the way of accountability. Parents, he said, can answer the question of "good teacher or bad teacher" after spending 10 minutes at a back-to-school night.

"You do not need a PhD in education to understand this," Christie said.

Christie also on Wednesday talked up changes to the education system in Camden, citing charter and Renaissance schools and reductions in school district staff. He praised superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard, who was installed after the state took over the school district in 2013.

Christie said Camden was benefiting from "the combination of a cooperative political group down in Camden and an activist, educational governor."

The governor has found allies in key South Jersey Democratic leaders, including power broker George Norcross III.

mhanna@phillynews.com

856-779-3232

@maddiehanna

www.philly.com/christiechronicles



Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150820_At_N_H__forum__Christie_again_trains_fire_on_teachers_unions.html#84WiUwUHBfktewoT.99

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