Biden-Harris 2024 Launches Educators for Biden-Harris
National Organizing Program Mobilizing Millions of Educators Across Battlegrounds
America’s “First Teacher” Dr. Jill Biden, AFT, and NEA Kick Off Today in Bloomington, MN
Today, America’s “First Teacher” Dr. Jill Biden and the Biden-Harris campaign are launching Educators for Biden-Harris, a national organizing program to engage and mobilize teachers, school staff, and parents around Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ vision for a country where everyone gets a fair shot. Educators for Biden-Harris will highlight the Biden-Harris administration’s work to strengthen public education, uplift educators, and fight for our children, while Donald Trump proposes massive cuts to public education, and thinks teachers should pay more in taxes than billionaires.
Launching Educators for Biden-Harris later today is Dr. Biden, a classroom teacher for over 30 years. Advocating for increased educational opportunities for all students, of all ages, is close to her heart. From championing universal preschool, teacher recruitment and retention, opportunities for career-connected learning, and more affordable options for education after high school, including free community college, Dr. Biden has traveled the country promoting quality education for everyone. She continues her career as a community college educator and is a card-carrying union member. Dr. Biden will kick off Educators for Biden-Harris with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and National Education Association (NEA), with a speech to educators at Education Minnesota’s convention in Bloomington, and continue to campaign with teachers across battleground states in the coming months.
Below are excerpts from Dr. Biden’s remarks as prepared for delivery:
Teaching isn’t just a profession. It’s a calling. And each of you have answered that call.
You deserve a President who recognizes your service. Who understands that the work doesn’t end when the afternoon bell rings each day. Who sees the early morning bus routes and piles of papers to grade, the care you give to every sick student and the extra granola bars you keep handy, because someone might come to school hungry…A President who matches your devotion with his own.
That person is my husband, Joe Biden. He knows what educators go through every day. He respects us. He empowers us. And he’s never going to stop fighting for us.
You saw that four years ago when you placed your faith in him, and he’s never taken it for granted.
That’s why, since Day One, Joe has been the education President, delivering on so many of the promises he campaigned on. From safely reopening schools…to addressing the mental health and academic needs of our students…to passing the most significant gun safety law in three decades.
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My husband wakes up every morning thinking about how to make the lives of Americans better.
Now, his opponent, on the other hand, wakes up every morning caring about one person and one person only: himself.
Donald Trump doesn’t want to strengthen our public education system, he wants to destroy it – just look at who he appointed Education Secretary! He doesn’t support educators, he actively undermines us.
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In America, we don’t ban books.
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Donald Trump is dangerous – to our students, to our educators, and to our country.
Alongside Dr. Biden’s event today, the Biden-Harris campaign will host Educators for Biden-Harris events in every battleground state, beginning with events in Reno and Las Vegas, NV. Other events will take place in Concord, NH and Lansing, MI, with more to follow.
The campaign will build on the coalition’s launch by directly engaging educators and parents across the entire country through digital and on-the-ground organizing efforts. Working alongside the AFT and NEA, Educators for Biden-Harris will mobilize teachers and school staff to connect with their colleagues and community members through canvassing, phone and text banks, back-to-school events, and more.
Educators for Biden-Harris will highlight the stark choice teachers and their families will face in this election: Joe Biden’s Scranton values versus Donald Trump’s agenda that would prioritize the interests of the wealthy and big corporations at the expense of working families. The Biden-Harris administration has focused on a promise to strengthen education, advancing their work to build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up — while Donald Trump promises to cut taxes for “rich as hell” billionaires and tells them at fundraisers that “we’re gonna give you tax cuts.”
“In a time when some extreme politicians are focused on banning books and taking away needed resources from students, President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris have been leading life-changing efforts to get students the one-on-one support they need, keeping students and educators safe from gun violence, expanding school-based mental health programs, and addressing educator shortages. The 3 million members of the National Education Association know we have a seat at the table in this important partnership, and we enthusiastically support the reelection of President Biden and Vice President Harris,” said NEA President Becky Pringle. “Educators across the country are ready and working hard to reelect President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. They are tireless advocates for America’s students and wake up every day focused on partnering with educators and parents to ensure every student — no matter their race, place, or background — has quality public schools where they can grow into their full brilliance.”
“Joe Biden understands the importance of public schools and the educators who make learning possible,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “He believes in his bones that public schools are the pathway to improving kids’ lives and building a better America. He sees and acts on the headwinds we face — the fight for freedom to teach and the freedom to learn, the fight for safe and welcoming schools, the fight to eradicate student debt, and the fight for real solutions to help kids thrive. That’s why he invested to stabilize public schools after COVID, erased billions in student loan debt and called for educators to get a raise. While others divide and undermine, President Biden lives and honors our values and we will stand with him as he campaigns to make a difference — not just for educators, but for all Americans.”
Educators are some of the most trusted messengers in communities across the country, and NEA and AFT have nearly 5 million combined members with local affiliates in all 5o states. And their members vote: 96% of NEA members and over 90% of AFT members voted in 2020.
NEA and AFT members are already mobilizing to support the Biden-Harris campaign, participating in phone banks, text message campaigns, and door-to-door canvassing as well as using relational organizing tools and preparing Get Out the Vote efforts to amplify Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ accomplishments for students, teachers, school staff, and communities — and that work will continue through November.
NEA is also helping educators learn more about the Biden-Harris administration’s record of strengthening public education and Donald Trump’s history of undermining it, with tools like the Biden-Harris Public Education Quiz and a candidate comparison tool in both English and Spanish. And the NEA is already working to ensure that educators make a plan to vote in November.
The AFT is helping members learn about President Biden and Vice President Harris’ accomplishments by educating members on the Biden-Harris administration’ accomplishments for educators, including through a Biden-Harris fact sheet series and online efforts that connect electoral priorities for members to President Biden’s accomplishments. And they are encouraging members to “Be Heard” and amplify the ways the Biden-Harris administration has delivered for educators and communities.
