United States: Historic victory for education, teachers and unions
The US House of Representatives has voted to approve new legislation that will inject more than $10 billion in aid to states and school districts to save education jobs that were threatened by budget cuts.
Recent figures from the US Department of Education estimate that 161,000 educators who had received ‘pink slips’ (were given redundancy notices), will instead be heading back to school in the autumn thanks to this law. Moreover, the passage of this Senate-approved bill will benefit students by ensuring that class sizes do not skyrocket, and that essential programs like art, music and summer school are not cut.
This major victory is a result of the sustained and successful campaigns that were run by the two main education unions, and EI’s largest affiliates in the US. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) have developed an impressive track record of persistent advocacy work to mobilise their members and draw the attention of the whole community of students, teachers, parents, politicians and media, to achieve a common goal of avoiding educator layoffs and preserving the quality of education in these critical economic times.
AFT President, Randi Weingarten, said: “We can’t ‘race to the top’ if the bottom is falling out for school districts across the country. Make no mistake about it -for every layoff, for every day that’s cut from a school week, for every course or program that’s dropped, children are hurt. That is why we are so grateful that the Senate demonstrated its support for kids and their education.”
NEA President, Dennis Van Roekel, added: "Some critics of this legislation first complained that it wasn't paid for. That is not true. This legislation is fully paid for, and the Congressional Budget Office analysis shows that it will actually reduce the deficit over the next decade. Others claimed that this legislation will benefit ’special interests’. Since when did the needs of our nation's students, the health of low-income Americans, and the safety of our communities become ‘special interests’?”
Both unions emphasised the important role of the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, for her leadership and tireless efforts on this issue. She called the members of Congress back to Washington D.C. last week, in order to take the second and crucial final vote on this critical issue for public sector jobs.
The bill will now be signed into law by President Obama, and it will hopefully create an historic precedent of how education can become the solution, not the problem, in a time of global crisis.
