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She frames current culture-war hostility as a coordinated effort to undermine public education through attacks on funding, trust, and governance, and by promoting vouchers and privatization. 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I’m sure my wife doesn’t love everything about me, but she loves me. (I, on the other hand, love everything about her.) Nothing is perfect. Banks aren’t.  \nCongress isn’t. And neither are our public schools—not even our most well-resourced and highest-performing schools. Those of us involved in public schools work hard to strengthen them to bethe best they can be. But only public schools have as their mission providing opportunity for all students. And by virtually any measure—conversations, polls, studies, and elections—parents and the public overwhelmingly like public schools, value them, need them, support them—and countless Americans love them.  \nPublic schools are more than physical structures. They are the manifestation of our civic values and ideals: the ideal that education is so important for individuals and for society that a free  \nRandi Weingarten is the president of the AFT. Prior to her election in 2008, she served for 11 years as president of the United Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2. A teacher of history at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn from 1991 to 1997, Weingarten helped her students win several state and national awards debating constitutional issues. Widely recognized as a champion of public schools and a better life for all people, her recent commendations include being named to Washingtonian’s 2021Most Influential People in Washington and City & State New York’s 2021 New York City Labor Power 100.  \nRead, Watch, and Share!  \nThis article is based on Randi Weingarten’s speech at the National Press Club on March 28, 2023, in which she provides four strategies for powerful public education: expanding community schools, scaling experiential learning, addressing staff shortages, and deepening the partnership between families and educators.  \nFor the full experience—including Randi’s passionate delivery and the accompanying graphics—it’s well worth watching the speech. You might even want to host a watch party! –EDITORS  \neducation must be available to all. That all young people should have opportunities to prepare for life, college, career, and citizenship. That, in a pluralistic society such as the United States, people with different beliefs and backgrounds must learn to bridge differences. And that, as the founders believed, an educated citizenry is essential to protect our democracy from demagogues.  \nThomas Jefferson argued that general education was necessary to “enable every man to judge for himself what will secure or endanger his freedom.”1 Franklin D. Roosevelt said,“The real safeguard of democracy…is education.”2 And Dr. Martin Luther  \nPHOTOS: AFT  \nAMERICAN EDUCATOR | SUMMER 2023 3  \nStudents and staff should feel welcome, safe, and respected in school—but the culture wars are fueling hostility and fear.  \nKing Jr., in accepting the United Federation of Teachers’ John Dewey Award, made clear: “Education is the road to equality and citizenship.”3  \nWhen kids go to school together, they become part of a community; their families become part of a community. That community comes together at school concerts, basketball games, and science fairs, and for shelter and comfort when people are displaced by natural disasters or, far too often, at vigils for victims of gun violence. In good times and bad, public schools are cornerstones of community, of our democracy, our economy, and our nation.  \nBut some people want that cornerstone to crumble—and they’re wielding the sledgehammers.  \nAttacks on Public Education and Democracy  \nAttacks on public education are not new. The difference today is that the attacks are intended to destroy it. To make it a battlefield, a political cudgel. After former President Trump lost reelection, Steve Bannon, his key ally, declared that their fight goes through school boards. In a speech ","cbCaikz3iYEzbTTU","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikz3iYEzbTTU","pdf",397761,"English","# Defending Public Education - Reclaiming Our Schools’ Promise and Purpose\n## Public schools as civic values and opportunity\n## Education and democracy\n## Attacks on public education and democracy","[{\"question\":\"Why does the speaker say public schools matter beyond buildings?\",\"answer\":\"Public schools are presented as the real-world manifestation of civic values—education as essential to individuals and society, and a foundation for community and democracy.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the speech claim about the intent behind today’s attacks on education?\",\"answer\":\"The speech argues the attacks are meant to destroy public education by making schools a political battlefield and undermining universal trust in them.\"},{\"question\":\"What strategies are proposed to strengthen public education?\",\"answer\":\"The speaker highlights four strategies: expand community schools, scale experiential learning, address staff shortages, and deepen partnerships between families and educators.\"}]","Defending Public Education - Reclaiming Our Schools’ Promise and Purpose | PDF",18]