WASHINGTON — Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association – the largest Labor union in America - released the following statement celebrating Vice President Kamala Harris’s pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate today:
“The country’s educators and students have always been able to count on Vice President Kamala Harris. She has delivered once again for students, educators, and working families with the exceptional choice of Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
“Gov. Walz is known as the “Education Governor” because he has been an unwavering champion for public school students and educators, and an ally for working families and unions. As a high school teacher and NEA member Walz is committed to uplifting our public schools. He has a track record of getting things done to make people’s lives better. Walz successfully passed legislation providing free school meals to every Minnesota student, ensuring no child will have to learn on an empty stomach. He increased education spending by billions of dollars, raised teacher pay, enacted paid family and medical leave for all families, provided unemployment insurance to hourly school workers, and expanded the collective bargaining rights of Minnesotans. We know he will be a valued partner to both Vice President Harris as well as educators and parents, advocating every day, so our students have the resources they need to succeed.
“Educators are fired up and united to get out and elect the Harris-Walz ticket. We know we can count on a continued and real partnership to expand access to free school meals for students, invest in student mental health, ensure no educator has to carry the weight of crushing student debt, and do everything possible to keep our communities and schools safe.
"There is so much at stake in this election for our students and our country. Donald Trump is a convicted felon who only cares about himself. This is the same man who entrusted Betsy DeVos, the least qualified secretary of education in history, to attempt to dismantle our public schools. Trump’s extreme, unprecedented Project 2025 agenda would fundamentally alter the American government and jeopardize our children’s futures and give Trump unprecedented power over our daily lives. He wants to ban books, take learning opportunities away from students, make educators pay more in taxes than billionaires, and eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Simply put, Donald Trump and JD Vance would be disastrous for the future of our country.
“The choice in this election couldn’t be more clear. The 3-million members of the NEA will show their power by turning out, volunteering and making their voices heard because we know that electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz is the only way we can take America forward."
Follow on X at @NEAToday and @BeckyPringle
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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing nearly 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org.
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