AFT President Randi Weingarten Rallies Support for Harris and Walz at DNC

Chicago - AFT President Randi Weingarten Backs Harris and Walz at DNC

AFT President Randi Weingarten took the stage on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention to voice the union’s unwavering support for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. She also highlighted the critical nature of the upcoming election. Below is the complete text of her address:

I’m Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, and I am a public school teacher.

One of the first lessons I taught my students was about the social contract—how both individual freedoms and mutual responsibility are essential in our democracy. This covenant underlies our commitment to public schools, where educators prepare students to spark innovations, steward the environment, create our arts and shape our democracy.

One of the first lessons my students taught me is that you have to walk the walk. That means Donald Trump and JD Vance can’t claim they’re pro-child while gutting funding for public schools. It means being pro-family is supporting access to good union jobs and affordable housing, healthcare and higher education.

That’s what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are fighting for, and we are all in. They have spent their lives making the promise of America real, in the classroom and the courtroom.

America, with Kamala Harris as our president, our best days are ahead!

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) represents 1.8 million members, including pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals, higher education faculty and professional staff, as well as federal, state, and local government employees, nurses, healthcare workers, and early childhood educators.