About reopening schools which is on the top of the minds of mostly everyone in the country. We at the afc really want to reopen schools safely for our kids and for the staff that work with our kids every single day. And we didnt hear anything from the president about this for weeks and weeks until after joe biden spoke at the ada Convention Earlier last week letting him educators, pledging support for Public Education and now celebrating President Trump invested has woken up about schools and about reopening after being completely silent or months. But instead of doing what we can usually count on the president to do , in terms of leading with a plan that keeps teachers, kids , families say, trump is demanding schools and campuses reopen without funding any of the necessary measures to do so safely. Rejecting the cdc guidance and he and betsy devos are threatening to withhold funds if schools dont reopen area thats not president ial. Thats not nice. Thatsreckless and dangerous and its purely political on hispart. It abandons children. It abandons educators and in the midst of this pandemic which across the country is having spiking cases. The truth is americas teachers dont want to wait for a vaccine to reopen. We know Public Schooling and in School Attendance is vitally important for our kids. The teachers and our students need a real plan to reopen our schools and resources to do it safely and our members know that. 76 percent of them support going back to School Buildings proper safeguards such as physical distancing of 60 red masks and other ppe. Proper cleaning and ventilation and reasonable accommodations. We know our kids need to go back to school. In the same poll we know what you all know. Promote learning is a supplement. It doesnt substitute for in School Learning and 86 percent of our educators found that it didnt really meet the needs even though they were herculean in trying to help turn on a dime to do remote education. Its not just the loss of learning that worries educators. Teachers are concerned about h, parents are concerned about kids. How theyre doing, feeling ab isolated. So many kids have told us that. Losing the experience of trauma from losing a loved one to Food Insecurity at home. And we know that our kids need a personal engagement and the socialization so ultimately, you know everything i pretty much have said but teachers and parents want to make sure this here is a good year for kids. X year, or this year , next few weeks will likely be a hybrid of remote, mixed and in Person Instruction theres nothing normal about that but theres nothing normal about the times that we are in. We are facing these three crises, the Racial Justice prices, a pandemic and economic crisis and there needs to be people who help us meet that moment. And frankly, what you have today is you have not only are leaders here are helping to meet that moment but you have 2 amazing leaders in senator Elizabeth Warren and doctor jill biden who really are listening and who understand kids and communities and schools and educators. So i want to start with senator warren. I teased before when i pulled up our plan and said ensenator, we even had a plan for reopening schools because senator warren has thought about more frames around education then i think any other human being ive ever met in my life. Senator Elizabeth Warren. Thank you and hello ast. I am so happy to have this chance to be on the call with some of the strongest, hardest workingand most dedicated people in the country. Americas Public School teachers and counselors in cafeteria workers and bus drivers. The people who devote their lives to educating our children. Im sograteful to all of you. And i know, i never thought i would end up in politics, not in 1 million years but when i ranfor office , i quickly discovered nobody does this on their own. I learned that the effective is critical to have allies know how to get the job done. Allies like my dear friend randi weingarten. Randy, you know how to getout there every day and make it happen. And i want to get a shout out to someone who has been a longtime advocate for students and for hardworking families. The next first lady of the United States, doctor jill biden. Educators deserve a partner in the white house and with President Joe Biden and first lady doctor jill lighting, they dont just get one advocate, they will get 2 and thats what we need. This is a time of crisis or our nation and across the country to fight for social, racial and Economic Justice has reached a new threshold. As we fight for justice, we are also fighting to stem the tide of the coronavirus outbreak. This has already killed tmore than hundred 30,000 americans. And the trump administrations response to this public crisis has been cruel, heartless and incompetent. So today, as families are suffering and their sick and theyre scared, Donald Trumps administration is basically just given up the fight to try to stem the tide of this crisis. Teachers and families have worked hard to try to keep kids learning are in this crisis. But the federal government has failed our students and failed our school and betsy devos has spent the pandemic finding new ways to shovel taxpayer dollars into private schools. In congress, republicans have failed to abprovide schools with the resources they need to be able to weather this storm. We know Distance Learning isnt the same as being in schools. We know that distancelearning has been devastating for some of our kids and particularly for kids of color. And thats why we all want schools to be able to open by but only when they can open safely. Ive got news for President Trump and the republicans are trying to politicize the safety and wellbeing of our students. You cant just snap your fingers and reopen anthe schools. Or things schools to reopen without providing them with the resources they need to do to so safely or the flexibility to be able to respond to outbreaks in their community is both dangerous andreckless. Reopening schools is going to require careful planning that puts the safety ofstudents , teachers, staff first and provides the methodology and the attention needed to present the spread of covid in our schools and our communities. Thats why its so critically important that teachers and school staff have to be at the table for these decisions. We need a secretary of education who will work with teachers to help the state industries develop reopening plans based on the best available publichealth information. Instead of spending her time sending buckets of emergency taxpayer money to private schools. We need real leadership in the white house fighting with the president. To significantly reduce the spread of this virus. We need a congress that will act fast to invest real money in stabilizing our state and local governments of childcare in our k12 schools and critical aid to schools and to states. There are a lot of ways to accomplish these goals but time is of the essence. And their opportunities wit. An america that coulde only be possible with joe and jill biden in the white house. Unmute myself. Thank you, senator. That was also an amazing testament to our next speaker who many of us know from the obama years, but dr. Jill biden was a k12 teacher and a Community College professor. During the entire time that her husband was the Vice President , she kept her teaching job job teaching students. We are the largest higher ed union. We have ar lot of Community College professors, but they are a special breed in that theres a sense of the pathway that they help kids climb, and the latter that they help kids climb from generation to generation. Dr. Biden, this is her soul, and you can see why, i was saying this earlier the senator s warrn and dr. Biden. You can see why the joint platform, the unity platform they came out a couple of days ago c was really so much the het and soul of what we believe in. Thats a large testament to the person who is at joe bidens side all the time, dr. Jill biden. Thank you, madam president. Randi, you are fierce and tireless. After more than a decade now you have been the face of this dynamic and powerful group of educators. And you fight for us everyday. And, of course, joe and i are incredibly proud of the leaders and organizations who have chosen to stand by us. But as an educator myself, having the aft on our side means so much to me personally. Thank you for your leadership and forth your support. And thank you, senator warren, for joining us today. Elizabeth, as ael fellow educat, and advocate and as a senator, you have been an inspiration to so many people across our country for many, many years. You have fought for students and middleclass families, and the values that our nation aspires to live up to hear and with every selfie, every pinky promise, you reminded young women across this nation that yes, they, too, belong in the white house. Because running for president is what girls do. But you didnt do it alone. Bruce and betty were always by your side. Being the spouse of a candidate can be a real experience that not a lot of people relate to. So i enjoyed getting to know bruce as well. Thank you forn all that youve done for this nation and for your support in this race. Thank you. And hello, everyone at afd. And its a wonderful to be with the aft membership. Many of whom have been on our front lines during the pandemic, and so many passionate educators. I know a lot of you have been working hard to get the heroes act passed in the senate. And i want to thank you for that. Before we jump in to our conversation i want to tell you a quick story. A few years ago i went to puerto rico to see a school in a Poor Community in santiago. Six months after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island, the effects of the storm were still ever present. The schoolyard remained piled with the debris. Most of the buses were destroyed, as well, of course, as the parents vehicles. So students as young as five years old had to walk miles and miles school. This was an american school, and the students of their nest so much time in the classroom the students they are missed that they lost the entire academic year. And yet, amidst this devastation i saw hope growing like dandelions through concrete. The children laughed as they practice their grammar lessons and would sink the patient, te teachers would refocus the kids attention. And onn top of the dark shoulder high water line, that stained the walls, the teachers had pasted cheery, colorful paper flowers in the face of devastation, i saw the strength of the human spirit, the determination to create something beautiful for our children. Because thats what educators do. Make something out of nothing, inspire, instill confidence. We have seen it again and again during this crisis. Many of you learned to teach online nearly overnight with creativity, you figured out how to reach children who dont have the internet or devices at home. You have been sounding boards, counselors,so social workers, ad so much more. And many of you have done it while trying to guide your own children through Remote Learning. If theres one thing weve seen over these last few months, its that schools are not just places where children learn. They are the safe havens where students find counsel, purpose and friendships. And they give parents the ability to focus on their careers and support families knowing their children are safe. Yet, it has also shown us the deep inequities in our system. Less access to technology and the internet, Food Insecurity, and the anxiety that comes from poverty. Safety, opportunity, and education cant be dependent on your race, family income, or zip code. And thats why we have to get reopening our schools right. A a generation of students, familieses and educators are counting on us to prevent the spread of this virus, and empower them to growtu and invet in our future. Our future, joe understands that, and thats why schools are a key part of his vision of how we should reopen our economy safely. He knows that schools are going to need funds to keep coming you know, to keep staff and students safe with protective gear. They are going to need help making sure classrooms can socially distance, and theyre going to need to make sure that the students have access to broadband and other technology if we continue to rely on Remote Learning. They are going to need more Mental Health support to deal with the trauma of this pandemic. And i cant stress that enough. But joe also understands that the best policy dont come from politics sorry, elizabeth they come from listening to educators like all of you. And you know better than anyone what your students need, and you need to be leading our efforts. Not by politicians who have never set foot in a Public School classroom. When joe is president he will make sure that you have the funding, guidance and support that you need. He will lift up your voice and make sure youre right to organize is protected. And, randi, you know this better than anyone, he will appoint a secretary of education who has actually taught Public School and cares as much about our kids as you do. And most of all, he will listen to educators. He will have to because he will be sharing the white house with one. So thats why im here today, to listen, to learn, to take your stories back to jail and to our campaign, and to thank you again for joining us, and thank you for your work. We are so proud to have the aft on our side. Now im going to turn it back, back to randi. Thank you. Thank you, senator warren. Yes, look, i grew up in a family where i still called my parents friends mr. And mrs. So sorry, dr. Biden, senator warren, we love you and we know as one who is watching after you heard them, you can understand the deep conviction to the work that we do at our members to every single day to make a difference in the lives of children and students and young adults, and you really want to make sure that this moment is one we can actually lead to hope and aspiration, and overcome fear and anxiety. But we know we need leadership and thats why we are really so excited about the Vice President. And ive said this before, im going to say it again. He was the person i went to all the time in the obama administration, and he listened to us. He didnt always agree but he really listened to the kind of respect the way, and tried to make things right. And thats who we have not just in joe biden, but in dr. B and in senator warren. They try to make things right, to make government work for people. I just want to have each of our few minutesak for a and then open it up to other questions. Weve asked our panelists not to take on the war front, some of you saw that, i was reading some of my nose because i could go on and on if i dont come but i want to make sure that we had several of the real issues that are being raised and that our members care about in terms of safely opening, you know, what about a reasonable accommodations . What about the kids needs . What about the money and the heroes act . Each of our speakers will just take one piece of this instead of all of it. Said jerry jordan who is the president of aft local three, we always compete between chicago local one, new york city, which i was the president of and michael is now, local tumor, and jerry jordan, president of local three in philadelphia. He serves as the vice chair of the human and Civil Rights Committee and he taught english to speakers are the languages prior to becoming an officer of the pft and philly is a place where theres lots and lots of ventilation o problems and yet e locals has really try to figure out how to get those problems solved and how to reopen the school safety. With that i just want, jerry is going to talk about at risk students and the need, their needs, and what we need to do. Jerry. Thank you very much, randi. Senator warren and dr. Biden, i thank you all for your unwavering leadership. Now more than ever your efforts will be central as a work to heal our nation in so many ways and address headon what randi describes as a triple crises, the coronavirus pandemic, the economic recession, and systemic racism. For decades the criminal underfunding of our schools has had a catastrophic effect on the lives of millions of our students across the nation. Here in philadelphia where the vast majority of our students are black and brown, and over 80 live in poverty, this triple has had profound ramifications. Most marginalized among us are the ones that suffer the most during this crises, and every single decision about reopening School Buildings must address this profound inequity. And now amidst rising cases of covid across the nation, the current occupant of the white house has once again shown his absolute disregard for science and, quite frankly, for humanity. I was disgusted when i read that trump refers to the cdcs guidelines as very tough and expenses, and prompting the current Vice President to shortly thereafter indicate that the cdc would be revising their guidelines. Here in philadelphia the Philadelphia Federation of teachers has been working tirelessly to advocate for the needs of the children we serve andd the educators who serve them. We have conducted three surveys among our membership since the closure of School Buildings, and we clearly know the significant concern that our members have about covid19, Remote Learning, and reopening of schools. Let me be very clear. My membership wants to be in schools teaching facetoface. Their efforts during this crises, in partnership with students and parents, has been nothing short of heroic. They have been the first to note that fundamentally