AFT’s Weingarten Responds to New Details on Federal School Voucher Scheme

WASHINGTON-AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement responding to new media reporting on the Trump administration's plans for their federal school voucher program:

"The use of public dollars for private voucher schemes remains anathema. While it's a good thing that the political backlash has resulted in some potential uses for public school parents, vouchers are never a substitute for direct, sustained investment in public education.

"Let's be clear what this administration is doing: putting its thumb on the scale for privatization and spending billions more to prop up this scheme than it ever has on public schools. It telegraphs, in words and in deeds, that it has no interest in improving the schools that 90 percent of kids attend."

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The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.