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AFT Pennsylvania urges caution on reopening schools

**PRESS RELEASE**

AFT PENNSYLVANIA URGES CAUTION ON REOPENING SCHOOLS

Plymouth Meeting, PA, January 8, 2021—On behalf of its 36,000 members and 61 locals, AFT Pennsylvania President Arthur G. Steinberg on Friday released the following statement urging the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Health and Department of Education to use caution after new guidance issued by Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine encourages districts to resume in-person learning.

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Finally—it’s President-elect Biden

Patience—counseled by former Vice President Joe Biden all election week as Americans waited for votes to be counted—finally paid off Nov. 7, four days after Election Day, when Biden won in Pennsylvania and gained enough Electoral College votes to acquire a new title: president-elect. AFT President Randi Weingarten says the union’s leaders and members “can’t wait to get started” on the work ahead “with an administration that will embrace and fight for the values we hold dear.”

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The AFT calls for freedom to teach

AFT President Randi Weingarten today delivered a major address on the crisis hollowing out the teaching profession—massive disinvestment in public education and deprofessionalization. In her speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., she called for reinvestment and freedom to teach. It was followed by two panels featuring education leaders who laid out pragmatic solutions.

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Your vote is your voice

AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest column outlines the urgency of using our voices—our votes—in this life-changing election, when we will make a choice “between President Donald Trump, who has trafficked in chaos, fear, lies and division, and former Vice President Joe Biden, who seeks to reverse Trump’s failures on COVID-19 and the economy, and to unite and uplift the American people.” Besides the four crises we face—a pandemic, an economic crisis, racism and a climate emergency—democracy itself is on the ballot, as Trump continues to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election.

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‘Back to school’ like never before

In her September New York Times column, AFT President Randi Weingarten says that going back to school has never looked like it does now. Weingarten explains that because of President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus, which has been chaotic, contradictory and inept, and the lack of federal guidance and funding, we’re seeing a patchwork of school reopening plans across the country.

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Key Funding Components of HEROES Act for Pennsylvania

The Coronavirus has wreaked unprecedented havoc on the lives of the American people. Our economy, our schools, our jobs and our way of life have been disrupted. To survive and recover from this pandemic, safely reopen our schools and allow people to safely return to work to restore our economy, we have to maintain critical state and local services, such as law enforcement, education and healthcare.

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