← The Majority Report with Sam Seder
The Majority Report with Sam Seder
3530 - Senate Sells Out Working Families w/ Randi Weingarten
01:04:38
It's hump day and everything is fine because Chuck Schumer got the bill's name changed! That'll show 'em. Way to go Cuck (sic). Today we are joined by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. With 1.8 million members, the...
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Emma Vigland
You are listening to a free version of Majority Report with Sam Steder. To support the show and get another 15 minutes of daily program, go to majority SM please.
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Sam Seder
The majority Report with Sam Cedar. It is Wednesday, July 2, 2025. My name is Sam Seder. This is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, usa. On the program today, Randy Weingarten, president of the American Federation of teachers, representing 1.8 million members, third largest public sector union in the country. Meanwhile, House Republicans take up the hugely unpopular worst piece of legislation in decades with an eye to passage in one day. The bill if passed will bring a massive new wave of ICE raids, millions uninsured, millions lacking food assistance and massive tax cuts for billionaires, among other sundry items. Trump administration now refusing to release $7 billion of School of funding for public schools that had already been appropriate. Federal judge rules that the health and human services firings unlawful and orders the Trump administration to halt its plans. Trump regime also reverses on pledged military aid to Ukraine. Turns out that EU ass kissing notwithstanding, despite Trump's ceasefire announcement, Israel continues its slowdown slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, particularly killing of aid seekers to pave regulatory path to a sale. Paramount pays Trump $16 million to settle the junk 60 Minutes lawsuit. The ADP reports private sector lost 33,000 jobs badly missing expectations last month. Trump regime okays Florida's use of National Guard as immigration judges at its state gulag. Upenn bans trans women from sports teams caving to the Trump administration revokes Lia Thomas's awards. And a George W. Bush appointed judge blocks Trump regime's early rescission of temporary protected status for 500,000 Haitians. And lastly, the now Republican defanged Consumer Financial Protection Bureau drops $95 million illegal fee settlement with Navy Federal Credit Union because we just don't believe in that type of fraud accountability anymore. All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome ladies and gentlemen. It is, oh, it's hump day, he says, while Emma Vigland still out on her honeymoon. I mean, I don't know what else to say. It's sort of shocking. This is America. We don't take off.
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Randy Weingarten
What do you mean time off?
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Sam Seder
We don't take time off for things like honeymoons or really anything that's not the way we do it around here. But she'll be back apparently on Monday having missed virtually no news. So I'm sure she'd be fine we got a lot to get to right now as we speak. It's another one of those days, folks, where we're trying to pay attention, literally up until showtime as to what the status is of this bill. The last reports I saw were that the House Freedom Caucus and this just came across the wires at 11:44am Eastern that house Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris doubted that the legislation is going to be completed by the July 4th deadline. Now, yesterday in the Rules Committee, Representative Jim McGovern was debating this bill a little bit with, I guess, debating with Representative Brett Guthrie, Republican from Kentucky. The bill has to go through the House Rules Committee before it becomes eligible to be voted on within the context of the House. I don't there's a lot of like, parliamentary stuff here and House rule stuff. But the bottom line is it just barely eeked out of this committee after nearly a dozen hours. Two House Freedom Caucus members voted against it. Remember now, that doesn't mean that they vote against the final passage of the bill. It's probably just a negotiation tactic. To what end? We don't know. They have to accept the Senate bill. There's just there is no more negotiations. Now. They can also say, well, we want to massage it so that we can pass a different bill and then send that back to the Senate for ratification. But there's no time for them to do that. So it really remains to be seen whether the House Freedom Caucus will cave. And apparently Donald Trump's number one job is to convince them. But here is a clip of Jim McGovern, Democrat from Worcester, Mass. Chair of the House Rules Committee with Representative Brett Nutsher. I should say minority senior minority leader on the House Rules Committee and Representative.
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Jim McGovern
Brett Guthrie about with mental health, with all the other they're exempted out people with substance use disorder. Well, according to the joint economic committee, 184,526 people will lose their health care coverage in Kentucky. Are they all, they all deserving to lose their health care benefits? So I would say if they're able to work and choose not to work, when I say under the restrictions that we have for, for eligibility, most Kentuckians I know there were some criticism that came out from the governor's office of our bill. But if they're defending people that are able to work and they're not working well, Kentucky has one of the lowest workforce participation rates. People who are eligible to work that are working and they'll be better off if they're working. I want to make just one statement before go, Mr. Colon. This notion that, you know, all these millions and millions of Americans really are living the easy life. You know, staying home, watching TV and being on Medicaid and being on SNAP is ludicrous. A food benefit that's on average $2 per per meal for an individual. I mean, I mean, it's just like it's so offensive to people in this country. And you know, I mean, I don't know whether you talk to your constituents who are on Medicaid, but I'll tell you, I mean, their lives are oftentimes very, very complicated. And I think they're just part of why this bill is so unpopular is because people think you're talking about them.
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Sam Seder
I agree. I mean, it sounds like he is talking about his own constituents. This bill is wildly unpopular. We know that the vast majority of folks who are unemployed and on Medicaid, in other words, they don't get paid by Medicaid. Medicaid just covers their health insurance, just covers their health care. So there's nobody living large off of Medicaid unless they have figured out some way of like having someone to pay them to be healthy. And to the extent that there are people unemployed on Medicaid, vast. The overwhelming majority of people on Medicaid are already employed. And perhaps they're unemployed. They're employed at places where they're still not getting a living wage or they're caring for a loved one or they have some type of disability which doesn't rise or they've had trouble getting disability benefits from Social Security. And apparently these Republicans, they just don't care. The bottom line is get the bill passed, bump over 10 million people off of health insurance, not to mention the millions of people who are going to have less food assistance. It's barbaric. And it's all for tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires and other wealthy people and concentration camps. Oh, and we should also say, yes, it's funding hundreds of billions of dollars in new detention centers and new brown shirted thugs to go round up working immigrants. And we should also say another hundred billion dollars for defense spending or, you know, military spending.
- [10:50]
Randy Weingarten
Got to defend ourselves.
- [10:51]
Sam Seder
Exactly. We will talk more about this. We have an amazing clip of Lisa Murkowski actually having to be held account. Not even held account. Really. Just ask the question about her cave on this bill for tax benefits for whaling captains. That is not a joke. In a moment we're going to be talking to Randi Weingarten. She's a former New York City public school teacher, now the president of The American Federation of Teachers. Like I say, the third largest if I'm not mistaken. Public sector union in the country, 1.8 million members. First, a couple of words from our sponsors. Are you putting microplastics into your body? I bet you are. They, they're all over those. Like those Pa. What, what are they called? Like those. Those dishwashing pods.
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Randy Weingarten
Pods, yeah.
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Sam Seder
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Expressvpn.com Majority going to take quick break, and when we come back, we're going to be talking to Randy Weingarten. We'll be right back after this. It's Sam. So it's going to be another couple minutes for Randy Weingarten. In the meantime, David Dane walked us through this yesterday, how the Senate essentially was one vote away from the bill not passing. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, who has had a very rocky relationship with Donald Trump, was holding out and she caved essentially for some benefits, for, for a handful of benefits to some very narrow constituencies that she had. Whaling captains getting a greater tax break others. The big issue was on snap and it ended up incentivizing the one thing that Republicans used as an excuse to cut snap, which is, you know, waste and a fraud and abuse. Now the reality is is that there is not extensive waste, fraud and abuse in snap. However, there are improper payment rates and a lot of that gets clawed back. But because Alaska was one of those improper high rate of improper payments, she managed to get a deal where she would get a two year basically stay on these cuts to SNAP because she had her state has a high improper payment rate. But to get it past the parliamentarian, they had to make it seem like it wasn't targeted just to buy her vote. So they made it for the top 10 states that have high improper payment rates includes a lot of blue states. But now you can see the problem. If you are one of those states with a low improper payment rate, you are now incentivized to have more improper payments. Efficiency, efficiency. All right, look, we're going to take another break. We're going to play this Murkowski clip later in the program. But in a moment we'll be talking to Randy Winegarden. We'll be right back. It we are back. Sam Cedar on the Majority Report. It is a pleasure to welcome back to the program Randy Weingarten, former New York City public school teacher and president of the American Federation of Teachers, which I believe, correct me if I'm Wrong, is the third largest public sector union in the country, 1.8 million members, not just teachers but many public sectors across.
- [23:28]
Emma Vigland
We may actually now be the second. You know, depends how you call SEIU or whatever. But you know, which is both private and public with us. But Sam, we are actually the fastest growing union in America right now.
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Sam Seder
Where are, where, where's that growth coming from? I mean, I obviously have some other questions, but I'm just curious.
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Emma Vigland
Well, it's coming in several different ways. First, there's a lot of the gigafication of higher education is huge and we're seeing a lot of growth there in terms of adjuncts and non tenured faculty track. We are now the highest, we are now the largest higher ed union. And then it's also happening in terms of health care. We're now the second largest nurse union. And what we're also seeing is doctors are wanting to join as well. The last of the big, big, big school districts that can actually get collector bargaining. Fairfax county joined both US and NEA last year. There is a real appetite. What I'm seeing out there is that there is a real appetite, regardless of what positions people have in the country to actually have a union and the gigification and the lack of rights and the lack of employment connection that a lot of contracted out workers have, people are really, really angry at their circumstances and the fact that they have no rights. And so we get more phone calls than we can answer. And what we try to do is make sure that there's a real organizing committee on the ground that really wants to organize because we can't do everything. I mean, I, as you know, I really believe in ground up. And so we have to do it ground up in terms of making sure there's a community that wants to organize and wants to fight for real values and real issues, you know, not just fight a particular employer.
- [25:42]
Sam Seder
And with the range of members you have, I imagine this bill that's going to pass, I mean more than likely going to pass, if not today, very soon, is going to hurt them across. And I want to get to that. But first, let's start here. You made some news a week or two ago where you and Lee Sanders, the president of afscme, the other big public sector union, step down off of the committee. One of some of the leadership positions of the dnc. And I'm curious what that, you know, both what motivated that and what you think needs to happen in terms of union's relationship with the Democratic Party.
- [26:38]
Emma Vigland
So, you know, I, I've tried not to, you know, talk about the he said, she said, what specifically led up to it because I don't find that, you know, that may be good for soap operas, but it's not good for the moment that we're in right now. Let me just say that what I said in my letter and what Lee said in his letter were that we have, we, we have a very. Sorry about my dog.
- [27:07]
Sam Seder
No worries.
- [27:08]
Emma Vigland
We have a very, we have to make common cause with the working class, with people who work in America. And what you could see from the last election is that and, and, and maybe Donald Trump is singular in this or maybe this is a trend that when people who have just done this bill have more credibility with working class workers and voters, then you know, we're in trouble. And so we kept saying we need to actually not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. As my kids at Clara Barton used to say to me, you have to engage with people. It can't just be that you have good policy. You have to find a way that people hear it and, and believe it and change policy to make workers the most important, not just critique what the other guy is doing, but change policy to make workers really understand that their pathway to a better life is what our party wants to do. So neither Lee nor I left the party. But if we're not going to be a respected voice in, in the leadership of the dnc, if we're just going to be there and people aren't listening, then, then we got a lot of other things to do. And so the David Hogg stuff was just a symptom. It was not the reason. But that was an example of how do you expand the tent so that people see that the Democratic Party is for the strivers and the strugglers and people who want a better life for themselves and their families. And how do you do things that are different, that people hear so that people see it? And I'll say again, this bill is a perfect example. The Senate in the last few days. Chuck Schumer, Amy Klobuchar, Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, so Cory Booker, so many of them, Amy Klobuchar, if I didn't say Amy's name, they were out there full on making clear what the stakes were night after night after night. The same happened with the Democrats in the House the week before, two weeks before. The Democratic Party, the national party should have been surround sound. I mean, AFL was out doing that. We're out doing that. Move on was out doing that. Indivisible was out doing that. Seiu, Planned Parenthood. So many. But where was the party itself with the podcasts and the ads and the 50 state strategy to make sure that people knew what is in this cruel bill? Because what this bill does is the biggest wealth transfer from the poor to the rich probably ever. And it not only, you know, it's not only cruel to children, to immigrants, to millions on health care, it cuts jobs, it defunds schools, and it raises the deficit. And so ultimately, this was something that I thought the party should be full on out there every single day making clear what this bill does. Because anybody who has read it, or not that anybody's read it, but anybody who has seen what its effects are, hate it. That's what the party should be doing right now.
- [31:05]
Sam Seder
I mean, do you think. I mean, because it feels like that strategy of just simply waiting for Trump to implode or that the Republicans have this sort of like, revelation or they cut him loose. This, it feels like this has been the strategy in terms of the Republican Party. I mean, you know, we can go back to Obama in 2012 saying the fever is Going to break maybe. He said that in 2008. And the fever has not broken. In fact, the, the patient has just been able to have an increasing fever and it seems to have acclimated to it. This notion of like, you know, and I feel like, you know, that this happened at the beginning of the year too, where the strategy was we're just going to wait and we're not going to get aggressive about anything and hope that they implode. It seems like there was an opportunity to even work on Red State Freedom Caucus Congress people because, you know, we see it in the context of elections, right? Like we see where, you know, there will be attempts to paint, you know, to get the most conservative, the most, you know, Tea Party ish candidate. But you could have done the same play with those 30 Freedom Caucus members because they're the ones during the Obama administration. Sort of saved us by saying we're not going to take yes for an answer. You could rerun that.
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Emma Vigland
You are preaching to the choir, Sam, because look at what we've done. We've been out There, you know, March 4th, we were out there, you know, fighting about protecting our kids. We've been out April 5th with Indivisible and others in terms of hands off. We were one of the, you know, key organizers in terms of no Kings politics. The, the, the, the people who undermine Democratic values. I'm not talking about Democratic Party right now. The people who undermine Democratic values, the people who want an autocratic rule here. They're out there 24 7. You have to be out there 24 7. And frankly, when things really hurt members or families, like just this week, the Department of Education, they normally, all the monies that normally go out for public schools around America, they go out on July 1st. They've already been appropriated. And Linda McMahon decides she's picking and choosing what's going at and what isn't. So money for after school programs. She's not sending out to districts. It's appropriated. It's illegal what she's doing. So how do you wait to the next election if you care about people? You have to fight it now. You have to fight what's going on now. You have to fight the police state now. You can't wait.
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Sam Seder
You know, I wanted to obviously to talk about this. It's $6.8 billion in funds. Title 1C for migrant education, 375 million. Title 2A for professional development for teachers, 2.2. Title 3A for English learner services, 890 million. Title A for academic enrichment, 1.3. And like you say, Title 4B for before and after school programs, $1.4 billion, it seems to me, I mean, this is recision, right? Like, we have statutory, we have, we have both constitutional and 1974 statute, which has been reinforced by, I think it was New York City. I can't remember the court case, but it was in 74 that you can't do this. The money's been appropriated.
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Emma Vigland
Correct.
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Sam Seder
So let me again, you know, I don't mean to go back to this, but this strategy of, you know, signing off on the budget by Schumer several months ago, when people were like, you need to leverage this moment because it's the only moment. And even if you get some type of like, rider that says the president must fulfill all appropriations. But it seems to me, what happens if I'm a school and I'm not getting this money in July 1st. I don't know what to do with these programs. Like, I'm frozen. And it's not like I can make this decision on September 15th.
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Emma Vigland
So this is the only place where I think you and I diverge. I don't know. Look, I, I was of the opinion that, you know, similar to the House Democrats, that this, that was a moment to just say, no, I was of that opinion, but I do without. You know, and I know many of your listeners were up and, and, and, or were of the same opinion, and clearly you are. But I'm not sure that we were ready for the fuselage that was hap. That would happen after. And I think that's what Schumer was concerned about. And I don't know what the right answer was then, but I certainly know what that right now, this was in the budget, and it is in the budget. And the mockery that these people make about schooling. Look what they did. They, their first piece of business when they came into the White House was to say they wanted to shut down opportunity for college and for public college kids and for kids who went to public schools. And they got stopped by the courts. Our suits, NEA suits, NAACP suits, parent suits, school district suits, they have gotten stopped time after time after time. And now they try this, this tells you they don't care about children. How do you not if you have just said English should be the primary language of the United States, how do you take the money away for English acquisition if, if you're not just trying to be cruel, how do you take money away from after school programs that the school systems get to put out? How do you take money away when you say Linda McMahon. I've heard her say, oh, it's really important. Teachers are important. How do you take money away from training teachers? I mean, so it's just the mockery, the betrayal that they do, because this is money that goes basically to the people who voted for them.
- [37:58]
Sam Seder
Yeah, it's stunning. I mean, I think, you know, McMahon is not too dissimilar from Betsy DeVos in that they. They want this money to go to parochial schools. They want this money. Ultimately, they want them. They want there to be public education, but only insofar as dollars so they can, you know, send it to. To other type of schools.
- [38:18]
Emma Vigland
Actually, I think she may be worse than Betsy DeVos. It's hard for me to have said that, but I think she may actually be worse. You know, Betsy DeVos at least understood that you had to actually deal with educators and public schools. And one of the first calls that I got after she was appointed was from her saying, let's go to a public school together. I have yet to have gotten a call from Linda McMahon.
- [38:47]
Sam Seder
I mean, I would imagine this is a dynamic that's throughout the administration because they've had four years, Russell Vogt had four years to essentially plan. How do we go about methodically dismantling this?
- [39:03]
Emma Vigland
Exactly right. It is really a war. They are really dismantling, and you see it in this bill. They are dismantling opportunity for all people in America. When you go after and take away funding for our children, after school funding that has been in that budget for years, funding for migrant kids, funding for English acquisition, funding for teacher training. When you're complaining about test scores, you know, this is to handicap public schools so that you're trying. You're trying to hurt them.
- [39:47]
Sam Seder
And the second order issue is, again, they have no authority to do this. It's not just them cutting it from the budget. This is just them unilaterally deciding they're not going to send the check.
- [39:58]
Emma Vigland
Correct.
- [40:01]
Sam Seder
I have two sort of, like, big issue silos that I still want to talk to you about. One is unions, broadly speaking, in terms of the relationship of the Democratic Party. I mean, putting aside, like, sort of the dynamics of what the DNC apparatus is doing, but more largely speaking, like, how do unions leverage their ability to mobilize people? I mean, we just saw something really astonishing happened in New York. And hopefully Zoran Mamdani will win as mayor. But the mobilization of 50,000 people volunteers in a primary, a New York City primary.
- [40:44]
Emma Vigland
He got the highest vote totals, I think, maybe with the exception of David Dinkins. He's gotten the highest vote totals in modernity. Not only a primary. Well, certainly in a primary.
- [40:57]
Sam Seder
Yeah. And. And. And, you know, we'll see what happens in the general. But the mobilization is what I found incredible because, I mean, just again, not specific about the DNC, but the DNC was bragging about mobilizing 16,000 people nationally. He mobilized 50,000 volunteers. That's like a significant percentage of the electorate. All you need for them to do is just tell everybody in their family almost at that point, and you've gotten the vote tallies. What lesson do you take from this? And in terms of both what the Democratic Party has to do, but what unions need to do to leverage their power with the party.
- [41:38]
Emma Vigland
Right. So I would actually not use the word leverage. I think that's. I would use the word connection, and I would use the word like, what did he do that was so different and frankly, very inspiring. He had not just a message, but that he was a messenger that was believed by a whole bunch of people who want a better life. And that's what, frankly, I saw on the rallies on. No Kings Day, too. And so many of the other times that my members and others have been out on the streets, they want something better for themselves and their families, and they're willing to fight for it. And the connection that he made with not just young people, if you know New York City, there's swaths of the outer boroughs, Queens, Brooklyn, who are now remaking themselves. Yes, some of it is gentrification, and we need to have far more housing. Sorry, I'm a city kid. We need to have far more housing in New York City. But when you go to Greenpoint, when you go to Ridgewood, you see a total remaking, a generational remaking of young people coming back to New York City and wanting to raise families. And Mondame got that vote of people who are saying, I want to stay here, I want better housing. I want to be able to afford it. I want to make sure that my kids have a decent life, and I want to make sure that transportation to and from my job is reliable and free. And this is what he said over and over and over again in ways people heard it. His kind of diving into the. You know, to the ocean. That one day was a little kooky, but a little crazy and a little wonderful magic, the walking through in the entire length of Manhattan right before the election. It inspired people to say, he's acting on my behalf. I believe this. So that connection is golden. That's what we saw as a union movement after the Janus decision came down, we had worked really hard a year beforehand to actually make sure we connected with members on a local basis, on a school basis, about what the right wing was trying to do to defund unions. The day that decision came down, there were, I don't know, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of emails that went to our members in work. Like, if we had done that, we would gotten in great trouble.
- [44:43]
Sam Seder
Right.
- [44:43]
Emma Vigland
But Freedom foundation doing all this stuff. And you know what happened? Virtually no one dropped.
- [44:50]
Sam Seder
We should just remind people the Janus ruling was one which basically said you. You could not charge agency fees. Unions negotiate on behalf of. Of, of of their members. And the court basically said, you know, unions don't have. Don't have the ability to almost obligate their members to. To pay dues. And there was a big fear. I talked about this quite a bit in the ruling.
- [45:20]
Emma Vigland
I remember you did.
- [45:21]
Sam Seder
And we were spared, actually by Scalia. I think it was the case before that that was pre. And that there was a real fear that people would walk away from their unions because they could be basically be free riders. And it didn't happen because I think people appreciated and the numbers that people anticipated because people understood the value of a union.
- [45:44]
Emma Vigland
Exactly. But that is my. That's why I'm connecting these two things, because you asked it about leverage in unions. You have to make a case to people about what's important. You can't just, you know, this is. You're constantly in this world where no. Where there's very little local media anymore, where there's so much misinformation and disinformation, Trust becomes really important. And trust happens with connection and with relationships. And Mandami made that connection with lots of voters and lots of volunteers who not only believe him but want him to succeed because his success means their success. And that is the same strategy we did in different ways. Whether it's the Janice case or whether it's a collective bargaining fight or whether it's a fight for child care or whether it's a fight for better curriculum or career tech ed or community schools or whatever issues we are trying to fight for, to make sure that people have, and kids in particular, have the skills, the knowledge they need for, you know, for. For their lives of today and tomorrow. And. And so I think what happens is we get very much into, and Mandami said it, we get very much into lecturing people instead of listening to people and creating a strategy or creating a campaign that really brings people into the tent and we're fighting together for what's right for them, their families, for our country. And that's what I think he did. And that's what unions need to do each and every day, ground up. Because we're a community and we have to fight. Not just fight back, but fight for a future. Imagine a future that can be better.
- [47:49]
Sam Seder
I want to talk about education too, because, you know, we've, we've, we've had conversations over the years. I remember in the wake of the Red State revolt, I think I was at the, the AFT conference and, and I feel like that changed the trajectory of unionism in this country. I mean, maybe you could go back to, you know, Chicago in 2011, but regardless. But one of the things that has also changed over the years. We went from no Child Left behind to so called Race to the Top, a corporate education reform agenda, which in 2017, 2018, the Rand Corporation basically said to the Gates foundation, yeah, it was a big mistake. We should have probably listened to educators when we did this experiment. Where are we now? Because, you know, I have two public school children. One is already out of the system, one still in the system. And I watched as this was all rolled out and it demoralized a lot of teachers, it created a lot of controversy about high stakes testing. And now we're just sort of like in the wake of that, without any. It feels like there's a sort of like a rudderless quality in terms of like, what kind of policy do we have for national, you know, for education nationally. Maybe it's just a function because we haven't had a chance with two Trump administrations and just one that was a cleanup. But where are we on that?
- [49:20]
Emma Vigland
I mean, you had two Trumps and Covid in between.
- [49:24]
Sam Seder
Yep.
- [49:25]
Emma Vigland
So I would say that, you know, what the Biden administration tried to do is stabilize and grow and deal with some of the, you know, you know, some of the societal issues, including social media, gun violence and things like that. This is, Let me talk about where I think we should go as opposed to where, because I think you, you know, what you're seeing nationally is that there is a fight for public education, a fight to protect it, to protect kids, to strengthen it. And then the right wing basically wants to dismantle and fragment it. So they wanted to fund, fragment, dismantle. But if you notice, they don't actually point to a whole bunch of schools in the private sector that is doing any better because they're facing the same issues that we're facing. So I think we are the most important thing I can say and then I'll tell you where I think we go. We are competing with this. This is my cell phone, this is my device and what's happening. And Jonathan Haidt and others are saying it. Initially I thought it was really terrible about bullying and you know, what happens with the algorithm. But we're really fighting against a loss of attention as well. And so as the machines are getting smarter, we're seeing a loss of attention and that's part of the reason why. And we're seeing a loss of relationships and a loss of empathy and it's part of the reason why. A bunch of schools, including New York State have basically said we're going to make schools cell free during the school day. What I think we have to do is we have to make every public school a place that is safe and welcoming and a place that is relevant and engaging. And we have focused on two strategies to do that. Because if you make every school a place that's safe and welcoming and relevant and engaging, then kids want to be there, families want their kids to be there, and that each any of the pathways that get you to a high school graduation are going to then become pathways to success. So take careertech Ed. If you do take a kid who's in welding or in hospitality or going through a healthcare pathway, just like a kid who went, like my kids, I taught AP Gov. If you have kids that are doing project based learning, they are learning critical thinking, they're learning problem solving, they're learning resilience, they're learning relationship building, they're learning empathy. These are the skills and knowledge that they need for whatever they're doing, whether they go into college or whether they go into another career pathway. But it also makes them feel good about their lives and it makes them feel like they want to be in school. So I think we have to actually think about this stuff in a really different way. How do we make schools safe and welcoming, relevant and engaging? And every single student should be in project based learning or service learning or something that so sparks their fancy that they're like, I want to read, I want to be there, I want to be with friends, I want to learn if I trip how to, how to stand up again. And every single teacher I know would rather teach in this regard rather than thinking, testing, testing, testing, testing, testing. And the sanctions about testing a lot more dewy and man than what we've had in the past few years.
- [53:20]
Sam Seder
It feels almost like it would be a luxury to be able to consider those questions at a time where public education is under such assault.
- [53:32]
Emma Vigland
And I would actually say we have to do both because we have to just like what Mandani did. We have to imagine a future and bring that future together. And frankly, we are doing this in career tech ed programs all across the country. I mean we are, you know, there are some of us who are actually doing a lot of this work in Syracuse. We did this with, with Micron. We have 10 school districts that are working on this pilot program to help kids become, you know, technicians in the chips industry. And this is the fact that before somebody says, oh, she's talking about old time voc ed. No, I am not. Even though I taught at a voc ed school proudly so AP Gov, at a voc ed school, I'm still frankly on leave from teaching from that school. Because if you look at the high quality career tech ed programs and 95% of kids graduate from those programs on time and 70% go to college. So we're talking about finding different pathways for the skills and knowledge that kids need. And yes, they need resources, but this is what parents want and this is what we have to fight for. Not only fight against the cuts right now, but imagine a different future that people want.
- [54:51]
Sam Seder
Do you see any governors out there that are, that are doing this type of work in terms of like their education within the state?
- [55:00]
Emma Vigland
Yes, there's actually we've just worked with Career Wise to expand the work that Career Wise and we are doing on pre apprenticeship and six states have joined us in this endeavor. I see. For example, so New York has joined us, North Carolina has joined us. There are several states that are joining us. I see these examples all over. Governor Beshear is doing this a lot in Kentucky. What we haven't done is we haven't made this a norm in terms of from high school on or junior high school on so that all kids have the opportunity to have project based instruction or to have a kind of career pathway if they so choose.
- [55:45]
Sam Seder
I think that's about it. I mean, I guess we're going to find out about the this bill which is going to impact, I would imagine, you know, across the board, your membership in myriad of ways.
- [55:56]
Emma Vigland
The bill is a freaking disaster. Notice I did not curse.
- [56:01]
Sam Seder
I appreciate that bill, although I think people would have enjoyed it.
- [56:05]
Emma Vigland
Cruel. It is, it is this. You know, if you think about how many of our, I mean I'm of the age that my grandparents and my parents have both passed, but how many of us are in A sandwich generation where we're taking care of our kids and we're taking care of our parents and grandparents. This bill hurts every nursing home in the country. So if you have to work and your father or mother is infirm and you don't have the money for 247 care at home and they are in a nursing home, what is going to happen now if you have a kid who has a disability? How many kids do I see in the Capitol with disabilities in their wheelchairs trying to go office to office saying to these Republicans, what are you doing to my life? Taking all these kids off snap, creating paperwork after paperwork so people who are working 247 are not going to be able to figure out how to apply for Medicaid. I mean, it is so cruel what they are doing. Rural hospitals, we're seeing it all over. They are already on a shoestring. How are you going to have hospitals available for people you know within a catchment area of 100 miles? I don't like what Lisa Murkowski did, believe me. But I understand what she did to try to create a carve out for Alaska after. We can't get this for everyone else because Trump doesn't want to do it. The tax cuts for billionaires are more important than our future and our kids. That's what this, this bill does. It is horrible. It says to our future that this administration and this, these Republicans in Congress do not care about you.
- [58:06]
Sam Seder
Randy Weingarten, President, AAFT American Federation of Teachers thanks so much for your time today. I really appreciate it.
- [58:13]
Emma Vigland
Thank you.
- [58:13]
Sam Seder
Thanks, Randy. All right folks, we're going to take a quick break. Head into the so called fun half of the program we've got. We'll get that Lisa Murkowski clip in a moment. Well, false starts on that. Just a reminder, it is your support that makes this show possible. You can become a member@jointhemajorityreport.com when you do, you not only get the free show free of commercials, but you also get the fun half. Then you can IM us on the fun half. Also, don't forget just coffee, co op, fair trade coffee, hot chocolate. Use the coupon code majority get 10% off. In addition, check out the Discord majority. Discord. We have well over 15,000 people in the majority Discord. It's a great place to go and just shoot the crap or get resources about organizing, make connections very important these days. Also am quickie amquickie.com check it out 5 days a week email 3 days free in the morning. Always by 9am get the top stories of the day, follow the insanity that's been going on and we'll probably continue to go on. Amquickie. Matt, Left reckoning.
- [59:45]
Randy Weingarten
Yeah, Left reckoning. Last night we had a big show. Ashik Siddiqui of the DSA talking about Zoran and the DSA difference for campaigning. Check that out. Good 50 minutes with him. We also talked about Project 2029. The Democrats answered to Project 2025, which includes Jake Sullivan appointment for Biden's Gaza policy and economy, who thought that people's concerns over the economy were in their head and partisan inflected, and Adam Gentleson and also Colin Allred running to make a lot of money for consultants in Texas. So a lot of fun stuff last night. Check it out. Patreon.com left reckoning.
- [60:25]
Sam Seder
How did they get a hold of Project 2029, the name before anybody else did?
- [60:30]
Randy Weingarten
I mean, this is sort of a monkey's paw situation because all of last year I'm like, the Democrats should have their own project 2025. And then you see what they do with it. And it's near a tandem asking Biden's Gaza guy and no milk toast economist. So maybe, maybe DSA just needs to do the Project 2029 thing themselves.
- [60:51]
Sam Seder
I think there should be like six Project 2029 just to dilute that project.
- [60:56]
Randy Weingarten
Exactly. I mean, there's two BBBs.
- [60:59]
Sam Seder
Yeah.
- [61:00]
Randy Weingarten
Until Schumer got a hold of it.
- [61:01]
Sam Seder
I guess. Project 2029, you guys are in favor of nationalizing the entire energy grid? I'm confused.
- [61:08]
Randy Weingarten
Just like Zoran did with abundance. Abundance is actually free buses and building public units.
- [61:15]
Sam Seder
Exactly. I love it. All right, folks, see you in the fun half. Three months from now, six months from now, nine months from now. And I don't think it's going to be the same as it looks like, like in six months from now. And I don't know if it's necessarily going to be better six months from now than it is three months from now, but I think around 18 months out, we're going to look back and go like, wow, what? What is that going on? It's nuts. Wait a second. Hold on for, hold on for a second. Emma. Welcome to the program, Matt. What is up, everyone? Fun Pat. No, M. Keen, you did it. Fun Pat.
- [62:05]
Emma Vigland
Let's go, Brandon.
- [62:06]
Sam Seder
Let's go, Brandon. Fun Pat. Bradley, you want to say hello? Sorry to disappoint everyone. I'm just a random guy. It's all the boys today. Fundamentally false.
- [62:17]
Emma Vigland
No, I'm sorry.
- [62:18]
Sam Seder
Women Stop talking for a second. Now let me play. Finish.
- [62:21]
Emma Vigland
Where is this coming from?
- [62:22]
Sam Seder
Dude? But. Dude, you want to smoke this? 7A. Yes. Hi, me? Is this me? Yes. Is this me? Is it me? It is you. If it's me. Hello, it's me. I think it is you. Who is you? No sound. Every single freaking day. What's on your mind? We can discuss free markets and we can discuss capitalism. I'm gonna go snow white. Libertarians. They're so stupid. Though common sense says. Of course.
- [63:01]
Emma Vigland
Gobbled ego.
- [63:02]
Sam Seder
We nailed him.
- [63:03]
Emma Vigland
So what's 79 plus 21?
- [63:05]
Sam Seder
Challenge, man. I'm positively quivering. I believe 96. I want to say 8 5, 7, 2, 1 0. 35, 5 3, 8, 9, 11. For instance.
- [63:15]
Emma Vigland
$3,400. $1,900.
- [63:17]
Sam Seder
5, 4. $3 trillion. Sold. It's a zero sum game. Actually.
- [63:23]
Emma Vigland
You're making me think less.
- [63:24]
Sam Seder
But. But let me say this poop. You can call it satire.
- [63:29]
Emma Vigland
Sam goes satire on top of it all. My favorite part about you is just like every day, all day, like everything you do.
- [63:36]
Sam Seder
Without a doubt. Hey, buddy. We see you. All right, folks, folks, folks.
- [63:47]
Emma Vigland
It's just the week being weeded out, obviously.
- [63:49]
Sam Seder
Yeah. Sun's out, guns out. I. I don't know.
- [63:56]
Emma Vigland
But you should know.
- [63:59]
Sam Seder
People just don't.
- [64:00]
Randy Weingarten
Like to entertain ideas anymore.
- [64:01]
Sam Seder
I have a question. Who cares?
- [64:03]
Emma Vigland
Stairs.
- [64:05]
Randy Weingarten
Our chat is enabled, folks.
- [64:07]
Sam Seder
I love it. I do love that. Gotta jump. Gotta be quick. I gotta jump. I'm losing it, bro. 2 o' clock, we're already late and the guy's being a dick. So screw him. Sent to a gulag. Outrageous. Like, what is wrong with you? Love you. Bye. Love you. Bye. Bye.