Education policy and the need for better schools and health care for students. She also criticized president trumps decision to end the daca program. Speaking at the National Press club, this is an hour. Good afternoon. Im pat host, im the americas aviation reporter for james, and im also on the board of governors here at the National Press club. Our sorry about that. Welcome to the National Press club. Our guest today is Lily Eskelsen garcia, the president of the National Education association. I would like to welcome our public radio and cspan audiences, and i want to remind you that you can follow the action on twitter using the hashtag npclive, thats npclive. For our public radio and cspan audiences, please be aware that in the audience today are members of the general public, so any applause or reaction you hear is not necessarily from the working press. Now its time to introduce our head table guests. Id ask each of you to stand briefly as your name is announced. Please hold your applause until i have finished introducing the entire table. From your right, kimberly hall, communications and partnerships manager at the poverty and Race Research action council. Thomas burr, Washington Bureau chief for the Salt Lake Tribune and former president of National Press club. Roseo inclan, senior director of the neas center for social justice. Emily wilkens, education and labor reporter for cq roll call. Betty weller, Maryland State Education Association president. Lisa matthews, Vice President at hager, sharp and cochair of the npc Headliners Team. Skipping over our speaker, caroline hendry, executive director of the education writers association. Axo herrero ramos, a dreamer and a sophomore at duke university. Katherine morris, writer for diverse issues in Higher Education. Linda feldman, Washington Bureau chief for the Christian Science monitor, and peggy sands, Congressional Correspondent for hispanic outlook in Higher Education and Senior Correspondent for the georgetowner. [applause] i would also like to acknowledge additional members of the Headliners Team responsible for organizing todays event. Betsy fisher martin, heather weaver, april turner, mark schoeff and joseph. Lily garcia is president of the Largest Labor union in the country, the National Education association. She is the firstever latina elected to lead the nea, and she joins us as students across the country are heading back to school. It is also a time when efforts are underway to further privatize Public Education and roll back student protections. [applause] im also trying very hard to concentrate on on the message i want to bring to you today, but thats difficult because i have colleagues and their students and communities in the path of the storm. And were just cleaning up after harvey, and in comes irma. And some of them told me that if the lights were still on, that they were going to be watching. So just in case, i just want to send them our love and our thoughts and our prayers for their safety. I was looking at a Facebook Page that was up that several of our nea staff posted pictures of their own boys and girls, their own sons and daughters going off on the first day of school. And it was so beautiful. Because you had all of these shiny faces smiling, new tennis shoes, backpacks, really this time of year is like christmas for us. Im a teacher. I mean, those theres new tennis shoes and backpacks and teachers and support staff all over the country right now because our kids are coming. Its like santa claus is here. Its just amazing. I have this urge to break into a Public School and put up a bulletin board. [laughter] i was arranging desks, you know . Id be practicing our class theme song which was always dont stick your finger up your nose because your nose knows its not the place it goes. And we sang it with dignity. [laughter] and here i am, here i am instead of in a classroom. Im at the National Press club. But its actually very fitting. This is maybe poetic justice that im here, because i always, for 20 years in the classroom, i always started every day with Current Events. And every morning kids could get extra credit if they reported on an article that they read in this thing called a newspaper. [laughter] remember paper . [laughter] remember news . Good times, yes. [laughter] and they had to summarize it. They had to explain. They had to give an opinion. They had to know what the article was about, and then the other kids got to ask them questions about it. And in my class you got a jelly bean if you had a good answer, you got two jelly beans if you had a good question. And all my kids had cavities. [laughter] i want that on my evaluation. But my kids knew how they could get three jelly beans. Sooner or later they figured it out, and someone would ask, so, are we supposed to do something about it . About whatever the issue was . Theres a blood shortage in Salt Lake City, so maybe we could put on a blood drive. Yes. So a senator thinks we should all wear uniforms. Should we write to him and tell him he doesnt know what we want . Yes. In good handwriting and be nice. Cars are parked illegally in the Handicapped Parking space. Should weeing those illegallyparked cars . No. [laughter] no, we actually should not. Sometimes the answer is no, but mostly the answer is yes. Yes, we should do something about it. I think at point in my at this point in my presentation its only fair to tell you, because i think you only hinted at it, i am a fabulous teacher. I am really, really good. You would want your kid in my class. Im holding back. Im really totally full of myself. [laughter] because i know right down to my underwear how important my work is. My teaching work is. And i have the honor of representing three million National Education association educators, teachers, adjunct faculty, bus drivers, custodians, the lunch ladies, the counselors, the librarians. If you work in an american Public School, college or university, if youre a student teacher, if youre a retired educator, you can belong to the nea. Preschool to graduate school. Were so full of the importance of our work that we wake up every day saying what am i supposed to do about making sure that my kids have everything they need to make their lives everything they should be . Our work is the future of everything. And our work is so important you cant hold it inside a classroom. Our work happens inside and outside. Thousands of people across this country this week took to the streets to protest this administrations cruel, senseless, unnecessary ending of daca. Many of them were our nea members supporting our students. And those same educators ended up going right back into their classroom, they were there for their kids giving them hugs and homework. We have to be both in this world. We have to be activists, and we have to be educators. And in this speech today, i have to do both. I have to talk about policy and politics, but somehow i have to leave you with not just whats in our heads, but whats in our hearts. The importance of the work that we do. We are facing a reckless, irresponsible administration that creates chaos and confusion. Which is bad. But he does something worse. He creates fear in children. And that is unforgivable. For the first time in our countrys history, and ive talked to these teachers, we have had to comfort crying children because they are afraid of their president. There were Current Events about muslim bans, and educators had to assure frightened children little girls who wore hijabs, little boys maim named mohamed that the president couldnt hurt them. There were Current Events about border walls and keeping out bad hombres. And educators had to assure frightened children with names likal grade doe and juanita that the president couldnt hurt them. There were Current Events about humiliating traction gender students transgender students who just wanted to go to the bathroom by removing protections against their discrimination from the office of civil rights. And educators had to assure these transgender boys and girls who so often struggle to be accepted even in their own families that the president could not hurt them. And this week there was a current event that the president was stripping away protections from our dreamers. He cruelly said, dont worry, be happy. Congress can fix it. No big deal. Donald trump is playing games with the lives of 800,000 young people. And he himself risks nothing. These undocumented young people were brought here as children. They graduated from high school. They have no criminal record. Theyre young people who did not make the decision to come. They followed their parents. They applied and were granted protected status because of their special circumstances. Daca allowed them to get a drivers license, to go to work, to go to college, to serve their country in the military. Daca is an unqualified success on every level. Its humane. Its just. Its pumping billions of dollars into our economy to have educated, hard working, enthusiastic young people paying taxes, buying homes, working, studying, starting their own businesses. Theyre our students, and we want to comfort them, but its so hard to tell them that the president cant hurt them. They know the truth. But weve taught them well. And so they know and we know the right question to ask. What are we going to do about it. Is this where business if this were business as usual, we would have turned to the department of education. Business as usual no matter what party the administration would have had me think about how i could reach out to betsy devos, a woman who had zero experience in Public Schools with the exception of using her billions of dollars in michigan to take Public School dollars away from Public School students to funnel it to private schools. She actually did ask me to meet, and i asked her to take a standardized test. I made it very, very easy. Three questions. Will you hold privatelymanaged voucher and Charter Schools to the same standards of fiscal transparency, conflicts of interest as Public Schools . Will you privatize programs like special education or title i . Will you protect all our students from discrimination; our students of color, our english language students, our immigrant students, our muslim students, our girls, our lgbt students . Ive never received a written answer. But her actions scream. On her watch protections for transgender students against discrimination from the office of civil rights of the department of ed was rescinded. This week shes supporting rolling back title ix protections for victims of Sexual Assault on college campuses. She halted loan forgiveness protections from students who had been defrauded by the growing scam forprofit Higher Education industry. The trump devos budget proposes 10 billion in cuts from programs like special education, title i, after School Programs, college work study. There was one thing that they added. There was one thing they pumped millions of dollars into, a brand new, shiny, multimillion dollar federal program for vouchers. For private schools. Instead of investing in improving the Public Schools where 90 of our students go, she continues with the career that shes made diverting scarce resources to fund private schools. So, no, we do not turn to the department of education. Nea and those three million members will do something about it. Well fight this agenda to take resources away from our students to frighten our students will not be, ever be acceptable to us. And chas probably thats probably obvious. What might not be obvious is that for me this is not partisan. Im from utah. I have worked and played well with democrat and republican politicians all my life. I know how to find Common Ground on education issues regardless of party. In my experience, most people ared good people. They really do want Something Better for kids, better for families, better for their communities. We argue and argue and debate about whats a good idea and whats a bad idea, but time and time again i have seen people of both parties come together when you can show them a plan, when you can show them a way forward that makes sense. This administration is different. I do not trust them. And yet i can say that and the next second say i am full of hope. I am full of the energy of hope. And that confuses some of my friends. I talked with people who tell me but there is no hope that congress is going to get its act together in six months, that artificial timeline that donald trump set for congress to pass a law to protect our dreamers. They said whens the last Time Congress got together and did a good thing for kids . Actually, it was december 10th. 2015. I watched it. I watched democrats and republicans who cannot agree on time of day sit down and undo the toxic mandates of no child left untested. I watched president obama take a pen and sign away an old law that judged human children on a standardized test score and replace it with the every Student Succeeds act, essa, a law that gives us the opportunity to deeply measure whether students have access and opportunity and how that impacts their achievement. States and local districts even as we speak are completing their essa plans, plans that must by law be developed with educators who know those students so that we do something that makes sense, so that we can use the information to guide our instruction, so that we can advocate for Real Solutions for our students. Because having good information is actually a big part of our secret plan. We have a secret plan. Youll want to write this down. Tell everybody about our secret plan, please. Our secret plan is we plan to make every Public School as good as our best Public Schools. Now, heres what i rarely realize in Current Events. Some of the best schools, bar none, on the planet are found amongst american Public Schools. Think of the best Public School in your state. Usually theyre in really nice neighborhoods. And thats where, you know, parents sold a kidney because they wanted to afford a house next to that school. Because that is an amazing Public School. Thats where the kids are succeeding and getting scholarships to ivory seeing ivy league colleges. Thats where parents are excited and involved. Kids love their theater class and technology and sports. Those schools are not Successful Schools because of test prep. Its not successful because of cutthroat competition and fear that some private charter is going to close them down. Theyre good because they have highly trained, career professionals and support staff who have Collaborative Authority to be creative, to make instructional decisions for their students. They have technology that works. They have books in their library. They have after School Programs and a choir and field trips and the debate team. Our plan is to use our best Public Schools as a living model. There should be no reason why every Public School doesnt look like our best Public School. What works with our most advantaged students will work for every student. Equal access, equal opportunity, equal respect for that child. The National Education association and our affiliates like in maryland are just all up into the business of essa and getting it right. It is the letter of the law. We are taking advantage of it. The educators are using their voice to develop those state plans. Theres dashboards of multiple services and support indicators, not just standardized tests. Were calling for an opportunity audit of each School Across the nation. Were organizing at local level to hold leaders accountable for all those promises that they make to students and parents and educators. Its the letter of the law. Its exciting. And its not enough. Our plan actually has to incorporate that and the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law that says every Student Succeeds at my school because i have a respected voice as the teacher. Every Student Succeeds at my school because i have a great idea, because i can bring people together, because nobody is going to stop my school from doing what it can do without anyones permission. Did i mention how good i was . I really am a great teacher. I was the teacher of the year. I really, really am quite full of myself, but i need you to know i