Nov. 29, 2016 AFT Leaders on Nomination of Tom Price as HHS Secretary

WASHINGTON—In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services, leaders of the AFT, the nation’s second-largest union of nurses and healthcare professionals, have issued the following statement:   AFT President Randi Weingarten: “During the campaign, Mr. Trump promised seniors that he was a different type of Republican—that he understood the importance of Medicare and would not touch it. This nomination of Tom Price makes that promise a nullity; it would appear from this and other nominations that raiding public funds for private profit is a more animating principle to the president-elect than Americans' healthcare and well-being. “Tom Price would turn programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, relied on by millions, into vouchers and private accounts, while gutting protections for LGBTQ people, women and the most vulnerable Americans. "And as to Obamacare, despite glitches and setbacks, the nation has made years of hard-won, steady strides toward insuring millions. AFT clinicians on the frontlines of healthcare have seen firsthand how the Affordable Care Act has saved lives. Putting the Department of Health and Human Services under the control of an opponent of not only Obamacare, but also of the Children's Health Insurance Program, Medicare and Medicaid as we know them, threatens to undo that progress and then some—making Americans of every generation more vulnerable, and putting the health of millions at risk.”   National Federation of Nurses President Stephen Rooney: “Rep. Price's nomination tells us more about the Trump administration's plan for repealing and replacing Obamacare—the president-elect’s post-election statement notwithstanding. Personnel are policy. Rep. Price supports policies that would increase healthcare costs for middle-class workers who are not covered by their employers, while insurers and Big Pharma reap higher profits. “Rep. Price's policies will reduce access to healthcare and the quality of care while increasing costs, moving us in the opposite direction of improving the healthcare system. Price has introduced legislation that would limit nurse practitioners' scope of practice. NPs provide much-needed access to high-quality care at an affordable cost.”   Health Professionals and Allied Employees President Ann Twomey: “As the next secretary of health and human services, Rep. Price must put aside partisan politics to protect the healthcare of all Americans. Dismantling the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, and privatizing Medicare, will result in the opposite: It will throw many Americans into economic uncertainty when they are sick and in need of healthcare, while lining the pockets of insurance and pharmaceutical companies. “Healthcare workers on the frontlines will continue to provide care for their patients—but we must be reassured that our hospitals and our patients will not be jeopardized under this administration.”   Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals President Candice Owley: “The president-elect’s announcement to nominate Tom Price is extremely concerning to nurses and healthcare professionals across the country. We’ve witnessed the direct attacks that women’s health service providers have undergone over the years—attacks that Tom Price has helped lead—and know that dismantling these essential services would increase health disparities not only among women, but also among children and families. Coupled with his proposals for block grant funding for Medicaid, privatizing Medicare and curtailing protections for pre-existing conditions protections, the Trump administration’s policies might put the health of working families and the majority of Americans in danger.”

AFT Pledges to Protect Undocumented Students and Educators

After months of promising to deport millions of people if he were elected, Donald Trump is about to become president, and he could begin to carry out those promises as soon as Jan. 20. In classrooms and on campuses across the nation, undocumented immigrants, from preschoolers to college students, are terrified. Immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status and visa-contingent educators are also worried that changing immigration policies could jeopardize their safety.

The AFT is corralling resources to help.

During a telephone town hall Nov. 22, AFT President Randi Weingarten assured call participants—teachers and school staff, college faculty, healthcare professionals, public employees and students, some who are themselves undocumented immigrants—that the AFT will "do everything in our power to stop any kind of action against our immigrant families, our Muslim families, our Latino families and especially our undocumented students." Then she turned quickly to specifics and, together with leading immigrant advocates, outlined practical advice as well as actions the union will take to protect immigrant families living in uncertainty.

The AFT will:

·      * Support cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and others as they reaffirm sanctuary status for immigrants and in some cases establish municipal ID programs to protect immigrants with no identification from being detained unnecessarily.

·      * Help members establish and maintain sanctuary status in schools, colleges and  communities.

·      * Provide guidance and resources for teachers, staff and faculty to support and prepare undocumented students and their families for changes in immigration law—including basic "know your rights" advice on how to handle an Immigration and Customs                   Enforcement raid and what to do if family members are detained.

·       * Provide lesson plans to address the social, emotional and mental health needs of all children and promote diversity and inclusion.

·       *Urge the government to reaffirm that children cannot be barred from enrolling in public schools based on their immigration status or their parents'.

·      *  Participate in a national week of mobilization, education and action Jan. 9-14 spearheaded by United We Dream and other immigrant advocates, and in a day of action Jan. 19  organized with the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools.

Resources for educators are already available at the AFT's Share My Lesson  and on the AFT's immigration page.

On the call, Weingarten said the need for action is urgent; AFT educators and students face real threats. Among their fears: the dismantling of the 2012 DACA program, which grants undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria a two-year, renewable work authorization and protection from deportation. More than 740,000 individuals, many of whom are now teachers, nurses, lawyers, adjunct faculty and college students, have benefited from the program and are contributing to their communities—so much so that dismantling DACA would cost $433 billion in gross domestic product over a decade, according to a Center for American Progress estimate.

Other fears include night raids by armed immigration agents, and family separations as some are deported and others left behind. Undocumented and "DACAmented" college students are afraid that after years of striving to become educated, productive Americans, they will be forced back into the shadows or deported to violent places where they have no family or friends and don't speak the language.

DACA students have been at the forefront of immigration advocacy, calling themselves "undocumented and unafraid." But for many, that confidence has been shaken: "The level of despair has gotten to a point that we have received reports of young people who have taken their own lives," reported Cristina Jiménez, executive director of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. The group offers a range of services for undocumented youth and families, including a bilingual support hotline: 844-363-1423.

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, also had practical advice for the town hall participants, with answers to commonly asked questions: Should undocumented youth apply for DACA now? No. Apply for renewal? Yes. Travel abroad? Only if you return before Jan. 20. A new NILC website has more specific answers, and Hincapié urged participants to share it widely.

"We have to hope for the best but prepare for the worst," said U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.). She is especially concerned for young people who shared their personal information with the government when they applied for DACA status. Lofgren has asked President Obama to pardon them or purge their information from government records.

Continue Reading at: http://www.aft.org/news/aft-pledges-protect-undocumented-students-and-educators#sthash.NhwOtLgh.dpuf

AFT on Education Department’s ESSA Accountability Regulations

WASHINGTON—Statement by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the U.S. Department of Education’s accountability regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act:   “Last year, Congress and the president listened to parents and educators across the nation. They put aside partisan rancor and the obstruction that Americans have said they hate about Washington and passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote a new federal education law. The Every Student Succeeds Act preserves and protects public education, provides more local control but with ongoing federal funding for disadvantaged children in public schools, and includes federal guardrails that ensure equity but curbs high-stakes testing and federal overreach. The law’s accountability regulations are intended as the engine to implement it. “As Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said after Senate passage, the law ‘is the single biggest step toward local control of public schools in 25 years.’ Even the Wall Street Journal called it ‘the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century.’ Just as we asked the current administration to ensure these accountability regulations closely track the letter of the law, so should the new Trump administration. It’s important to get the regulations right because states will use them as guideposts to write their own accountability plans, with input from educators and other stakeholders. “We are pleased that the department made some commonsense changes from its draft version, like the timeline flexibility to allow states to fully develop accountability systems so they can include new and multiple measures envisioned by the law. We also appreciate that, as the law intended, reporting requirements are included for charter schools. This will help better create transparency and a level playing field for all schools. “One area that surprises us involves testing. Given that new accountability measures are not yet in place, it’s hard to fathom that the department insists on punishing schools that do not test at least 95 percent of students. Punishing schools when students (or their parents) opt out of testing is a throwback to No Child Left Behind. “Students, parents and educators need the stability of these regulations now more than ever. We will work closely with states and school districts to ensure that their accountability plans align with the intent of ESSA to help students and educators succeed.”   Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten ###