VP Harris Champions Teachers, Slams Project 2025 in Future-Defining Speech

Vice President Kamala Harris, likely the Democratic presidential nominee for 2024, unveiled her vision for the future while highlighting the administration’s education accomplishments in a keynote address at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) national convention in Houston on Thursday.

In the span of four days since President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election and endorsed her, Harris has gained significant support from major unions like the AFT. This unprecedented transition could see Harris become the first woman president if she secures the nomination and wins against GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump.

Addressing an enthusiastic gathering of teachers, Harris declared, “We face a choice between two very different visions for our nation: one focused on the future, and the other focused on the past. We are fighting for the future.” She outlined a vision where “every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead,” emphasizing a future free of child poverty, with dignified retirements for seniors, and the freedom for every worker to join a union.

Harris critiqued the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a comprehensive conservative agenda proposal, describing it as a plan to “return America to a dark past.” Despite Trump distancing himself from the platform, Harris noted contributions from former members of his administration to its development.

Harris asserted that Trump and his allies aim to “cut Medicare and Social Security, halt student loan forgiveness for public servants, and dismantle the Department of Education and Head Start.” She highlighted the administration’s $169 billion in student loan debt relief for nearly 4.8 million borrowers as a counterpoint.

Lamenting the “extremists” attacking freedoms, she told teachers, “While you strive to create safe and welcoming places for our children, extremists attack our freedom to live safe from gun violence. We want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books,” she proclaimed.

The Trump campaign responded with a statement reaffirming his education platform, which includes civil rights investigations into race-based discrimination, removing “radicals” from the Department of Education, and increasing funding for schools that practice direct election of principals by parents.

Harris pledged to sign the PRO Act into law, enhancing protections for workers engaging in union activities or collective bargaining. The AFT, representing 1.8 million members, quickly endorsed Harris following her announcement to seek the Democratic nomination.

Expressing gratitude, Harris acknowledged the dedication of public service workers. “From higher education faculty to school bus drivers, from custodians to school nurses, and our teachers — you all do God’s work educating our children,” she said.

Harris has also garnered support from several major labor unions, including the National Education Association, the largest in the country, along with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). However, the prominent UAW has yet to endorse her as of Thursday.