American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, AFL-CIO

AFT Convention 2020

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AFTNJ

Chiera joins ranks of AFT vice presidents

Donna M. Chiera has been elected to one of AFT’s 43 vice president positions. The AFT 2020 election results were revealed Sept. 1 during a Facebook Live session.

“Being elected an AFT national vice president is a great honor but also a huge responsibility, especially through these difficult times,” said Chiera, AFTNJ’s president. “This opportunity will allow me not only to elevate the voices of our pre-K and higher-ed membership to the National Executive Council, but to share the experiences and knowledge of national leaders back here to New Jersey.”…

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AFTNJ

Local 6323’s Hughes plays key role in AFT resolution backing Green New Deal

AFT Convention delegates on July 29 passed a resolution in support of the Green New Deal, which calls for action against climate change.

Local 6323’s David Hughes, an AFTNJ higher education vice president, was involved with drafting the resolution.

“Our government has got to respect science and protect us,” said Hughes, an anthropology professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.…

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AFTNJ

Biden addresses challenges, offers solutions to U.S. problems in AFT Convention 2020 talk

Joe Biden joined AFT President Randi Weingarten and three AFT members July 30 for a discussion that covered the pandemic, the recession and racism, with Biden explaining how he would handle those issues if he were elected president of the United States.

One of his objectives would be to restore the National Security Council’s global health security office.…

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AFTNJ

AFT Convention 2020: Conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner Lin-Manuel Miranda

Before he achieved fame on Broadway with his Tony Award-winning musicals “In the Heights” and “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda was a teacher, and he spoke about his experience as an educator in a talk with AFT President Randi Weingarten that was part of AFT Convention 2020’s programming for July 30.

Around the time he graduated college with a degree in theater, Miranda called his eighth-grade English teacher at Hunter College High School in Manhattan about substitute teaching opportunities.…

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AFTNJ

AFT Convention 2020: Black Lives Matter Panel

Education was at the forefront of the AFT Convention 2020’s Black Lives Matter Panel on July 29.

Joining American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who served as moderator, were the Rev. Dr. Bernice A. King, New York Democratic congressional nominee Jamaal Bowman, Minneapolis NAACP President Leslie Redmond and longtime New York teacher Sari Beth Rosenberg.…

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AFTNJ

AFT Convention 2020: Weingarten’s keynote speech

In her wide-ranging keynote address July 28 at the virtual AFT Convention 2020, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten called attention to “Reopening School Buildings Safely,” the AFT’s updated school-reopening plan, which contains three essential conditions.

Those conditions are: low infection rates and adequate testing, public health safeguards to help prevent the spread of the virus in schools, and the funding and resources to make it happen.…

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