Education
Related: About this forumAFT Convention
The videos are up on the AFT website. (Saves me lots of time)
The best speaker, IMO, was Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony. His speech is 37 minutes long but well worth it. Just amazingly inspirational.
There were several highlights:
1. The Chicago teachers. They all wear red union t-shirts and there are so many of them they are hard to miss. I was on a couple committees with them and went to several of their forums. They are passionate, well-informed and have emerged as great leaders for AFT.
2. Randi's speech opening the convention was great. She's on fire. I so appreciated her passion.
3. Rev. Anthony. WOW. I came home last night and watched his speech again. Just amazing. I wish I lived in Detroit. I'd go to his church every Sunday.
4. Detroit. Everywhere we went, we were greeted with courtesy and enthusiasm. The Detroit residents and workers seemed very glad to have us as guests. I've been to way too many AFT conventions and Detroit stands out as a very warm and welcoming host city. Kudos is due.
Disappointments:
1. Resolutions. We spent the majority of our time working out wording in committees, deciding on amendments. Then we get to the convention floor and a few people get to talk until someone calls the question, we vote and move on to the next resolution. And it's not like any elected officials say "Hey, the teachers want us to (fill in the blank)! We need to write a bill and get legislation passed NOW!!"
I'm not saying the process isn't important. I just wish it was more meaningful.
2. Exhibit hall was bare. Not nearly as many exhibits as in past years and the giveaways were lacking. I guess we're in the midst of tough economic times. That was painfully obvious. And sad.
oops forgot the link for the videos: http://www.aft.org/newspubs/videos/
Sentath
(2,243 posts)This has been interesting to me.
Both my grandmothers were teachers and Mom for many years. I started college with the idea of getting a teaching degree. Due to instructor absences my class never got to meet with the union reps as the instructor would not allow them to be present unsupervised.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)I haven't had time at all to sit down with many of the videos yet. I'm definitely planning to watch the Rev. Dr. Anthony one.