American Federation of Teachers Statement on World Teachers’ Day

AFT’s Weingarten: “Teachers devote their lives to helping our kids. On this World Teachers’ Day, let’s stop demonizing teachers and start providing them with the tools and conditions they need to do their jobs and help all kids succeed.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Statement of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten in celebration of World Teachers’ Day, designated by UNESCO and Education International to recognize the importance of the teaching profession.

“Teachers devote their lives to helping our kids. On this World Teachers’ Day, let’s stop demonizing teachers and start providing them with the tools and conditions they need to do their jobs and help all kids succeed.

“This year’s World Teachers’ Day theme is ‘Take a stand for teachers. ‘And by taking a stand for teachers we are also taking a stand for students. The things that teachers need to do their jobs also help our children learn and grow—smaller class sizes; a robust curriculum; adequate resources; collaboration among teachers to share best practices; and working partnerships among teachers, school administrators and community leaders to explore and implement proven ideas for improving schools.

“Education International’s recent report ‘Every Child Needs a Teacher: Closing the Trained Teacher Gap’ outlined the key ingredients we need to build a world-class teaching profession. The report says that ‘if we are genuinely serious about fulfilling the right to education for all, about ensuring that every child, youth or adult learner develops the skills that a good education brings—from literacy and numeracy to creative and critical thinking—then the only solution is to ensure that every student has a well-trained teacher. This means putting in place policies and financing to produce a sufficient, well-trained, well-supported, equitably distributed professional teacher workforce.’

“The bottom line is that no matter what the country, city or town, every child deserves a great public education in which teachers have the resources and input they need to help their students succeed.”