Citing the unprecedented attack on union members’ professional standards and workplace protections, the Minnesota AFL-CIO is calling on Governor Mark Dayton to veto the E-12 finance bill and send lawmakers back into special session.
“By weakening teacher licensure standards, legislators opened the door to undermine standards for other union members like nurses, electricians, and pipe fitters,” said Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy. “It’s time for Governor Dayton to hit the reset button and demand lawmakers send him legislation that fully funds our schools without any poison pills.”
Minnesota AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Julie Blaha, a mathematics and science teacher on leave from Jackson Middle School in Champlin, said weakened licensure would hurt the students who need the most help.
“Knowledge and the ability to teach are two different things,” Blaha said. “Sending people with little-to-no training in education into schools with the highest need students is a recipe for disaster.”
Along with their call for the Governor to veto the E-12 finance bill, the Minnesota AFL-CIO also applauded Governor Dayton for his pledge to veto the harmful preemption bill.