TEMPE, AZ — On March 20, hours after President Trump issued an illegal Executive Order to abolish the U.S. Department of Education, Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia delivered a rousing speech to mobilize Arizonans to fight for public education and defend Arizona educators and students.
A condensed transcript of President Garcia’s remarks can be found below.
Hello, Arizona!
I’m Marisol Garcia, and I'm a proud union educator in the state of Arizona.
As a middle school history teacher – that’s right, middle school – I know what we’re going through, and I know what’s next.
I also know there's a way out of this.
I am an example – a shining example of what can happen if we privatize public education across the country.
Today, a former reality star and a WWE celebrity have formalized their plans to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.
And it’s bad — because 90% of students attend public schools.
95% of our disabled students attend public schools.
Arizona receives a billion dollars of federal money, and there are 20,000 jobs at risk.
The very last people I want involved in public education are folks who probably never went to public schools.
Almost fifteen years ago, this state passed what they said would be a small voucher program to help a small group of students.
Now, a billion dollars later, we see that it's only benefiting children of wealthy families, the billionaires, and the one percent.
Remember, things start small, but then they get bigger.
As a professional educator and the daughter of a 40-year veteran educator, I know that things are not getting better for us. They're getting worse.
I used to see my mom at home, grading plans on Sunday nights.
Now, as educators, we are taught how to put our bodies in front of violence to protect your children, with no regard for our safety.
I work in a profession that is 80 percent women.
Yet we do not get paid time off to take care of our children or health care to cover our families.
We are accused of indoctrinating children and even more so, called “educational terrorists” by the far right.
Things start small, but they get bigger.
Every day, I get the opportunity to work with amazing educators and y'all, they are exhausted, exploited, defeated, underpaid, and disrespected.
But I know as an organizer that I can do nothing alone.
It is not the me. It is the we.
Community solidarity and labor unions are the antidote to the billionaires and the oligarchy.
I know that every meeting and every conversation and every discussion we have is how we are going to win.
Eight years ago, a few teachers showed up with red shirts on. A couple of weeks later, hundreds of them did, and six weeks later, 70,000 people marched on our state capitol.
Things start small, but they get big.
And let me be clear. Nobody is coming to save us. It is us.
I'm calling on everyone in here to defend our public education system.
Because our schools are not for sale, our kids are not for sale, and our communities are not for sale.
It’s time for all of us to stand up and fight back.