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The Trump administration has taken aggressive steps to target schools—from book bans and dismantling the Department of Education, to defunding essential public school programs and posting ICE agents at school gates. In Trump 2.0, teachers stand on the frontlines of the fight against fascism. 

Join us on Thursday, March 19 at 3:00 PM ET for a virtual conversation with Randi Weingarten, president of AFT and author of the new book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers, alongside a Minnesota school teacher and other leading policy experts on what’s happening in schools under Trump and how communities are fighting back.

Live CART and ASL interpretation will be provided.

Featuring:

  • Randi Weingarten, president, AFT
  • Julie Margetta Morgan, president, The Century Foundation 
  • Mike Pierce, executive director, Protect Borrowers
  • Marcia Howard, president, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers

Presented by AFT, The Century Foundation, and Protect Borrowers.

Speaker Bios

Randi Weingarten is president of the 1.8 million-member AFT, which represents teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state and federal government employees; and early childhood educators. The AFT is dedicated to the belief that every person in America deserves the freedom to thrive, fueled by opportunity, justice and a voice in our democracy. This freedom is achieved through an economy that works for all, including the ability to form a union; great public schools and affordable higher education; healthcare as a right; retirement security; the right to vote and civil rights; a vibrant democracy; and safe, welcoming and healthy environments and communities. The AFT and its members advance these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through members’ work—we care, fight, show up and vote.

Julie Margetta Morgan is president of The Century Foundation. A policy expert and seasoned leader in both the government and nonprofit sectors, she most recently served as the associate director of research, monitoring and regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), overseeing the division responsible for setting and advancing the agency’s policy agenda. Prior to that role, Julie established the CFPB’s Office of Policy Planning and Strategy, where she coordinated the agency’s policy agenda across its major divisions and served as a senior advisor to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. Under Julie’s leadership, the CFPB took major steps to curb medical debt, reduce costly junk fees, and promote a fair and competitive financial marketplace.

Mike Pierce is the executive director and co-founder of Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center). He is also co-founder of the Student Loan Law Initiative at University of California, the nation’s only academic center focused solely on student debt and the law. Mike is an attorney, advocate, and former senior regulator who started the Student Borrower Protection Center after more than a decade fighting for borrower rights on Capitol Hill and at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Mike was the CFPB’s lead subject-matter expert on higher education and consumer protection for seven years. From 2015 to 2017, Mike also served as a Deputy Assistant Director of the Bureau, leading the day-to-day operations of the Bureau’s Office for Students and Young Consumers. As a law student, Mike worked in the Office of Federal Student Aid at the U.S. Department of Education.

Monica Byron is the president of Education Minnesota, Minnesota’s largest labor union. Byron has served as Education Minnesota’s vice president since 2022. She has also taught for 24 years in Richfield Public Schools, most recently serving as an elementary math coach. Before she was elected vice president, Byron served for five years as an Education Minnesota governing board member and held many local union positions as a member of Education Richfield, including membership chair, treasurer and government relations chair. Byron is also a founding member of Education Minnesota’s Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee and the first Black person to serve as Education Minnesota’s president.