James Ferguson, the presumptive MPS School Board Candidate, MTEA Vice President Luz Hernandez, and Assistant State Superintendent Darrell Williams were speakers at World Teachers Day Event on October 5 (Photo/Karen Stokes)
By Karen Stokes
On Saturday, elected officials and community leaders across Wisconsin gathered with educators and volunteers to kick off the Educators for Harris-Walz canvas to mark World Teachers’ Day.
In the Milwaukee area, MPS teachers met at the Democratic office location at 8405 W Lisbon. To kick off the event, Vice President MTEA, Luz Hernandez, Dr. James Ferguson, presumptive MPS School Board Candidate, and Dr. Darryl Williams Assistant State Superintendent shared motivational words to energize the group.
The focus of the day was Vice President Harris and Governor Walz’s efforts to strengthen public education, a stark contrast to Trump’s dangerous Project 2025 blueprint that would slash funding for our public schools including rural public schools, and abolish the Department of Education and Head Start.
Harris and Walz envision a future where parents can afford high-quality childcare and preschool, student loan debt is reduced, and higher education is more affordable, making college a ticket to the middle class.
“Most Wisconsinites dream that education is their children’s ticket to the middle class,” said Hernandez. “Investing in public education is investing in our future.”
“As Vice President Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote to deliver the single largest investment in public education in America’s history. As Attorney General, she helped shut down a chain of for-profit colleges that preyed on low-income students. Alongside President Biden, she provided approximately $170 billion in student loan debt relief for nearly 5 million borrowers. They made record investments in HBCUs and increased Pell Grants by $900,” said Ferguson.
One of Harris’ first campaign speeches was in front of teachers, speaking in July at the AFT’s 2024 convention in Houston. The AFT was among one of the first organizations to endorse Harris.
“The stake in this election cannot be any higher, especially when it comes to our students and the future of education. I know that Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will do everything they can to get our schools what they need, to help us and help our students succeed,” said Williams. “We can’t take anything for granted.
We can’t underestimate the Republicans. Let’s get fired up and ready,” Ferguson said.