First lady Jill Biden told more than 500 educators and union members at a Verona elementary school there is no divide between teachers and parents because they have a shared love.
Addressing a National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers event, the Northern Virginia Community College professor argued teachers do their jobs in spite of challenges because they love what they do and who they teach.
“And I think that that message matters more than ever,” she added. “Because lately when I turn on the TV I see pundits attacking our public schools and saying that parents and educators are at odds, but that’s not what I see.”
Ahead of the event, the Republican Party of Wisconsin blasted Biden for visiting with teachers instead of talking to parents. Reps. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, and Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield, argued the Biden administration is against parent’s rights.
Duchow said school curricula discussing sensitive topics such as race and gender identity are often kept from parents.
“So some kids go to school and when they get there, they’ve changed total identities, and then they come back home, and they’re a different person and no one’s calling the parents in,” Duchow said. “And I think that we as parents know far better what is best for our kids than a teacher or bureaucrat, or certainly someone in the teachers union.”
Biden said teachers do what they do for students out of love.
“There’s no divide between those who love our students, and those who teach them because we do both,” she argued. “This isn’t just a job that we walk away from at 3:15. When we’re caring for our own kids, we’re thinking about someone else’s kid too.”
She also praised unions for giving teachers a voice, adding teachers “have a friend in the White House, two in fact, me and my husband Joe.”
After the education event, the first lady told a fundraiser Republicans want to “drag us back to a past that we thought was long over.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Gov. Tony Evers joined Biden for the fundraiser, which benefited the newly created Biden Baldwin Victory Fund. According to an invite obtained by WisPolitics, tickets for the event ranged from $250 up to $6,600.
According to a pool report, about 200 people attended the fundraiser at a private event venue near downtown Madison.
Evers warned Republicans are “looking for the most extreme candidate to challenge” Baldwin, who has yet to draw an opponent for her 2024 reelection bid.
Biden talked about Wisconsin’s 1849 law that has effectively banned abortions being performed in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Wisconsin Republicans, like their national counterparts, want to drag us back to a past that we thought was long over. But we won’t let them,” Biden said.
