Rebecca Friedrichs, a California public school teacher, spoke on the first night of the Republican National Convention on Aug. 24, 2020.
Transcript
I’m Rebecca Friedrichs, a veteran California public school educator. I’m here to give voice to America’s great teachers because our voices have been silenced for decades by unions who claim to represent us. They do not. When other dedicated teachers and I served within the unions, we spoke up in defense of children, parents, scientific fact and American values. For our trouble, we were brutalized, booed off the platform, barred from committees, shouted down and even spit upon by union leaders. This is how unions treat devoted teachers, but what’s even worse is how their agenda of control deceives Americans and our children. They’ve intentionally rewritten American history to perpetuate division, pervert the memories of our American founders and disparage our Judeo-Christian virtues. They’re lenient discipline policies morphed our schools into war zones and they back defunding police and abolishing ICE. Unions collect billions annually from unsuspecting teachers and push this radical agenda into our classrooms against our will. Why?
The only way to keep a free republic is with a well-educated moral citizenry that can self- govern. Unions are subverting our republic, so they undermine educational excellence, morality, law and order. That’s why they spend hundreds of millions annually to defeat charter schools and school choice. Trapping so many precious, low-income children in dangerous, corrupt, and low-performing schools. To fight back on behalf of children and America, brave teachers brought a lawsuit against unions. And do you know who intervened against us? The Obama, Biden administration and California Attorney General Kamala Harris. They argued against us at the U.S. Supreme Court. Their comrades labeled us spawns of Satan and slandered us in mainstream media. No matter their abuse, we’ll keep fighting for the country and children we love just like President Trump. He’s breaking the union’s grip on our schools. That’s why unions have tried to destroy him since the day he was elected. But President Trump isn’t afraid to fight for what’s right. He won’t back down. His courage gives great teachers renewed hope.
He’s even proposed education freedom scholarships to return control to parents, protect religious liberties and empower kids to escape dangerous, low-performing schools. The Republican platform supports educational freedom. The Democrat Party does not. Democrats stand with deceptive teachers unions who pick on loving teachers and little kids. President Trump stands with America’s families, great teachers, and most importantly, our children. So America’s great teachers, let’s stand with President Trump in protection of the kids and country we love.
