Meet the Teacher of the Year the White House doesn't want you to hear [View all]

by Amy Goodman


In the midst of thousands of teachers walking out of schools around the country, demanding fair salaries and proper funding for their classrooms, one teacher, Mandy Manning, was invited into the White House last week, where President Donald Trump presented her with the 2018 Teacher of the Year Award. While the press heard Trump’s remarks, they were not allowed to witness her acceptance speech. The little we know about what transpired is thanks to one of Manning’s friends, who made a cellphone recording of her speech. In his remarks, Trump failed to mention that Manning teaches math and English to refugee and immigrant students at the Newcomer Center at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington. If he had his way, many students like hers would be banned from entering the United States in the first place.

“I am honored and humbled to be the vehicle through which my students may tell their stories,” Manning said in the historic East Room, as billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta looked on. “I am here for David, a future IT specialist who hopes to one day be able to attend university. I am here for Tamara, who is currently studying pre-med at Eastern Washington University. I am here for Safa and Tara, both future elementary school teachers. I am here for Solomon and Gafishi, who believe that the United States is the place where they have found the center of their lives, where they can have dreams and hopes to be someone.”

These are the words that the White House didn’t want broadcast. We don’t know why the press wasn’t allowed to be in the room. Perhaps they didn’t want reporters to see the six buttons Mandy Manning was prominently wearing on her dress. Her buttons included artwork from the 2017 Women’s March, a rainbow flag and the slogan “Trans Equality Now!” One displayed the quote “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

Manning brought letters from her students, addressed to Trump. “I had my opportunity to hand the letters to the president from my students,” Mandy Manning told us on the “Democracy Now!” news hour. “I also asked him if he would be willing to come to Spokane and meet my immigrant and refugee students, to see how amazing, dedicated, focused and what productive members of our community they are as future citizens of our United States.”

Read more: http://duluthreader.com/articles/2018/05/17/13399_meet_the_teacher_of_the_year_the_white_house