Teachers on social media have been sharing their excitement online after Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday morning.
Walz, a veteran of the Army National Guard who represented southern Minnesota in the U.S. House from 2007 to 2019, is a former high school social studies teacher.
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association teachers union, said in a statement shortly after the announcement that “educators are fired up and united to get out and elect the Harris-Walz ticket.”
“Gov. Walz is known as the ‘Education Governor’ because he has been an unwavering champion for public school students and educators, and an ally for working families and unions,” she said, adding that the Democratic governor “has a track record of getting things done to make people’s lives better.”
After graduating from Chadron State College in Nebraska in 1989, Walz, a Nebraska native, taught high school in China for a year before returning home.
Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz, both began teaching at Mankato West High School in southern Minnesota in the 1990s. Walz, who’s currently serving his second term as governor, coached the school’s football team and helped the squad win its first state championship in 1999.
While teaching at Mankato West High, Walz served as the first faculty adviser to a newly formed gay-straight alliance group at the school in the mid ’90s.
Walz’s background as an educator has garnered more national attention in recent weeks after it was reported that he was on the short list of vice presidential picks.
Ann Vote, a former student of Walz’s, told The Washington Post in an article published Friday that it was “wild” for her and her classmates to think their former teacher could become the vice president.
“But I don’t get the sense that everyone is completely shocked,” she said. “It’s sort of like, ‘Darn right he’s on that list. Absolutely he should be!’
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Supporters have touted his gubernatorial record of increasing funding for public K-12 schools in Minnesota, as well as signing laws providing free school meals to Minnesota students, implementing a paid family and medical leave program and granting free tuition at public colleges for students whose families earn less than $80,000 a year.
Nevada state Assemblywoman Selena Torres, a Democrat and teacher, celebrated Harris’ choice of Walz.
“Teachers are leaders who deliver results everyday,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I couldn’t be any more excited to cheer on [Walz] as our next VP!!!”
“Teachers are going to turn out in record numbers!” another teacher wrote on X. “I am so excited to get back to the environmental science classroom this fall with a sense of optimism for future US policy!”
Check out more reactions from teachers and educators on X below: