The best principals and superintendents are the ones who say to their staff, “What can I do to help you? What do you need?'” That’s the assessment AFT union head Randi Weingarten shared with senior writer Matt Zalaznick on the premiere episode of “Talking Out of School,” DA‘s new podcast featuring K12 leaders and experts.

Weingarten was discussing the challenging climate teachers face in a heated political environment and what superintendents, principals and other administrators can do to shield them from forces she believes are working to disrupt and dismantle public education.

“We have to create community, and do everything we can to stop the us vs. them mentality,” she contends. “In education, it has to be an ‘us’… if you don’t create a community and people walk into school with a pit in their stomach or a pit in their throat, they’re never going to be on their A-game.”