Thousands of people rallied on Saturday in support of public education and teachers’ unions in Washington, D.C. The “Save Our Schools” rally was organized to criticize the Obama administration’s education reform policies, which have emphasized initiatives including No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Among the speakers to address the crowd was the actor Matt Damon.

Matt Damon: “As I get older, I appreciate more and more the teachers that I had growing up. And I’m not alone. There are millions of people just like me. So the next time you’re feeling down or exhausted or unappreciated or at the end of your rope; the next time you turn on the TV and see yourself being called overpaid; the next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that’s been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything, please, please, please know that there are millions of us behind you.”