The school year is over, report cards are coming home, and parents are asking the same questions they ask at the end of every school year: Is my child learning? Are they better prepared for the future?
For far too many families, the honest answer is no. According to the <a href="https://www.nagb.gov/news-and-events/news-releases/2025/declines-in-8th-grade-science-and-12th-grade-math-and-reading.html">National Assessment of Educational Progress</a>, fewer than one in three American students can read at grade level, fewer than one in three eighth graders are proficient in science, and only 22% of high school seniors are proficient in math. Yet public school spending is approaching $1 trillion a year, nearly 60% higher than in 2013, when student performance was significantly stronger.
New York City, for example, spends roughly $44,000 per student each year, about 30% more than other large school districts without producing better outcomes. The disconnect has become so absurd that even Jeff Bezos recently <a href="https://x.com/DefiantLs/status/2059358911480709283">weighed in</a>. As Bezos <a href="https://x.com/DefiantLs/status/2059358911480709283">put it</a>, if Amazon operated the same way, “packages would take six weeks to arrive, we would charge you a $100 delivery fee, and when the package did finally arrive, it would have the wrong item.”
Parents and taxpayers have every right to wonder where all that money is going.
If you follow the dollars, the answer leads straight to Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Parents are constantly told that teachers’ unions exist to support educators and improve schools. A closer look at how the union spends its money and exercises its influence, however, tells a very different story.
According to federal filings analyzed by the Illinois Policy Institute, AFT spent more than $277 million in fiscal year 2024. Only $100.7 million of that, barely 36 cents on the dollar, went toward representing teachers, the union’s supposed core function. The rest flowed into politics, administration, and union leadership priorities. That includes $38 million in political activities and lobbying alone. The Better Business Bureau recommends nonprofits devote at least 65% of their resources to their core mission. By that standard, the AFT falls dramatically short. Meanwhile, Weingarten herself collected more than $500,000 in salary and reportable compensation in FY2024, while the average teacher earns around $72,000.
When those factors are combined with the union’s overwhelmingly one-sided political spending, the picture becomes even more troubling. During the 2024 election cycle, 99.89% of AFT Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions went to Democrats and allied causes. In fact, the union’s PAC spent $15.6 million supporting Kamala Harris and Democratic congressional candidates.
That may come as a surprise to the millions of Americans who still assume teachers’ unions are primarily focused on improving schools and supporting educators. Then again, consider how Weingarten uses her platform.
She called Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act a “gross political attack” because it gave parents a clearer view of what young children are taught about gender and sexuality. She welcomed the Biden administration’s effort to rewrite Title IX in ways that allowed biological males to compete in girls’ sports and access private female spaces. At the 2024 AFT Convention, she invoked the specter of fascism to warn members about the consequences of the “wrong” election outcome. As American Enterprise Institute scholar Robert Pondiscio put it, her social media is “a litany of hot takes on politics and current events. Effective teaching? Barely a whisper.”
More recently, an investigation by Defending Education uncovered an AFT affiliate connected to a Minnesota network that promoted parent-alert systems designed to counter ICE operations. Separate research found DEI provisions embedded in AFT-affiliated union contracts nationwide, including race-conscious programming and ideological trainings unrelated to pay, benefits, or classroom conditions.
As parents, we have been told to stay in our lane. We’ve been told that questioning curriculum is book-banning, that wanting a say in our children’s education is extremism, and that the union knows best.
All the while, academic performance continues to deteriorate across nearly every subject and grade level, even as one of the most powerful organizations in American education pours millions of dollars, countless hours, and enormous political influence into elections, activism, and ideological causes that have little to do with helping students learn.
Parents have every right to expect better.
***
Alleigh Marré is the executive director of American Parents Coalition and a mother of four.

Kamala Harris – Teachers Convention

Another School Year, Another Teachers’ Union Cash Grab To Pet Political Causes

American Federation of Teachers

DW Opinion

Randi Weingarten

Perhaps no person more frequently represents themselves as the spokesperson for educators than Randi Weingarten, the infamous president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
With her tenure at the helm of the nation’s second-largest teachers union approaching two decades and no term limits for AFT officers, Weingarten has had ample opportunity to entrench herself as a key player in the progressive media and political apparatus.
But as can occur in the classroom — or any institution, for that matter — lengthy tenure untethered from performance and accountability breeds hubris and entitlement. And the greater the power, the greater the opportunity to abuse it.
To that end, two new reports released this week provide fresh evidence of Weingarten using her perch at AFT to leverage members’ dues for her own personal benefit.
The <a href="https://www.freedomfoundation.com/national/sparing-no-expense-how-aft-members-unknowingly-financed-randi-weingartens-literary-vanity-project/">first analysis</a>, produced by my organization and first <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/19/us-news/aft-boss-randi-weingarten-tapped-union-resources-worth-over-1-4m-to-write-manifesto-book/">reported on</a> by the New York Post, examined AFT’s most recent annual financial disclosure to the U.S. Department of Labor and discovered that the union appears to have financed the production, publication, and promotion of Weingarten’s recent book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers (WFFT), entirely with members’ dues.
Among other things, AFT footed the bill for Weingarten’s apparent ghostwriter — progressive commentator and communications consultant Sally Kohn — who received more than $400,000 from AFT during the year Weingarten’s book was in production.
In response to inquiries from the New York Post, AFT argued that not all the payments to Kohn were related to WFFT. That may be technically true, but the most Kohn had previously been paid by the union in a year was only $125,000, and Weingarten herself described Kohn in her book’s acknowledgments as “indispensable as a day-to-day thought partner and collaborator.”
Other payments associated with WFFT were beyond even such minor quibbles.
AFT did not dispute paying $6,000 to an editor in Montana to fact-check WFFT, nor did it deny paying $5,200 to a Juilliard-trained celebrity photographer for the black-and-white author photo appearing on the inside dust jacket at the back of Weingarten’s book.
The union’s members also unwittingly funded $64,000 in payments to Weingarten’s literary agent, to say nothing of the untold thousands of dollars expended on her cross-country book tour, or the time invested by dozens of AFT personnel in assisting in Weingarten’s literary pursuits.
That AFT members were not asked whether they wanted to underwrite Weingarten’s self-promotional work of antifascist political commentary in the first place is bad enough. But the real kicker is what happened to the proceeds.
In past comments, Weingarten emphasized that half of the royalties from WFFT would be donated to two AFT charities under Weingarten’s control, but never indicated she would benefit financially from the book sales.
In reality, the $375,000 in advance royalties from the book were divided into thirds among AFT, two Weingarten-controlled charities, and an opaque Delaware-registered LLC. When pressed by the Post about the Freedom Foundation’s analysis, AFT <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/19/us-news/aft-boss-randi-weingarten-tapped-union-resources-worth-over-1-4m-to-write-manifesto-book/">admitted</a> that the LLC served as a conduit for payments to Weingarten herself.
Weingarten already receives a compensation package worth <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/360725240/202501219349302720/full">nearly $600,000</a>, and it’s not clear how leveraging members’ dues for Weingarten’s personal pecuniary benefit aligns with AFT officers’ <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/501">legal obligation</a> to hold the union’s “money and property solely for the benefit of the organization and its members.”
Similarly, a second <a href="https://networkcontagion.us/reports/mission-aborted-a-report-on-institutional-governance-financial-transparency-and-policy-influence-in-major-teachers-unions/">report</a> released this week documenting the pervasive progressive political advocacy of the AFT and its larger counterpart, the National Education Association, flagged a $10,000 contribution by AFT to Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, which it describes as “a New York-based synagogue led by Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum (now Rabbi Emerita), Randi Weingarten’s wife.”
Taxpayers have also been left holding the bag for Weingarten’s union activism.
In 2023, the Freedom Foundation <a href="https://www.freedomfoundation.com/labor/aft-president-randi-weingarten-qualified-for-public-pension-for-years-spent-out-of-the-classroom-on-union-leave/">documented</a> that Weingarten’s time as a New York City public school teacher — which she often hearkens back to in her writing and speeches — amounted to a grand total of three years full-time and three years as a substitute.
Her limited classroom tenure was not enough to qualify her for pension benefits, but thanks to a sweetheart deal with the city, her 11 years as president of the United Federation of Teachers were credited toward her pension seniority, securing her a taxpayer-funded retirement potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Weingarten may want to pose as the champion of American educators, but unfortunately, her track record at AFT starkly illustrates the need to empower educators with alternatives to her corrupt enterprise.
Through projects like <a href="https://www.optouttoday.com/">OptOutToday.com</a>, teachers can take steps to cancel their membership in far-left unions like the AFT and the NEA. Conservative educators seeking support can turn to non-union professional associations such as the <a href="https://www.teacherfreedomalliance.com/">Teacher Freedom Alliance</a>.
For their part, policymakers should follow the example of states like Idaho, which recently <a href="https://www.freedomfoundation.com/press-release/idaho-ends-taxpayer-support-for-teachers-unions/">adopted legislation</a> prohibiting direct and indirect taxpayer support for teachers&#8217; unions.
Until union executives like Weingarten and the organizations they steer face meaningful accountability, it should be no surprise that they continue to exploit their members and taxpayers alike.
***
Maxford Nelsen is director of research and government affairs at the Freedom Foundation.

How Randi Weingarten Wrote Herself A Fat Paycheck And Left Taxpayers With The Bill

Teachers Unions

The leaders of America&#8217;s two largest teachers unions, which fought to keep public schools closed during <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a> and have pushed to bring radical leftist ideology to the classroom, spoke at the final night of the Democratic National Convention Thursday.
American Federation For Teachers president Randi Weingarten <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6_mEFVYca0">claimed</a> that former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance &#8220;can&#8217;t claim they&#8217;re pro-child while gutting funding for public schools,&#8221; and that &#8220;being pro-family means we support access to good union jobs, affordable housing, health care, and higher education.&#8221;
Weingarten, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-boss-randi-weingarten-mocked-for-unhinged-politicized-speech-warning-of-fascism">claimed</a> last month that Trump was an &#8220;existential threat to democracy,&#8221; heads the nation&#8217;s second-largest teachers union. The labor leader has come under fire in recent months for asserting that she fought to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/randi-weingarten-is-gaslighting-us-she-fought-to-keep-schools-closed-not-open">keep schools open</a> during the coronavirus pandemic, when in fact she did the exact opposite. Weingarten in 2020 called the Trump administration&#8217;s push to reopen schools “reckless,” “callous,” and “cruel.”
Though research showed as early as 2020 that children could safely return to the classroom, teachers unions fought to keep schools closed. School closures caused significant learning loss across the country, studies have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-exec-suggests-learning-loss-made-us-all-equal">shown</a>.
Joining Weingarten on stage was National Education Association President Becky Pringle, who told the crowd in Chicago that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are the best hope for American students.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723831707612000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0pyrv88A5nsmWM2F2Wr9As">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
&#8220;They will strengthen our schools, support our educators, and help our students live into their brilliance,&#8221; Pringle said, hours before the vice president is slated to officially accept the Democratic presidential nomination. &#8220;Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are not just wrong — they&#8217;re dangerous,&#8221; Pringle said.
Pringle last month was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-head-mocked-for-totally-unhinged-speech">slammed</a> for delivering a &#8220;totally unhinged speech&#8221; in which she said &#8220;we have to transform&#8221; the public education system &#8220;into something it was never designed to be — a racially and socially just and equitable system that prepares every student!&#8221; A known partisan, Pringle heads the nation&#8217;s largest teachers union, which in 2022 gave <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nations-largest-teachers-unions-dump-at-least-2-25-million-on-michigan-gov-whitmer-re-election-campaign">$1 million</a> to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer&#8217;s (D) re-election campaign.
Whitmer was one of several Democratic governors who pushed to keep schools closed during COVID. She was joined in those efforts by Walz, who as Minnesota governor instituted some of the nation&#8217;s strictest COVID lockdowns.
Walz, who in March 2020 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flashback-walz-implemented-covid-hotline-to-snitch-on-neighbors">established</a> a hotline and encouraged Minnesotans to snitch on neighbors who violated lockdowns by attending worship services, kept schools closed and mandated students wear masks well into the COVID pandemic. Critics <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walzs-covid-emergency-powers-were-challenged-as-overreaching">challenged</a> those restrictions in court, though the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled they were constitutional.
Pringle pointed to Walz&#8217;s work as a public school teacher to underscore her claim that the Harris-Walz ticket is the best thing for American students.
The Daily Wire reported this week that Walz has made <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tim-walzs-misleading-claims-about-winning-teaching-awards">misleading claims</a> about winning &#8220;teacher of the year awards,&#8221; just days after he caught flak for making similarly misleading claims about his military service and his wife&#8217;s use of in vitro fertilization.
The Harris campaign has emphasized Walz&#8217;s work as a teacher, though his positions on education as governor have come under scrutiny. As governor, Walz signed legislation requiring that Minnesota public schools put <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/did-tim-walz-really-put-tampons-in-the-boys-bathroom">tampon dispensers</a> in boys bathrooms, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-public-teacher-walz-attacked-school-choice-schemes-that-leaves-our-teachers-in-the-short">slammed school choice</a> as a &#8220;scheme&#8221; that &#8220;leaves our teachers in the lurch.&#8221;

Teachers Union Heads Who Fought To Keep Schools Closed During COVID Speak At DNC

Democratic National Convention

Elections

Kamala Harris

National Education Association

Politics

School closures

The American Federation of Teachers&#8217; 88th National Convention centered not on workplace conditions or the resolution of deep issues rampant throughout the nation’s classrooms but underscored the union’s longstanding devotion to progressive politics, culminating in a resounding endorsement of presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
The convention, which hosts AFT delegates from across the nation to vote on resolutions which guide the union’s internal operations for the year ahead, was markedly partisan as the infamously progressive union preps its members for election season.
Resolutions passed by this year’s delegates covered a swath of hot button political issues:
“The AFT <a href="https://www.aft.org/resolution/committing-end-lifetime-alert-physical-and-psychological-violence-against-lgbtqia-youth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will</a> recommit resources,” for example, to “support LGBTQIA+ affirming and inclusive school environments and curriculum,” according to a resolution regarding “physical and psychological violence” against queer youth.
Another <a href="https://www.aft.org/resolution/opposing-overreach-us-supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a>, “Opposing the Overreach of the U.S. Supreme Court,” details the union’s commitment to “reverse the decisions” of those Justices AFT accuses of “eliminating guarantees of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the American people.”
According to a <a href="https://www.aft.org/resolution/what-stake-2024-elections-democratic-republic-committed-liberty-and-justice-all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">third</a>, “the basic institutions and principles of U.S. democracy…are under attack” by “Donald Trump and the ultra-right MAGA faction.” In addition to democracy, AFT writes, Republicans have attacked public education through “voucher schemes,” reproductive freedom through “draconian anti-abortion laws,” and “the very humanity of marginalized and stigmatized communities.”
But the key <a href="https://www.aft.org/resolution/endorsement-kamala-harris-president" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> passed by the AFT was the union’s “Endorsement of Kamala Harris for President.”
“Kamala Harris has a clear record under the Biden-Harris administration to compare with Donald Trump’s, offering voters a stark choice,” AFT explained. The union pledges to mobilize its members in support of Harris’s presidential campaign, plus join the rest of Big Labor in its “collective effort to elect Kamala Harris.”
Amid talk of a variety of progressive topics, AFT’s support for Harris was constant.
Before delegates arrived in Houston, the union’s executive council preemptively <a href="https://www.aft.org/press-release/aft-executive-council-unanimously-endorses-kamala-harris-president" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed</a> a unanimous call on AFT members to ratify its endorsement of Harris for the American presidency.
AFT President Randi Weingarten’s keynote address amplified strong support for Harris, through which “progress is possible.” “But so is the eradication of the rights and progress we hold dear,” continued Weingarten, through former President Donald Trump, who poses an “existential threat to democracy and freedom.”
Throughout the convention, among the <a href="https://www.aft.org/news/convention-sneak-peek-were-fighting-better-life-all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speakers</a> who addressed the union in support of Harris included United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Harris, whose address was the convention’s grand finale, again emphasized the responsibility of educators to vote in support of her dedication to “freedom, compassion, and rule of law,” in opposition to Right-wing “chaos, fear, and hate.”
A vote against her campaign, Harris emphasized, would “return America to a dark past.”
AFT’s longstanding devotion to progressive causes and candidates is nothing new. For years, the union has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/teachers-unions-spend-big-democrats-ahead-midterm-elections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transferred</a> millions directly from the pockets of dues-paying teachers to its Democratic friends.
Though American teachers continue to <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/teachers-union-membership-drops-by-59000-across-the-nation/#:~:text=The%20National%20Education%20Association%20and,member%20loss%20the%20previous%20year." target="_blank" rel="noopener">flee</a> AFT in search of refuge from the progressive agenda included in membership, this year’s convention emphasizes that the union’s loyalty to the left-wing will not fade anytime soon.
According to a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/04/04/teachers-views-on-the-state-of-public-k-12-education/#:~:text=A%20majority%20of%20public%20K,or%20lean%20toward%20the%20GOP." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pew Research survey</a> of over 2,500 public K-12 school teachers, a significant percentage of teachers presumably disagree with their union’s endorsement. The AFT, however, couldn’t care less.
For the AFT, it seems as though disregarding the inconvenient interests of teachers unsupportive of union ideology is a worthy sacrifice in pursuit of the political agenda that continues to dominate Big Labor’s priorities across the board.
* * * 
Aaron Withe is Chief Executive Officer of the Freedom Foundation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Vice President Kamala Harris Delivers A Keynote At The American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention In Houston

‘Democracy Under Attack’: Teachers Union Convention Backs Progressivism, Endorses Kamala Harris

'Democracy Under Attack': Teachers Union Convention Backs Progressivism, Endorses Kamala Harris

Houston

LGBTQ

Opinion

Progressivism

The president of the nation&#8217;s second-largest teachers union went on a politicized rant about &#8220;violence&#8221; and &#8220;fascism&#8221; just days after the head of the largest teachers union was mocked for doing the same thing.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), was mocked for her &#8220;unhinged&#8221; keynote address at her union&#8217;s annual convention in Houston on Monday.
“The November elections will determine which path we take as a nation. Progress is indeed possible, but so is the eradication of the rights and freedoms we hold dear,” Weingarten <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xux0jNAHqEI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the event.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Randi Weingarten says Trump is an &quot;existential threat to democracy&quot;:
&quot;The November elections will determine which path we take.. it is seldom a dramatic event or attack that lets fascism in the door. The violence comes later, after they are voted in.&quot;
Unhinged lunatic. <a href="https://t.co/87K6mYDhKP">pic.twitter.com/87K6mYDhKP</a>
&mdash; Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1815456591682187465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2024</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It’s official! <a href="https://twitter.com/AFTunion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aftunion</a> delegates just voted to endorse <a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kamalaharris</a>. I spoke in support of the resolution—for our students, our patients, our families, our communities, our democracy and ourselves! Let’s win this! <a href="https://t.co/O2CeFULlBT">pic.twitter.com/O2CeFULlBT</a>
&mdash; Randi Weingarten 🇺🇸💪🏿👩‍🎓🟣🌴🥥 (@rweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1815446063849013286?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Imagine a country where hate has no harbor and freedom rings, the freedom to vote, to live, to breathe, the freedom to marry, the freedom for families to make reproductive choices, the freedom to read, the freedom to teach, and the freedom to join a union!&#8221; the union boss shouted.
As she neared the end of her speech, Weingarten waved her arms and appeared to be jumping up and down behind the podium.
&#8220;Historians &#8230; who study threats to democracy and how fascists come to power conclude that it is seldom a dramatic event or attack that lets fascism in the door,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The violence comes later after they are voted in. Voting is still our best defense against tyranny and fascism, and it&#8217;s our best offense to create the better future we dream of and march for.&#8221;
The union boss went on to suggest former President Donald Trump is an &#8220;existential threat to democracy&#8221; and urged her members to vote against him.
&#8220;When the history books are written about this moment, let them record that we the people, united, mobilized, and voted down this existential threat to democracy and freedom, that we continued the march for progress, that we laid the foundation for our better future, and that we sought to create a more perfect union! Progress is possible! Keep marching!&#8221; Weingarten shouted as the crowd of union members erupted into applause.
Also on Monday, Weingarten touted that AFT union delegates had voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
&#8220;Let’s win this!&#8221; she <a href="https://x.com/rweingarten/status/1815446063849013286">posted</a> on X.
School choice activist Corey DeAngelis <a href="https://x.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1815456591682187465">called</a> Weingarten an &#8220;unhinged lunatic&#8221; after her speech.
&#8220;Randi Weingarten just gave a 4,000 word keynote speech to her teachers union. She didn’t mention learning loss a single time,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/nickineily/status/1815745937060278772" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Nicki Neily, founder and president of Parents Defending Education, a nonprofit &#8220;working to reclaim our schools from activists imposing harmful agendas.&#8221;
&#8220;Just days after he was shot in an attempted ass*ss*nat*on, Randi Weingarten suggests Trump is an &#8216;existential threat to democracy and freedom&#8217; and that he&#8217;s a violent, tyrannical, fascist. Is this what &#8216;toning it down&#8217; looks like? Deranged,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1815464697036247312">posted</a> the X account Libs of TikTok.
Earlier this month, the president of the country’s largest teachers union was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-head-mocked-for-totally-unhinged-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mocked</a> for a &#8220;totally unhinged&#8221; speech in which she shouted about winning “all the things.”
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association (NEA), banged on the podium, waved her arms, and laughed out loud as she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ifRgiOOJ8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shouted</a> about social justice at the union’s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly in Philadelphia.
“We have to transform it into something it was never designed to be — a racially and socially just and equitable system that prepares every student! Every student! Every student! Every one! With conviction and commitment,” Pringle said.
Pringle also railed against Trump and what she called a “stacked” Supreme Court.
“We worked hard to rid ourselves of a tyrannical, deceitful, and corrupt White House. We did. But the reality is that the seeds that were sown during that horrible season continue to germinate,” Pringle said.

PowerUp & Build Back Better With Care

Teachers Union Boss Randi Weingarten Mocked For ‘Unhinged’ Politicized Speech Warning Of ‘Fascism’

Teachers Union Boss Randi Weingarten Mocked For 'Unhinged' Politicized Speech Warning Of 'Fascism'

Education

Labor Unions

Public Schools

Republican Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-scott" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Scott</a> of South Carolina blasted a teachers union boss on Wednesday for comparing the parental rights movement to proponents of segregation.
American Federation of Teachers President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> took a shot at the parental rights movement, which emphasizes a parent’s authority over a child’s education, in an interview aired Tuesday. Weingarten compared those parents frustrated largely with public school officials to parents who resisted desegregation on the basis of race.
Scott said the union boss was spreading “liberal lies” that harken “back to a day that no longer exists.”
“There might not be anyone that’s done more damage recently than Randi Weingarten to the kids living in distressed communities, especially like the ones where I grew up,” Scott told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tim-scott-slams-randi-weingarten-for-comparing-parental-rights-to-segregation.amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
“I’m so sick and tired of liberals &#8212; too many of them happen to be white &#8212; crying racism every single time they&#8217;re losing an argument,” he continued. “I can’t think of anything more actually racist than trapping poor black kids in the failing schools in these big blue cities dominated by a super-majority of radical progressives who are running the cities and destroying the schools.”
Scott, a Republican candidate for president in 2024, said Weingarten and the teachers union are two of the chief hurdles to a child’s education today.
“They’re the ones, with their teachers unions, standing in the doorway of the schoolhouse, trapping poor kids in as if the house is on fire, but they won’t let a single soul out,” the senator from South Carolina said. “It’s really frustrating, and it’s one of the reasons why I think we have no choice but to break the backs of these teachers’ unions. They’re the problem. They’re literally destroying the future of millions of kids.”
Weingarten attacked the parental rights movement in an appearance on the podcast Power At Work, produced by the Burnes Center for Social Change. The union boss said she was made aware of a connection between the parents’ rights movement and segregationists from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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“Those same words that you heard in terms of wanting segregation post-Brown v. Board of Education, those same words you hear today,” Weingarten said.
“I was kind of gobsmacked when I was talking to Southern Poverty Law Center, and they showed me the same words, ‘choice,’ ‘parental rights,’ and an attempt to divide parents versus teachers,” she added. “At that point, it was white parents versus other parents, but it’s the same kind of words.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨NEW: <a href="https://twitter.com/AFTunion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AFTunion</a> President <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rweingarten</a> smears the parental rights movement👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 as some sort of new Segregation. Her source?🤔 A far-left smear factory notorious for putting conservatives on a &quot;hate map&quot; with the KKK. <a href="https://t.co/TIeeTvTdhl">https://t.co/TIeeTvTdhl</a> <a href="https://t.co/nZxPgTDEOz">pic.twitter.com/nZxPgTDEOz</a>
&mdash; Tyler O&#39;Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tyler2ONeil/status/1702101457594388800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Tim Scott

Tim Scott Smacks Teachers Union Boss For Comparing Parental Rights To Segregation

Lawmakers investigating the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID pandemic</a> have again requested phone call records between <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/far-left-teachers-union-boss-randi-weingarten-to-join-council-to-advise-homeland-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teacher’s union boss Randi Weingarten</a> and outgoing CDC Director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/dr-rochelle-walensky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rochelle Walensky</a> over concerns of “political interference.” 
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) sent a <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023.06.28-BRW-Letter-to-CDC-Re.-Texts.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Walensky on Wednesday, just two days before her scheduled departure from the CDC, requesting her phone records and texts with Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers. 
“During an April hearing with AFT president Weingarten, the Select Subcommittee learned — for the first time — that Ms. Weingarten had a direct telephone line to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. Preserving all phone calls and text messages between the two officials will ensure accountability for any political interference,” the subcommittee <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/wenstrup-calls-for-phone-records-between-cdc-director-rochelle-walensky-and-teachers-union-president-randi-weingarten/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a press release. 
Wenstrup’s letter also accused the Department of Health and Human Services of failing to produce records in a timely manner, and only producing select documents that could be acquired through a freedom of information request. The CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/cio.htm#:~:text=CDC%20is%20one%20of%20the,of%20Health%20and%20Human%20Services." target="_blank" rel="noopener">is</a> a “major operating component” of HHS. 
“The Department of Health and Human Services is continuing its pattern of obstructing Congress by apparently only producing documents already made publicly available via the FOIA. As a reminder, FOIA does not apply to Congress,” Wenstrup said in the letter to Walensky. 
Text <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texts-show-teachers-union-working-with-cdc-director-to-keep-schools-closed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">messages previously obtained</a> by the Fairfax Parent’s Association appear to show a close relationship between Weingarten and Walensky and seem to show Weingarten impacting CDC policy on school closure policy. 
Weingarten texted Walensky in February 2021 saying that she had heard a “leak” from The New York Times about what was in the CDC’s upcoming guidance for school re-opening, and expressed concern that it was “at odds with [their] discussion.”
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“They are running with a full speed ahead angle” for reopening schools, Weingarten wrote. She said the Times sent her a copy of the internal draft guidance that said, “At any level of community transmission, all schools can provide in-person instruction.”
“Hmmm. Argh,” Walensky wrote to Weingarten. 
Following the texts from Weingarten, the CDC released guidance that was different. It said, “All schools have options to provide in-person instruction.” This guideline allowed school districts to stay closed while still saying they were following CDC guidelines. “Middle and high schools in virtual only instruction unless they can strictly implement all mitigation strategies and have few cases,” the guidance added.
Wenstrup requested call logs and texts between Walensky and Weingarten on the CDC’s director&#8217;s personal and professional phones by July 12.

Top Health Officials Testify Before Senate Hearing

House Republicans Move To Obtain COVID Phone Records Between Walensky And Weingarten

Congress

COVID-19

Dr. Rochelle Walensky

Pandemic

school

U.S.

Teachers union boss <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> will be joining the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-homeland-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Homeland Security</a> Academic Partnership Council, according to a statement from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 
Weingarten is the president of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/american-federation-of-teachers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Federation of Teachers</a>, a group that backed strict school shutdowns during the COVID pandemic and overwhelmingly backs Democrat candidates for office. The academic council, made up of 30 individuals, serves an advisory role to DHS on things like school safety and research priorities. 
“Leaders of our academic institutions and campus life have a great deal to offer in helping us counter the evolving and emerging threats to the homeland,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alejandro-mayorkas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mayorkas</a> said in a <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/06/21/secretary-mayorkas-appoints-new-members-academic-council-advise-dhs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “The Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council’s insights into strategic research, innovation, career development, and partnership opportunities for the Department will support our mission to safeguard the American people, and help our country think through and prepare for whatever threats lie ahead.”
Weingarten joins 19 others appointed by Mayorkas, mostly in academic leadership positions like Los Angeles School Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho and Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration Executive Director Miriam Feldblum. 
Aside from working on school safety issues, the council will also work on “methods to develop career opportunities to support a 21st century DHS workforce,” according to a DHS press release. 
Weingarten&#8217;s American Federation of Teachers has been a stalwart backer of President Joe Biden, endorsing him in 2020 and again for re-election in 2024, with Weingarten calling <a href="https://www.freedomfoundation.com/teachers-unions/weingarten-vows-unions-will-collectively-endorse-biden/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously calling</a> him “the most pro-union president we’ve ever had.”
She also claimed his age was not a concern to her. “He’s as vibrant a person at his age as most of us are in our 50s and 60s,” she claimed. 
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Many conservatives were quick to criticize the appointment of Weingarten, with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottforFlorida/status/1671640784821518339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1671640784821518339%7Ctwgr%5E5178a07bdff892d65c4e60f46f7809e3440f3a8f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblaze.com%2Fnews%2Frandi-weingarten-dhs-advisory-council" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> that she was “the last person who should be advising anyone on school safety.”
“What an insult to every parent who dealt with closed schools,” former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo <a href="https://twitter.com/mikepompeo/status/1671934875962671106" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
Text messages recently obtained by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texts-show-teachers-union-working-with-cdc-director-to-keep-schools-closed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Fairfax Parents Association show Weingarten texting</a> with then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky about keeping school restrictions tight. 
On February 11, 2021, Weingarten texted Walensky saying that she had heard a “leak” from The New York Times about what was in the CDC’s upcoming guidance, and expressed concern that it was “at odds with [their] discussion.”
After complaint from Weingarten, the CDC appeared to change its guidelines, allowing some schools to remain remote longer.

Sen. Schumer, Rep.  Pressley and Sen. Warren Discuss Student Debt Cancellation At AFL-CIO Roundtable

Far-Left Teachers Union Boss Randi Weingarten To Join Council To Advise Homeland Security

Alejandro Mayorkas

Department of Homeland Security

Joe Biden

Newly obtained text messages show the heads of both major teachers unions personally texting then-<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cdc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC</a> Director Rochelle Walensky as the agency was putting together a scientific analysis of reopening schools during coronavirus — with the CDC making a key change that allowed schools to stay closed and appeased the unions.
On February 11, 2021, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten texted Walensky saying that she had heard a “leak” from The New York Times about what was in the CDC’s upcoming guidance, and expressed concern that it was “at odds with [their] discussion.”
“They are running with a full speed ahead angle” for reopening schools, Weingarten wrote. She said the Times sent her a copy of the internal draft guidance that said, “At any level of community transmission, all schools can provide in-person instruction.”
“Hmmm. Argh,” Walensky wrote to the union honcho.
The next day, Walensky’s agency released guidance that was different. It said, “All schools have options to provide in-person instruction.” That allowed school districts to stay closed while still saying they were following CDC guidelines. “Middle and high schools in virtual only instruction unless they can strictly implement all mitigation strategies and have few cases,” it added.
Weingarten’s union then put out a statement praising the guidance, and texted the document directly to Walensky with the message, “Thank you.”
Walensky responded glowingly, saying, “This gave me the biggest smile of my week. Thank YOU, Friend!”
Weingarten then gently chided the CDC director for not going further to push stricter guidelines that would keep schools closed, saying “:) we will fuss a little on ventilation but I am so grateful.”
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Walensky said, “Me too. Totally fair!”
The text messages were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from the Fairfax Parents Association, a group of parents who fought to end extended school closures in a Democrat-controlled Virginia district.
The messages also show the president of the other major teachers union, the National Education Association’s Becky Pringle, texting directly with the head of the agency and appearing to invoke “diversity” as an argument to keep schools closed.
“Just got off the phone with your folks. I appreciate them making themselves available. But I’m very concerned about timing and our ability to get the information I talked with you re: evidence gathered in more diverse settings,” she wrote.
The influence by a major Democrat constituency on science guidance raises concerns because Americans were told to &#8220;trust the science.&#8221;
As it has become undeniable that school closures did more harm than good, teachers unions have since tried to rewrite history and claim they were in favor of reopening schools, even though a long trail of documents show that they consistently fought to “reopen schools safely,” with their focus being on ensuring that the definition of “safely” would mean a very high barrier to opening.
Weingarten <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/randi-weingarten-covid-19-school-lockdowns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> defiantly to Congress in April and blasted Republicans while saying the Biden administration reached out to her union for its input and that the union suggested “ideas” to the science agency.
A Daily Wire analysis found that states that engaged in prolonged school closures <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/only-2-of-childrens-deaths-were-from-covid-and-school-closures-didnt-reduce-the-number" target="_blank" rel="noopener">didn’t have</a> fewer children die with COVID than those that kept schools open.

D5A959F0-43D6-4ECE-8BCC-0FA5934F3892_1_201_a

Texts Show Teachers Union Working With CDC Director To Keep Schools Closed

COVID

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/randi-weingarten-is-gaslighting-us-she-fought-to-keep-schools-closed-not-open" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> thinks you are an idiot.
The American Federation of Teachers union president, a lady who makes a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aft-president-randi-weingarten-salary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> nine times the average teacher&#8217;s salary, is on a bit of a torrent to rewrite COVID history. As she tells it, she wasn&#8217;t hellbent on holding your child&#8217;s education hostage during the pandemic; she wanted to get those kids back in school as quickly as possible. As supposed &#8220;proof&#8221; of her heroism, Weingarten has been touting a report from Politifact that artificially absolves her from any wrongdoing or feet-dragging during COVID.
Don&#8217;t let her — or Politifact — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-users-set-the-record-straight-after-politifact-says-randi-weingarten-advocated-for-reopening-schools-during-pandemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">get away with the whitewashing of history</a>. Her actions stunted an entire generation of kids and unleashed a deluge of negative consequences as a result of keeping kids out of school for so long.
For example, Weingarten is now saying that since the spring of 2020, she wanted schoolchildren back in classrooms and learning from teachers.
&#8220;We spent every day from February on trying to get schools open,&#8221; Weingarten testified before Congress last week. &#8220;We knew that remote education was not a substitute for opening schools.&#8221;
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AFT President Randi Weingarten: &quot;We spent every day from February on trying to get schools open. We knew that remote education was not a substitute for opening schools.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/1qNL05VD3u">pic.twitter.com/1qNL05VD3u</a>
&mdash; Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) <a href="https://twitter.com/FreeBeacon/status/1651307624418164736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
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But in the spring of 2020, she said schools could only re-open if done &#8220;safely.&#8221; What did &#8220;safely&#8221; look like to Weingarten? Well, at the time she said that in-school learning could only happen if teachers across America received at least an “additional 19% — $116.5 billion — from pre-virus funding levels to stabilize budgets and then reopen safely.&#8221;
The New York Times, which also is running cover for Weingarten, noted that her union had a list of demands in April reopening:
<blockquote>The A.F.T. had issued its <a class="css-yywogo" title="" href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/media/2020/covid19_reopen-america-schools.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">own reopening plan</a> in late April, calling for adequate personal protective equipment, a temporary suspension of formal teacher performance evaluations, a limit on student testing, a cancellation of student-loan debt and a $750 billion federal aid package to help schools prepare to reopen safely and facilitate “a real recovery for all our communities.&#8221;</blockquote>
What does advocating limiting the number of tests or forgiveness of student-loan debt have to do with re-opening safely? Nothing. Weingarten used the pandemic to push for more and more demands and to demonize members of the Trump administration.
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As pointed out by <a href="https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/05/03/politifact-is-trash-n548159" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HotAir&#8217;s David Strom</a>, “Congress wound up passing $190 billion in funding to meet her demands, and it still didn’t move her.&#8221;
In Strom&#8217;s excellent piece, he also flagged a terrific montage showing the myriad ways from 2020 to 2021 that Weingarten delayed in-person learning — even after the science suggested it was safe to do so.
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Outstanding compilation of footage of teachers’ union leader Randi Weingarten calling for COVID school closures throughout 2020 and 2021, contrary to her now casting herself as a bold advocate for schools reopening.<a href="https://t.co/UcWjfmqpno">pic.twitter.com/UcWjfmqpno</a>
&mdash; Michael P Senger (@michaelpsenger) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelpsenger/status/1653804555895988224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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That video is pretty good, but it is nothing compared to the shellacking Weingarten has been receiving thanks to the Community Notes feature — crowdsourced fact-checking — on Twitter.
For example, Politifact tweeted, &#8220;Teachers union President Randi Weingarten advocated for reopening schools with pandemic safety measures. She criticized the Trump administration’s 2020 calls to reopen schools fully, but it’s misleading to claim that she opposed reopening at all.&#8221;
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Teachers union President Randi Weingarten advocated for reopening schools with pandemic safety measures. She criticized the Trump administration’s 2020 calls to reopen schools fully, but it’s misleading to claim that she opposed reopening at all. <a href="https://t.co/Km8FkMkXd2">https://t.co/Km8FkMkXd2</a>
&mdash; PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) <a href="https://twitter.com/PolitiFact/status/1653749253720666115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Politifact&#8217;s conclusion, as the Left would say, is &#8220;missing context.&#8221; What sort of &#8220;context&#8221;? Well, the kind that shows Politifact&#8217;s ruling is complete nonsense.
&#8220;Politifact is misrepresenting Weingarten&#8217;s positions,&#8221; the Community Notes added, replete with notes backing up the assertions. &#8220;She called attempts to reopen schools in the fall of 2020 &#8216;Reckless, callous, cruel&#8217; <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1cvl2hr r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://t.co/lBQqTXA04Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">theguardian.com/us-news/2020/j…</a> Her union pushed aggressively at the local level <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1cvl2hr r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://t.co/eBOG2NLfas" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">edweek.org/teaching-learn…</a> They continued in 2022 <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1cvl2hr r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://t.co/QZVPzIRn34" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">nytimes.com/2022/01/08/us/…</a>&#8220;
In January 2021, a CDC study found low transmission of COVID in schools with proper safety precautions — such as social distancing and staying home when sick, and other commonsense guidelines. In other words, the science showed it was safe to be back in school.
The science was not enough for Weingarten. She said it was still too stressful for teachers to go back at the time.
&#8220;All the risk is on the educators, in terms of going back to school buildings,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/education/2021/02/05/teachers-union-president-weingarten-vaccinations-arent-precondition-for-school-reopening-but-need-to-be-priority" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the time. &#8220;The science is one thing, but the moment — psychologically — you [return to in-person classrooms], you’re always wondering if you’re the case, if you’re the one in 100.&#8221;
While Weingarten was running around doing media interviews, mental health problems for America&#8217;s youth were skyrocketing, as were drug addictions, and learning loss.
When it became patently obvious that untold damage was being done, and that maybe kids should have been in school long before they finally returned, Weingarten said it was no biggie because &#8220;kids are resilient.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/danprimack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@danprimack</a>: Is there a point at which kids&#39; lost education isn&#39;t recoverable?
AFT president <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rweingarten</a>: &quot;No, I don&#39;t believe that. I believe that kids are resilient and kids will recover. But we as adults have to meet their needs.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AxiosOnHBO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AxiosOnHBO</a> <a href="https://t.co/Dc4H0Hherc">pic.twitter.com/Dc4H0Hherc</a>
&mdash; Axios (@axios) <a href="https://twitter.com/axios/status/1363682689962901504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Weingarten, and Politifact for that matter, each get a big fat &#8220;F” for their COVID revisionism. We&#8217;ll let CNN Senior political analyst and father of four Scott Jennings have the final word.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottJenningsKY</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rweingarten</a>: &#8220;I am stunned at what you have said this week&#8230;I think you&#8217;ll find that most parents believe you are the tip of the sphere of school closures&#8230;I hear no remorse whatsoever about the generational damage that&#8217;s been done&#8230;&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/gVCDgpP3dN">pic.twitter.com/gVCDgpP3dN</a>
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinTober94/status/1651778019277537282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Randi Weingaretn

Randi Weingarten, Politifact Each Get A Big Fat ‘F’ For COVID History Revisionism

Randi Weingarten, Politifact Get Big Fat ‘F’ For COVID History Revisionism

PolitiFact

Schools

Teachers union boss Randi Weingarten is taking heat for bizarrely claiming that she fought to reopen schools during the pandemic.
She did the exact opposite.
Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second largest teacher&#8217;s labor union in America, now <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1651959322388094977" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> she &#8220;tried to do everything we could to reopen schools safely.&#8221;
This is four-dimensional gaslighting. Weingarten is trying to revise history. Her union aggressively pushed at both at the national and local levels to keep schools closed, making unscientific demands about safety.
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this is a lie. delete your account. <a href="https://t.co/KcQXRqUBkX">https://t.co/KcQXRqUBkX</a>
&mdash; Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1651963234042404864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Back in July 2020, Weingarten called the Trump administration&#8217;s plan to reopen schools in the fall &#8220;reckless,&#8221; &#8220;callous,&#8221; and &#8220;cruel.&#8221;
“It’s as if Trump and DeVos want to create chaos and want to jeopardize reopening,” Weingarten <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/17/trump-teachers-reopening-schools-coronavirus-randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Guardian. “There’s no other reason why they would be this reckless, this callous, this cruel.”
Also that July, she <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-07-28/teachers-union-considers-strikes-over-school-reopenings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> that &#8220;nothing is off the table&#8221; for the teachers union to get their demands, including teacher strikes.
On Friday, Weingarten launched a broadside at the Trump administration, claiming Trump, not the teachers union, is to blame for schools staying closed.
&#8220;It would have helped if Trump/DeVos helped instead of hectored,&#8221; she <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1651959322388094977" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. &#8220;Now we must do everything we can to help kids learn &amp; overcome the effects of the pandemic.&#8221;
In early 2021, Weingarten and the AFT union even colluded with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
On January 29, 2021, Weingarten and senior AFT staff <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/unconscionable-house-republican-takes-randi-weingarten-to-task-over-covid-school-closures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made</a> suggestions during a conference call with CDC members. Two of the union&#8217;s suggestions were included in the Biden administration&#8217;s COVID guidance released the next month.
One of the suggestions was to encourage schools to provide options for school staff with high-risk conditions. The other was to clarify that the government&#8217;s guidance could change based on new COVID variants.
“It made sense to consult with the CDC and it was not only appropriate for the CDC to confer with educators, it would have been irresponsible not to,” Weingarten <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/unconscionable-house-republican-takes-randi-weingarten-to-task-over-covid-school-closures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> House lawmakers on Thursday.
Weingarten appeared before a House panel on the COVID pandemic where she was skewered by irate Republican lawmakers.
“The effect on children has been vast and to have no remorse on closing schools and keeping them closed for the length of time is unconscionable,” <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/unconscionable-house-republican-takes-randi-weingarten-to-task-over-covid-school-closures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), a medical doctor and the former director of Iowa&#8217;s health department.
Miller-Meeks said the teachers union is not a scientific organization and was &#8220;out of its league&#8221; in weighing in on COVID risks.
As early as August 2020, CDC data <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932e3.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> children had extremely low rates of hospitalization or death from COVID.
Later on Thursday evening, the union boss appeared on CNN, normally a friendly environment for her, and was destroyed by an angry parent on the panel.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Parent SMOKES School Board boss Randi Weingarten to her FACE LIVE on CNN for closing schools:
&quot;I hear no remorse whatsoever about the generational damage that&#39;s been done.&quot;🔥
 <a href="https://t.co/WJz8xfhw8N">https://t.co/WJz8xfhw8N</a>
&mdash; Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1651963731184701440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I think you&#8217;ll find that most parents believe you were the tip of the spear of school closures,&#8221; said CNN commentator Scott Jennings, adding that he has four children at home including two with &#8220;learning differences.&#8221;
&#8220;There are numerous statements you made over the summer of &#8217;20 scaring people to death about the possibility of opening schools,&#8221; Jennings said. &#8220;And I hear no remorse whatsoever about the generational damage that&#8217;s been done to these kids.&#8221;
One <a href="https://www.edweek.org/education/untangling-the-role-of-trump-unions-and-politics-in-school-reopening-decisions/2020/10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from October 2020 that looked at more than <a href="https://www.edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai20-304.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10,000 school districts</a> found that teachers unions, more than COVID infection rates, were driving the decisions to keep schools closed.
Even as late as 2022, the Chicago Teachers Union, which is affiliated with the AFT, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-education-chicago-1d985e371edae7fc436bad81f8494d31" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed</a> for a return to remote learning in the country&#8217;s third-largest school district, resulting in classes being canceled for five days.
On both <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1651267717968670720" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wednesday</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1651705705668198400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thursday</a>, Weingarten tweeted out a video of selective, spliced-together clips of her saying she &#8220;wants&#8221; to reopen schools.
Brutal Twitter community notes were attached to both of those tweets, pointing out that Weingarten has &#8220;misrepresented her prior positions&#8221; and her &#8220;words are not representative of her actions.&#8221;
On Wednesday, Weingarten also tweeted a link to a union press <a href="https://www.aft.org/press-release/weingarten-sets-pandemic-record-straight-republican-attacks-fall-flat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">release</a> declaring &#8220;Republican Attacks Fall Flat&#8221; on schools re-opening.
Weingarten quickly locked replies on multiple tweets as critics lit her up in the comments.
&#8220;She closed her replies like she closed the schools,&#8221; school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis tweeted.

Education Presser

Randi Weingarten Is Gaslighting Us. She Fought To Keep Schools Closed, Not Open.

Readers Pass

During the COVID pandemic, we all suffered loss — loss of freedom, loss of a loved one, loss of a job or home. One can argue, however, that no one lost more than public school students, particularly those in liberal states who were subject to extended school shutdowns.
On Wednesday, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the nation&#8217;s second largest teacher’s union, testified in the House Oversight Committee hearing titled “The Consequences of School Closures, Part 2.”
Weingarten took the stand after a March 2022 report from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis revealed that the CDC had given unprecedented access to the teacher’s union, a highly political organization and major donor to the Biden campaign, to edit their school reopening guidelines. The AFT’s edits ultimately led to thousands of schools across the country remaining shuttered throughout the 2020-2021 school year, resulting in catastrophic learning losses for students, at least in liberal states whose governors she had influence over.
In July of 2020, Weingarten vehemently opposed allowing students to learn in person, she called President Trump’s call to reopen schools in the fall of 2020 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/17/trump-teachers-reopening-schools-coronavirus-randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“reckless, callous, and cruel.”</a> She <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-07-28/teachers-union-considers-strikes-over-school-reopenings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> strikes and proclaimed “nothing is off the table” if school districts decided to reopen — and she meant it.
The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) proudly announced it would not reopen unless certain conditions were met. Those conditions were that privately operated yet publicly funded charter schools are shut down, police are defunded, Medicare-for-All government-run health care is passed, a statewide wealth tax is implemented, housing for homeless is fully funded and financial Support for Undocumented Students and Families. None of the conditions had anything to do with educating students and everything to do with pushing their radical Left-wing agenda.
Weingarten tried to backpedal after fighting tooth and nail to keep schools shut once the data revealed her involvement and the devastating consequences. Like an arsonist posing as a firefighter, Weingarten attempted to shape-shift into a champion for reopening schools. 
“We know that kids learn best in person. So opening schools safely, even as the pandemic surged, guided the AFT’s every action.”
In May 2021, she wrote <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/randi-weingarten-union-schools-must-fully-reopen-fall/618887/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an article</a> for The Atlantic advocating for schools to open. But that certainly isn&#8217;t enough to cover the tracks of her horrific crimes against children.
So, does Weingarten actually believe Congress and the public are stupid, like they’ve had their memories wiped by a neuralyzer in “Men in Black”?
Perhaps so. On the stand, under oath I might add, the union leader denied ever advocating to keep schools closed, saying, “we spent every day trying to get schools open.”
Not only is she on record advocating for school closings, but her argument makes no sense. It was liberal governors who were following Randi’s and the CDC’s guidelines and shutting down schools. Those same liberal governors she campaigned for and spent millions of dollars putting into office. Those weren’t the people she was fighting.
It was conservative governors like Ron DeSantis she was fighting against because they weren’t giving into her political demands. They ignored her and they opened up their schools, and the students are far better off for it.
But unlike Randi Weingarten, the numbers don&#8217;t lie. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23328584221074337" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> conducted by a professor at the University of Nevada showed very clearly that there was a direct correlation between the influence of teachers unions and how slow schools were to reopen.
And the damage of Randi’s school shutdowns?
Stanford University economists conducted <a href="http://hanushek.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/The%20Economic%20Impacts%20of%20Learning%20Losses_final_v1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a study</a> which found that the pandemic learning loss could total $14.2 trillion in lost future earnings for students over the rest of this century. The study showed that if the learning losses aren’t recovered, K-12 students on average will grow into less educated, lower-skilled, and less productive adults and will earn 3% less over the course of their lives than students educated just before the pandemic. The data also found that learning loss leads to lower high school graduation rates and college enrollment as well as higher teen motherhood, arrests, and incarceration.
Scores on the <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/covid-education-funds-government-spending-51670623821" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 National Report Card</a> show the largest drop ever recorded in 32 years of conducting this report with an eight-point drop in eighth-grade math test scores from before the pandemic. 
President John F. Kennedy famously once said, “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future,” but our prospects are looking bleak with such ignoble individuals like Randi Weingarten responsible for educating our country’s children.
The House Oversight Committee must sanction the nefarious union president and hold her accountable for her radical organization’s crimes against children. 
Aaron Withe is the CEO of the Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit that specializes in exposing and battling abuses by government employee unions.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Report Card: Randi Weingarten Can’t Erase Her History On School Closures

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