Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has thrown down the gauntlet to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten — whom he has described as “the most dangerous person in the world” — challenging her to a debate.
Last week, Pompeo told <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/23/mike-pompeo-slams-teachers-union-head-randi-weingarten-as-dangerous/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Semafor</a> that when he was asked who the most dangerous person in the world was, he named Weingarten, adding, “It’s not a close call.”
“I fear America is on a path to disintegration due to persistent failures in our education system. American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and her fellow travelers have crippled our nation’s schools,” Pompeo wrote in an <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/29/pompeo-yes-randi-weingarten-is-the-most-dangerous-person-in-america-heres-why/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opinion piece</a> in the New York Post on Tuesday.
In February 2021, in an <a href="https://twitter.com/axios/status/1363682689962901504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1363682689962901504%7Ctwgr%5Eaba3043602bc4aefbc4aabee2692d275670f3162%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.dailywire.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D193194action%3Dedit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview with Axios</a>, Weingarten said in reference to children who had been out of school for months, “kids are resilient and kids will recover.”
Axios’ Dan Primack asked, “Is there a point — and maybe you think we’re already past it — is there a point in which kids have been out of in-person school for so long that the education that they’ve lost isn’t really recoverable, that the third grade, the fourth grade, the kindergarten they lost, they can take extra semesters in the summer; they can do [that], but it can’t really be fixed?”
“No,” said Weingarten, whose union is the second largest teachers union in America, representing 1.7 million teachers. “I don&#8217;t believe that. I believe that kids are resilient and kids will recover. But we as adults have to meet their needs. Their emotional needs, their social needs, their learning needs.”
“The <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/23/mike-pompeo-is-right-randi-weingarten-is-a-danger-to-our-children/">danger she presents to our nation is clear and real</a> and exceeds that of all the bad guys I battled abroad for four years as secretary of state and CIA director,” Pompeo declared.
Noting that Weingarten responded to his Semafor remarks by ranting that Pompeo was  “extreme,” “anti-LGBTQ,” and “anti-Semitic,” Pompeo charged, “Her personal venom evidences an unwillingness to defend <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/09/01/randi-weingarten-and-unions-own-the-tragedy-of-kids-learning-loss/">what she has wrought on our children and our nation</a>. I am prepared to debate her and to present to the American people my case for the risks she presents to our republic and our nation’s future.”
Pompeo quoted the Father of the Constitution and America’s fourth president, James Madison: “The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.”
He quoted iconic historian Will Durant: “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”
“I believe the future of our republic will not be written by our enemies,” Pompeo opined. “Indeed, America is more likely to be lost if we do not retake our schools from radical and progressive forces. &#8230; Failing to teach math, science, real history and civics and, importantly, to imprint America as the most exceptional nation in civilizational history on the hearts and minds of the next generation dooms America and the world that counts on us.”
“Students in China now outscore our children across the board,” Pompeo noted. “America’s students are severely deficient in mathematics and science, vital in our technological age.”
He pointed out that according to the Program for International Student Assessment, among 70 countries “American students ranked 35th in mathematics, 16th in science and 11th in reading.”
“All of this on Weingarten’s watch,” Pompeo asserted. “And it’s now worse. That assessment was conducted before the school lockdowns Weingarten helped engineer.”
“This focus on indoctrination over education is why Weingarten and the leftist establishment she represents are so dangerous; their malfeasance directly empowers Xi, Putin, and Ali Khamenei, who look to our schools to accelerate the decline upon which they build their global narrative,” Pompeo theorized. “<a href="https://nypost.com/2020/05/08/how-the-1619-project-slandered-america/">Critical race theory and the 1619 Project</a> derive from Marxist precepts; they do not reflect the greatness and the power of the American experiment. Today, only 1 in 3 Americans could pass the citizenship test.”
“America’s founding was a watershed in world history. Our nation is exceptional,” Pompeo stated. “President Biden should demand a renaissance in America’s schools, but he is too indebted to Weingarten, her union and other special interests to do his job.”
“Who are the beneficiaries of Weingarten’s vision of education?” Pompeo asked rhetorically. “Union bosses. Bureaucrats who multiply beyond function — and our adversaries. What Xi, Putin and Khamenei could never accomplish on the battlefield they are reaping in our classrooms.”
“If Weingarten and her ilk continue to control our schools and universities, we will lose our country, for it will become indefensible. She dissembles, knowing that an echoic media will front for her,” Pompeo blasted.
He concluded, &#8220;I look forward to the opportunity to defend our republic against the America-hating left that has occupied the commanding heights of our schools as opposed to the parents who so desperately need teachers to stay on mission.&#8221;
&#8220;Therefore, will you, Randi Weingarten, accept my challenge to debate?&#8221;

Collage Maker-30-Nov-2022-11.55-AM

Pompeo Issues Fiery Challenge To Teachers Union Prez Weingarten: Debate Me

Education

Mike Pompeo

Politics

Randi Weingarten

U.S.

American Federation of Teachers president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> faced heavy scrutiny after publicizing her support for an article published Monday, which called on its readers to declare &#8220;amnesty&#8221; for spreading misinformation during the COVID pandemic.
Brown University economist Emily Oster penned the article for The Atlantic, dubbed &#8220;Let&#8217;s Declare A Pandemic Amnesty,&#8221; on Monday, urging everyone to &#8220;forgive one another&#8221; for their words and actions over the virus.
Weingarten, who used her influence to ensure schools kept their doors closed to children during the pandemic and forced mask mandates on children that led to disastrous consequences for students, retweeted the author sharing her latest article, saying, &#8220;I agree with @ProfEmilyOster on this.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I agree with <a href="https://twitter.com/ProfEmilyOster?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ProfEmilyOster</a> on this <a href="https://t.co/lXLjxRcj0E">https://t.co/lXLjxRcj0E</a>
&mdash; Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩‍🎓 (@rweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1587180773186015232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2022</a></blockquote>
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However, asking for a pardon has fallen on deaf ears for those who suffered the consequences of Weingarten&#8217;s previous words and actions — among many others who enacted destructive policies during the pandemic.
Aside from governments forcing businesses to shut down, teacher unions locking up their classrooms, and friends and families becoming divided over wearing masks or how easily the virus would spread — an entire generation of students has been left with academic deficiencies.
The Nation&#8217;s Report Card published the 2022 Mathematics and Reading Report Cards for Grades 4 and 8 last week, which showed average scores in both subjects and grades for most states — and students&#8217; confidence in their mathematics and reading skills — declined.
According to the <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, the average mathematics score for fourth graders fell five points since 2019, while the score for eighth graders dropped eight points.
In reading, average scores for both grades fell three points.
&#8220;The results show the profound toll on student learning during the pandemic, as the size and scope of the declines are the largest ever in mathematics,&#8221; Peggy G. Carr, commissioner of the U.S. Department of Education&#8217;s National Center for Education Statistics, said in a statement.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ted-cruz-puts-aft-president-randi-weingarten-blast-pandemic-amnesty-hell-no" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that the Department of Education published a report in September that showed school closures and online learning contributed to a dramatic decline in test scores.
&#8220;Average scores for age 9 students in 2022 declined 5 points in reading and 7 points in mathematics compared to 2020,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;This is the largest average score decline in reading since 1990, and the first ever score decline in mathematics.&#8221;
The union president tweeted on Friday that her camp is &#8220;now focused on the urgent need to help kids recover and thrive.&#8221;
&#8220;The bottom line is everyone suffered in the pandemic […] because of the pandemic,&#8221; Weingarten <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1586731593703559168" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The disruption was everywhere, and it was bad regardless of whether schools were remote or in person.&#8221;
Republican Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears slammed the union boss Tuesday on &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/winsome-sears-levels-randi-weingarten-calls-pandemic-amnesty-forget" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox &amp; Friends</a>,&#8221; saying she was one of the major proponents of closing schools that most Democrat governors followed her advice.
&#8220;Now they&#8217;re saying, oh, you know, just forget about it,&#8221; Sears said. &#8220;No, the problems are existing where our children did not learn.&#8221;
Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said, &#8220;Randi, of all people, doesn&#8217;t get anything resembling &#8216;amnesty.’”
&#8220;Just like the children she wanted to keep out of school don&#8217;t get amnesty from their learning loss,&#8221; Redfern said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Randi, of all people, doesn’t get anything resembling “amnesty.”
Just like the children she wanted to keep out of school don’t get amnesty from their learning loss. <a href="https://t.co/jq1HJ42e2Z">https://t.co/jq1HJ42e2Z</a>
&mdash; Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremyRedfernFL/status/1587196999148912642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Matt Whitlock, a Republican strategist, called Weingarten the &#8220;grim reaper of COVID school lockdowns,&#8221; adding she &#8220;won&#8217;t admit she did anything wrong.&#8221;
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I’m dying over this. 
The grim reaper of COVID school lockdowns won’t admit she did anything wrong. 
NEVERTHELESS she’d like a pandemic amnesty. <a href="https://t.co/x85BKBxD8a">https://t.co/x85BKBxD8a</a> <a href="https://t.co/GfMsyBIJVP">pic.twitter.com/GfMsyBIJVP</a>
&mdash; Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattdizwhitlock/status/1587211227310211075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2022</a></blockquote>
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PowerUp & Build Back Better With Care

Second Largest Teachers Union Boss Slammed After Agreeing With ‘Pandemic Amnesty’ Plea

Second Largest Teachers Union Boss Slammed After Agreeing With 'Pandemic Amnesty' Plea

COVID

School Lockdowns

Teachers Unions

Michigan Governor <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/gretchen-whitmer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gretchen Whitmer</a> (D) took some heat over the weekend for hosting a campaign event with America Federation of Teachers President <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> — and critics suggested that she was running on her record of lockdowns and school closures.
Weingarten, who defended the unions even as they kept kids out of school months longer than the science suggested was necessary, spoke on Whitmer&#8217;s behalf, arguing that the Michigan Governor — whose <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/i-need-to-survive-michigan-restaurant-bucks-whitmers-new-lockdown-opens-in-person-dining/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID lockdown policies</a> were among the most draconian in the nation — was a &#8220;problem solver&#8221; rather than a &#8220;problem maker.&#8221;
&#8220;These elections come down to whose side we&#8217;re on,&#8221; Weingarten said. &#8220;And I want you to think of problem solvers versus problem makers. Who&#8217;s tackling the issues that keep families up at night? Who&#8217;s investing in schools? Who&#8217;s protecting democracy?&#8221;
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rweingarten</a>: On the other side, who’s stirring up fear, banning books, rolling back rights, and gouging consumers at the pump while they make massive profits. Big Oil is giving to Republican lawmakers who allow them to keep price gouging. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFTvotes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AFTvotes</a>
&mdash; AFT (@AFTunion) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFTunion/status/1586401281811386368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;On the other, who&#8217;s stirring up fear, banning books, rolling back right, and gouging consumers at the pump while they make massive profits,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Big Oil is giving to Republican lawmakers who allow them to keep price gouging.&#8221;
Weingarten went on to declare Whitmer a &#8220;problem solver,&#8221; claiming that the only thing anyone knew about Republican challenger Tudor Dixon was that she was &#8220;besties&#8221; with former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rweingarten</a>: This race is too close. And this is where you all come in. I see the determination in this crowd to have the life you deserve, that our communities deserve. So Michigan, will you vote? Will you get out the vote? Yes we can. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFTvotes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AFTvotes</a> <a href="https://t.co/JDtFL4Qe9B">pic.twitter.com/JDtFL4Qe9B</a>
&mdash; AFT (@AFTunion) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFTunion/status/1586401300966785028?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This race is too close,&#8221; Weingarten concluded, calling on the crowd to get out and vote.
&#8220;Wow Michigan Dems brought out Randi Weingarten to open for Gretchen Whitmer,&#8221; Matt Whitlock responded. &#8220;They are actually running on their record of lockdowns and historic learning loss.&#8221;
&#8220;Imagine how gigantic the teachers union campaign contributions have to be for these Dems to share a stage with the grim reaper of school closures,&#8221; Whitlock continued. &#8220;An entire generation of kids is suffering through learning loss and mental health challenges in part due to @rweingarten.&#8221;
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Imagine how gigantic the teachers union campaign contributions have to be for these Dems to share a stage with the grim reaper of school closures. 
An entire generation of kids is suffering through learning loss and mental health challenges in part due to <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rweingarten</a>.
&mdash; Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattdizwhitlock/status/1586542704036552707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
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USA Today columnist Ingrid Jacques agreed, adding, &#8220;If this doesn’t make you want to vote for Tudor Dixon, I don’t know what would. This is the same teachers union president who advocated and lobbied for keeping schools closed far longer than they needed to be. Baffling that Gov. Whitmer thinks the AFT will help her, but $ talks.&#8221;
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If this doesn’t make you want to vote for Tudor Dixon, I don’t know what would. This is the same teachers union president who advocated and lobbied for keeping schools closed far longer than they needed to be. Baffling that Gov. Whitmer thinks the AFT will help her, but $ talks. <a href="https://t.co/xwHwAAKjxC">https://t.co/xwHwAAKjxC</a>
&mdash; Ingrid Jacques (@Ingrid_Jacques) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ingrid_Jacques/status/1586783974411669508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
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And Tommy Schultz noticed a possible correlation, <a href="https://twitter.com/Tommy_USA/status/1586706354592530432" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointing out</a>, &#8220;Randi also gave the closing argument for Terry McAuliffe in the final days of the campaign …&#8221;

Michigan Gov. Whitmer Announces Economic Development Projects In Grand Rapids

‘Running On Their Record Of Lockdowns’: Gretchen Whitmer Dragged For Campaign Event Ft. Randi Weingarten

Gretchen Whitmer Dragged For Campaign Event Ft. Randi Weingarten

2022 Election

Election

Gretchen Whitmer

For reasons unexplained, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Federation of Teachers union chief Randi Weingarten</a> announced Monday morning that she would be heading to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bazooka-joe-bidens-endless-military-supply-for-ukraine-is-a-sight-to-behold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ukrainian</a> border to &#8220;assess&#8221;  the damage after Russia bombarded the Eastern European nation.
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Woke up this am to reports of disgusting Russian missile strikes in Kyiv, Lviv &amp; other cities.Heading to the border now to assess the situation. This Russian attempt to frighten civilians &amp; the effect on children (who are learning online today) is why this 🇺🇦 trip is so important <a href="https://t.co/dUVOxsdwRQ">https://t.co/dUVOxsdwRQ</a>
&mdash; Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩‍🎓 (@rweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1579414707949096960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2022</a></blockquote>
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What does this union boss and Democratic crony have to do with Ukraine&#8217;s war effort? Well, it&#8217;s hard to say, but Weingarten claims she&#8217;s there to help the kids and their teachers.
Of course, after the learning loss created by government lockdowns in response to COVID, it is doubtful that most American schoolchildren could point out where Europe is on a map, let alone Ukraine.
That tragedy was inflicted thanks to folks like Weingarten, who practically kept teachers and kids out of the classroom as long as possible. In turn, literacy rates have <a href="https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2022/09/14/parents_can_leave_the_failing_public_school_system_110765.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plummeted</a>, math skills dropped, and depression has risen among students. American families are now dealing with the consequences, and an entire generation&#8217;s academic progress has been stunted.
Since the pandemic, public education has only worsened. Daniel McGrath, the acting associate commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, <a href="https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2022/09/14/parents_can_leave_the_failing_public_school_system_110765.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently stated</a> that America&#8217;s school children have experienced  &#8220;some of the largest declines we have observed in a single assessment cycle in 50 years&#8230;&#8221;
Regardless, Weingarten says she was invited to Ukraine as &#8220;part of the global labor movement’s commitment to assist the region’s educators in standing up for freedom and democracy while keeping refugee kids learning in perilous times.&#8221;
“As Putin tries to take a blowtorch to democracy, we stand in solidarity with the educators, students and families in Ukraine,” Weingarten said in a press release. “They are fighting against Russian aggression to uphold their democracy, their freedom, and their self-determination—and after nearly eight months of conflict their righteous resistance grows stronger each day.”
Weingarten added that the war on Ukrainian families with school-aged children has &#8220;been brutal&#8221; while praising &#8220;Ukrainian teachers’ persistence, compassion, and bravery in helping students continue their learning in an active war zone should be lifted up and championed.&#8221;
Those Ukrainian teachers should take the compliment with a grain of salt.
Weingarten also championed American school teachers during the pandemic, praising them for supposed bravery. Of course, thanks to remote learning, such teachers could go practically wherever they wanted. In fact, a Chicago Teacher&#8217;s Union board member was busted after taking a posh vacation to the Caribbean while Chicago schools stayed closed.
Perhaps Weingarten will advise Ukrainian teachers to push for virtual schools. After all, if COVID was too dangerous for American teachers to travel in person, certainly a warzone is too dangerous for Ukrainian teachers.
Maybe Weingarten will trash school choice in Ukraine as she does here at home. Maybe she will try to unionize Kyiv teachers. Come to think of it, are school teachers forced to pay union fees funding Weingarten&#8217;s trip overseas? Maybe she&#8217;ll bring back an &#8220;I Heart Zelensky&#8221; tee shirt for one lucky union member.&#8221;
Actually, perhaps it is best she just stays in Ukraine. She can do less damage to the American public education system from there.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-prez-tries-to-school-desantis-but-shes-the-one-who-needs-a-history-lesson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: Teachers Union Prez Tries To ‘School’ DeSantis — But She’s The One Who Needs A History Lesson</a>
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Key Speakers At American Federation Of Government Employees Legislative Conference

Just What We Need, Live Military Updates From Teachers Union Prez Randi Weingarten In Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

American Federation of Teachers union President <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> attempted to educate Florida Governor <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/ron-desantis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron DeSantis</a> (R) — but as it turned out, she was the one who was in need of a history lesson.
The online scuffle began with a comment from <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/media-democrats-race-to-make-hurricane-ian-all-about-desantis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DeSantis</a> about the founding of the United States and the fact that the prescription for the end of slavery was effectively written into the Constitution.
Referencing &#8220;The 1619 Project,&#8221; DeSantis said, &#8220;They want to teach our kids that the American Revolution was fought to protect slavery, and that&#8217;s false. We know why the American Revolution was fought. They wrote pamphlets, we saw them dump tea into the Boston Harbor. We saw them meet in Philadelphia, and we have the records of why they revolted against King George III.&#8221;
DeSantis went on to say that the American Revolution had caused people to &#8220;question&#8221; slavery as an institution, noting that never before had a nation written into its founding documents the concept that all men had been &#8220;created equal&#8221; in the eyes of both their Creator and the laws of men.
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Emperor Desantis gives his absurdly false version of how he expects history to be taught: “It was the American Revolution that caused people to question slavery. No one had questioned it before we decided as Americans that we are endowed by our creator with unalienable rights.” <a href="https://t.co/Nw8SMmGCUw">pic.twitter.com/Nw8SMmGCUw</a>
&mdash; Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1573088502409043970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Weingarten chimed in then, arguing that the 3/5 compromise — which limited the political power of slave states and was written with an eye toward encouraging slave states to end the practice entirely — was actually written to enshrine the practice into law.
&#8220;The American Revolution was about leaving Britain. If America’s founders questioned slavery there would not have been the heinous &#8216;3/5 compromise&#8217; in the US Constitution, which was drafted and enacted AFTER the American Revolution. This is basic history …,&#8221; Weingarten claimed.
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The American Revolution was about leaving Britain. If America’s founders questioned slavery there would not have been the heinous “3/5 compromise “ in the US Constitution, which was drafted and enacted AFTER the American Revolution. This is basic history… <a href="https://t.co/QkwBFF7CkX">https://t.co/QkwBFF7CkX</a>
&mdash; Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩‍🎓 (@rweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1574937266375385089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Critics swiftly descended on Weingarten, however, delivering a remedial course in American history via quote-tweet after the union president limited replies to her initial tweet.
&#8220;Rx This historical illiterate, @rweingarten, has no idea what she is talking about. The 3/5ths compromise happened because slavery was actively being questioned. The solution to slavery was baked into the constitution,&#8221; one user <a href="https://twitter.com/Gormogons/status/1575160196506144770" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> in response.
&#8220;Just to be clear, this woman who has a massive influence on American education doesn&#8217;t know &#8216;basic history&#8217; well enough to know the 3/5ths compromise was proposed by northern delegates to keep southern states from bolstering the institution of slavery,&#8221; Mark Hemingway <a href="https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1575133128083005441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
&#8220;This lady is a moron,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/roddreher/status/1575130950362697733" target="_blank" rel="noopener">came from</a> Rod Dreher. &#8220;The reason for the compromise is that Northerners were opposed to slavery. Better hope she is not teaching your kids history.&#8221;
&#8220;If America&#8217;s leaders didn&#8217;t question the idea of slavery [w]ouldn&#8217;t it have just been a 5/5 agreement? This moron runs the teacher&#8217;s union,&#8221; Jim Hanson <a href="https://twitter.com/JimHansonDC/status/1575098335270416384" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wondered</a>.
&#8220;This is just beautiful. The head of one of the largest teachers unions in the country openly demonstrates that she has absolutely no grasp of basic American history — or she is purposefully lying,&#8221; Leonydus Johnson <a href="https://twitter.com/LeonydusJohnson/status/1575089146171129856" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. &#8220;Either way, it is a perfect representation of the abysmal state of govt education.&#8221;
Michele Tafoya quoted freed-slave Frederick Douglass, who said of the Constitution, &#8220;Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.&#8221;
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rweingarten</a> “Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.” Frederick Douglass <a href="https://t.co/nhdxaarrRU">https://t.co/nhdxaarrRU</a>
&mdash; Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) <a href="https://twitter.com/Michele_Tafoya/status/1575121741990461441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Holds News Conference With Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo

Teachers Union Prez Tries To ‘School’ DeSantis — But She’s The One Who Needs A History Lesson

Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten Tries To 'School' DeSantis And Fails

Constitution

History

Ron DeSantis

As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teacher</a> shortages loom ahead of the new school year, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/teachers-unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union</a> leaders are calling for more financial resources.
In a recent interview with <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-300000-teacher-school-staff-vacancies-nea-president/story?id=88242614">ABC News</a>, National Education Association President Rebecca Pringle estimated that the United States lacks 300,000 teachers and support staff — the fruition of a “crisis in the number of students who are going into the teaching profession and the number of teachers who are leaving it.” Likewise, 55% of teachers reportedly consider exiting the profession earlier than they had expected.
The shortage comes as COVID and the lockdown-induced recession prompted millions of Americans to retire or otherwise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-continue-to-opt-out-of-the-workforce">exempt themselves</a> from the job market. The labor force participation rate has dropped from 66% in 2008 to 62% in 2022, falling 3% between February 2020 and April 2020 alone, according to data from the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>.
In response to the shortage, Pringle recommended that citizens ask that “all of our schools are funded, so all of our students have what they need and they deserve.” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, meanwhile, pointed to “inadequate support and resources” and “subpar compensation” in a July <a href="https://www.aft.org/press-release/aft-unveils-report-teacher-and-school-staff-shortages">press release</a> discussing the teacher shortage.
Despite claims of poor funding, there is by no means a lack of taxpayer dollars flowing toward government schools. A <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_236.55.asp?current=yes">report</a> from the National Center for Education Statistics indicated that the inflation-adjusted yearly expenditure per American pupil rose from $4,060 to $15,424 between 1960 and 2017 — a 280% increase. Another <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED543118.pdf">study</a> from the Department of Education revealed that schools increased the number of non-teaching staff by 702% between 1950 to 2009 and hired 252% more teachers over the same period.
The state of Virginia, for example, “would have had an extra $29,007 to spend per teacher if it had limited the growth of administrators and other non-teaching staff” from 1992 to 2009, according to the study.
As Robert Bortins — the CEO of Christian homeschool curriculum provider Classical Conversations — explained to The Daily Wire, the bloated funding occurs even as the United States remains in a mediocre position on many international education metrics.
“If the New York Yankees, who routinely have the highest payroll in the MLB, missed the playoffs almost 100% of the time, the front office would be fired, not given more money,” Bortins noted. “Giving our current government education system — a group of individuals who can&#8217;t even properly identify man versus woman — more money is not the solution to providing our children a better education.”
Indeed, unions themselves likely play a role in the educator shortage, according to Bortins. “Teacher unions have helped create this broken system through decades of legislative reform that are designed to give themselves power, rather than empowering families to give their children a great education,” he continued. “Teacher unions support legislation that puts unneeded and unnecessary licensing burdens on new teachers, keeping qualified individuals out of the profession due to being improperly credentialed.”
Jeremy Tate — the founder of the Classic Learning Test, a standardized exam geared toward students with Christian and classical educations — told The Daily Wire that “the motivating force” behind teachers unions is “not serving students, but protecting teachers.”
“Nothing discourages young people from entering the teaching profession more than teachers unions and the policies they push. Teaching is inherently a heroic calling, but the unions put an ugly stain on the beauty and dignity of this great profession,” he said. “Pouring your life into the next generation is a high and beautiful calling for young people and they get excited about it. But having to join the ranks of an organization that clearly doesn’t want the best for students kills this excitement.&#8221;

Unions Complain Of Dire Teacher Shortages Ahead Of New School Year, Push For More Funding

labor shortage

National Education Association

Unions

The Daily Wire&#8217;s Michael Knowles told Megyn Kelly the real &#8220;reason&#8221; Democrats &#8220;need&#8221; the disinformation board – and it has everything to do with erasing the actions of the Left over the past two years.
During the Sirius XM &#8220;The Megyn Kelly Show&#8221; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTFpnWJsuPY">podcast</a> on Thursday, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/okay-groomer-megyn-kelly-slams-transgender-push-on-her-third-grader-says-its-like-they-are-trying-recruit">Kelly</a> was talking to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-chicken-in-every-pot-and-a-crack-pipe-in-every-mouth">Knowles</a> about how President Joe Biden promised to be &#8220;President Unity&#8221; before explaining that he and other Democrats have been &#8220;lying&#8221; about their positions on numerous issues. She provided examples like Democrats pretending they weren&#8217;t for &#8220;Defund The Police&#8221; and school closures over the past two years now that they&#8217;ve become political liabilities.
&#8220;You think about crime, right?&#8221; the host explained. &#8220;Republicans were against Defund the Police, well Democrats came around to that. Now, they are denying they were ever on a different page. Immigration, Republicans have been jumping up and down about the border. Well, Joe Biden must&#8217;ve taken a look at the polls and now he&#8217;s like &#8216;Oh, yes, we care. We have to secure the border.'&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how anyone can say with a straight face that it is the Right that has moved Right,&#8221; Knowles replied. &#8220;If anything the Right has moved left on certain issues, a little too far left. But to your point Megyn, the Democrats used to agree with us on all of these issues. They went extreme and now they&#8217;re starting to come back around to us because it&#8217;s killing them in the polls.&#8221;
Kelly then brought up Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and a member of the AFL–CIO, and claimed that she the one responsible for revising the CDC rules to keep kids out of school.
&#8220;[Biden&#8217;s] not the only one lying,&#8221; the host shared. &#8220;I&#8217;m thinking the two topics we just hit, so Defund the Police. The Democrats want us to think they were never for that. Of course they were, that&#8217;s why we had a Defund the Police movement to begin with. They were the ones pushing it.&#8221;
&#8220;Same thing on COVID, once the Democrats saw what happened in Virginia&#8230;New Jersey&#8230;they started to say &#8216;we&#8217;re sick of the masks,'&#8221; Kelly added. &#8220;&#8216;Take these off. It&#8217;s nonsense. COVID is over.&#8217; And now perhaps the biggest whopper of them all Randi Weingarten. Of all people, who runs the second largest teacher union in the country, had the nerve to come out this week and talk about her lamentation over the stress of Americas children at having been out of school.&#8221;
&#8220;The nerve of this woman to try to get us to see her as someone who&#8217;s empathetic toward the pain the children feel and not being in school because of her,&#8221; Kelly exclaimed. &#8220;Because of her she&#8217;s the one who made it happen. She&#8217;s the one that revised CDC guidelines to make sure they could keep our kids out.&#8221;
The host then played a clip of Weingarten this week talking about &#8220;kids being in crisis&#8221; as Kelly reminded everyone this is the &#8220;same woman&#8221; who said &#8220;kids are resilient&#8221; when asked about whether children will ever be able to recover from the loss of two years of in-person instruction.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Rise of Threats Against the Supreme Court Justices, with Sen. Ted Cruz, Michael Knowles And More" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RTFpnWJsuPY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Knowles said Weingarten talks about a &#8220;mental crisis&#8221; kids are having and joked that he&#8217;s &#8220;having a mental crisis&#8221; trying to contain himself &#8220;while this woman is gaslighting me,&#8221; cause she is the one who created the crisis.
&#8220;This is why they need the disinformation boards, both the formal one in the government and the informal ones in big tech and at the so-called fact checking websites,&#8221; The Daily Wire host said. &#8220;Because what they are saying is not true. It&#8217;s easily discoverable as not true.&#8221;
&#8220;And so, they need to have a power structure that prevents you from saying that and punishes you,&#8221; he added. &#8220;If the Democrats weren&#8217;t lying with the sort of blatant gaslighting that you see from Randi Weingarten here they wouldn&#8217;t have to do this kind of thing. But because it&#8217;s so obvious they got to come in and censor us.&#8221;

Michael Knowles_Megyn Kelly

Michael Knowles Tells Megyn Kelly The Real ‘Reason’ Democrats ‘Need The Disinformation Boards’

Michael Knowles Tells Megyn Kelly Real 'Reason' Democrats 'Need' Disinformation Board

Children

Defund The Police

Megyn Kelly

Michael Knowles

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers union, spoke about conservative movements to put parents back in control of classroom dialogue in a recent interview. 
Appearing on The Rick Smith <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdbdeRk4B6o&amp;ab_channel=TheRickSmithShow">Show</a>, Weingarten blasted those who are pushing for changes to classroom structure, especially after the pandemic. Weingarten and Smith discussed recent changes in education, such as removing certain books.
Weingarten said, “Instead of everybody joining together in America to get us out of the effects of the pandemic … these right-wing ideologues are just trying to create fear and anxiety and anger exploiting the fear that parents already have in order to win elections and end public education as we know it.”
“It’s unconscionable,” she added. 
The host, Rick Smith, noted that he has children and “know[s] the teachers,” going on to claim that “none of the stuff that they’re telling us happened. The stuff on CRT [Critical Race Theory] wasn’t going on, the indoctrination that they’re telling us is rampant … there’s this bogeyman that they’ve created that nobody is experiencing.”
There have been several efforts by legislators and parents to impact education. As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-signs-parental-notification-bill-shrugs-off-dont-say-gay-uproar">reported</a>, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill in March, which banned classroom talk about gender identity and sexual orientation for small children.
Weingarten also appeared to reference <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aclu-sues-abbott-over-directive-to-investigate-transgender-procedures-as-child-abuse">attempts</a> in Texas to investigate sex reassignment procedures in children, saying, &#8220;Imagine if you had a trans kid right now and you were in Texas, and you were trying to protect your kid and the Lieutenant Governor was &#8230; trying to bring you up on charges because you were protecting your kid. How is that parental rights?&#8221;
Weingarten went on, &#8220;Imagine if you&#8217;re a Jewish parent, you know, son or daughter of a Holocaust survivor,&#8221; and the district stops teaching Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust that was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/27/us/maus-banned-holocaust-tennessee.html">declared</a> inappropriate by a school board in Tennessee earlier this year.
Weingarten suggested that it would be better for children to learn about genocide in a classroom setting rather than seeing genocide occurring in Ukraine on television.
Smith brought up how he has had some people tell him they don&#8217;t believe the atrocities in Ukraine are real, and Weingarten responded, “It’s this notion – we&#8217;ve been very lucky in America, and we in some ways live in a bubble for a long time. This is propaganda. This is misinformation. This is the way in which wars start. This is the way in which hatred starts.”
“This is why they go after educators,” she added. “What we are trying to do is make sure that, you know, we educate kids, we keep them safe, we keep them welcome, and we help them learn how to think — not what to think, but how to think — and have the tools so they can discern between fact and fiction.”
Weingarten claimed that approach scares “extremists who don’t want kids to know how to think, they don’t want kids to empathize with the other, with people who may be different, but that is how America gets better.”
“We are in an existential threat race against not only the effects of the pandemic but also these right-wing extremists who are trying to exploit people’s agitation for their own political purposes,” she said.
“That’s why they’re book-banning. That’s why they’re going after the teaching of racism, sexism, the Holocaust. That’s why they are trying to silence and put back into the closet people who may be gay or trans,” she added. 
Earlier this week, Weingarten <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/randi-weingarten-parental-rights-bills-the-way-in-which-wars-start">said</a> in a statement to Fox News, &#8220;Educators welcome parent involvement in schools because our kids do best when teachers, parents and caregivers work together.”
“We have a lot to do to help kids recover and thrive this year after two years of an unprecedented pandemic. So rather than help us help our kids socially, academically and emotionally, these vocal minorities want to marginalize LGBTQ kids, censor teachers and ban books,” she added. 
Weingarten&#8217;s pushback to the Florida bill don&#8217;t appear to align with the views of many Americans.
A recent Golden/TIPP poll was completed on April 8, and discovered that 57% of Americans agreed with the Florida bill, with only 31% saying they disagreed, per The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-poll-finds-most-americans-oppose-teaching-k-3-children-about-sexual-orientation-transgender-issues">reporting</a>.

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

Teachers Union President Slams Changes In Education Laws

Far beyond its recent renaissance, homeschooling has a long history in the United States. Countless <a href="https://www.aop.com/blog/100-famous-homeschoolers">luminaries</a> — from George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to Mark Twain and the Wright brothers — gleaned the skills necessary to further the American experiment from their home education.
Thanks to the revelation of leftist agendas in many curricula and government schools closing their doors over COVID-19, parents are now homeschooling their children at record levels. 
One <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-private-and-charter-schools-grew-1-4-million-children-left-traditional-public-schools-during-covid">report</a> found that from March 2020 to September 2020 alone, homeschooling rates across the country grew between 5.4% and 11%. By the summer of 2021, 5 million American children were <a href="https://www.axios.com/homeschooling-pandemic-critical-mass-013e4f01-c962-4e38-8cb7-8079bb597540.html">receiving</a> their education at home — a figure that is sure to increase, especially in light of progressive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-appears-to-show-lgbtq-activist-suggesting-to-some-disney-employees-that-desantis-gop-want-to-take-your-kids">hysteria</a> over the most basic protections of parents’ rights to chart their children’s education.
Indeed, many leftists do not believe in such rights in the first place — and some are even expressing their willingness to ban home education altogether.
As schools across America closed their doors in the spring of 2020, Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Bartholet <a href="https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2020/05/right-now-risks-homeschooling">lamented</a> that the United States has an “essentially unregulated regime in the area of homeschooling” and “very few requirements that parents do anything.” She alleged that homeschooling violates children’s rights to “meaningful education” and protection from abuse.
In an earlier <a href="https://arizonalawreview.org/pdf/62-1/62arizlrev1.pdf">paper</a> for the Arizona Law Review, Bartholet — who leads the prestigious law school’s Child Advocacy Program — pointed out that the vast majority of homeschooling parents are “descendants of the original conservative Christian wing” that “rejected many of the views and values reflected in public education and the larger society as inconsistent with religious beliefs.”
“Homeschooling activists have in recent decades largely succeeded in their deregulation campaign, overwhelming legislators with aggressive advocacy,” she wrote. “As a result, parents can now keep their children at home in the name of homeschooling free from any real scrutiny as to whether or how they are educating their children.”
“Many homeschool because they want to isolate their children from ideas and values central to our democracy,” she alleged, “determined to keep their children from exposure to views that might enable autonomous choice about their future lives. Many promote racial segregation and female subservience. Many question science.”
Do Bartholet’s worries have any bearing in reality? Most certainly not. 
According to the National Home Education Research Institute, 78% of peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement <a href="https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/">find</a> that “homeschool students perform statistically significantly better than those in institutional schools.” This is the case regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or income. Plus, parents usually spend $600 per year on educating each homeschooled child — a mere 4% of the $15,240 taxpayers spend for each pupil in government schools.
What is Bartholet’s proposed solution to perceived lapses in the quality of homeschooling? “A radical transformation in the homeschooling regime and a related rethinking of child rights” — even a “presumptive ban on homeschooling” and placing “the burden on parents to demonstrate justification for permission to homeschool.”
In other words, with no grounding beyond her statist predilections, Bartholet believes that parents need to explain why their children belong to them, and not to the government.
Another outspoken voice against homeschooling is teachers unions — ironically, the same force that kept government schools closed and pushed millions of parents into exploring new educational options in the first place.
The National Education Association — a union that <a href="https://www.nea.org/about-nea">describes</a> itself as &#8220;the nation&#8217;s largest professional organization&#8221; — <a href="https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/NEA%20Resolutions_2020-2021.pdf">believes</a> that “homebound students, those educated in the home because of individualized student needs determined by established local school procedures, must receive instruction that follows the regular curriculum.” Furthermore, this instruction “must be implemented, documented, monitored, and assessed by a licensed teacher.”
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, has likewise expressed disdain toward home education. In response to a Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/10/racism-in-schools-is-pushing-more-black-families-to-homeschool-their-children/">article</a> ascribing the rise in homeschooling among black families to racism, Weingarten said that such a decision is “not okay” — because “no child should choose homeschooling because of how they are treated at school.”
In comments made to The Daily Wire, American Federation for Children national director of research Corey DeAngelis affirmed that teachers unions are existentially threatened by “the fact that they protect an unsustainable monopolistic system at the expense of students.”
“The jig is up. Teachers unions overplayed their hand over the past two years and awakened a sleeping giant: parents who want more of a say in their children&#8217;s education,” he explained. “Parents are the new special interest group in town — and they aren&#8217;t going away any time soon. Parents felt powerless in 2020, and they&#8217;re going to fight to make sure they never feel powerless like that ever again. Politicians would be wise to listen to parents going forward.”
Likewise, Jeremy Wayne Tate — the founder of the Classic Learning Test, a standardized exam geared toward students with Christian and classical educations — told The Daily Wire that “whenever a conventional system is disrupted by innovation, the threatened stakeholders always do whatever they can to protect their own skin.” He observed that “the success parents are having with homeschooling their children exposes the failures of the education system.”
Nevertheless, teachers unions are hesitant to launch aggressive campaigns against home education.
As Competitive Enterprise Institute research fellow Sean Higgins <a href="https://cei.org/blog/homeschooling-growth-worries-teachers-unions/">noted</a> in 2020, “teachers unions have never liked homeschooling, but until this year it has been a small enough niche interest that they could focus on other issues.” Attacking home education now “risks offending parents who may prefer traditional schools but nevertheless think such decisions should be theirs, not the union’s.”
Likewise, attacking home education would only “raise its profile” — therefore requiring teachers unions to “portray homeschooling as generally inferior” in subtle manners. One CNN opinion <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/opinions/covid-19-how-to-school-kids-biden-garcia-weingarten/index.html">piece</a> authored by Weingarten, National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García, and soon-to-be First Lady Jill Biden in the spring of 2020 exhorted parents to remember that “a strong partnership between teachers, parents, and students is always the best way for children to learn.”
DeAngelis told The Daily Wire that renewed attacks from teachers unions against home education may or may not occur.
“Teachers unions might come after parental rights in response to growing popularity in homeschooling. However, this would not be a major change, as teachers unions already constantly attack parental rights in education by fighting tooth-and-nail against any policies that threaten their monopoly,” he said. “This opposition is especially true when it comes to allowing families to take their children&#8217;s education dollars to the education providers of their choosing. The unions fight as hard as possible to trap low-income kids in failing government schools for 13 years without exit options.”
“At the same time, growing popularity of homeschooling will make the concept more mainstream, potentially decreasing the chances broader society will seek to regulate or otherwise attack homeschooling,” DeAngelis concurred. “Increases in homeschooling enrollment will help homeschool families build a bigger coalition to defend against any future attacks.&#8221;
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Homeschooling

Is The Right To Homeschooling Under Attack?

Readers Pass

Quoting an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/28/virginias-new-lost-cause/">opinion piece</a> in The Washington Post by a former Virginia Secretary of Education, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teachers&#8217; union in America, tweeted, “Racists &#8230; are showing up in droves to school board meetings, threatening members and superintendents with recalls, firing — and worse. It is dangerous. It is divisive. It is un-American. As Virginians, let us remember our history and not repeat the errors of our past.”
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Randi Weingarten deleted this tweet <a href="https://t.co/uiurFjYy0K">pic.twitter.com/uiurFjYy0K</a>
&mdash; Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1487488996611657728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Interestingly, the actual quote from the opinion piece by Atif Qarni does not state at the beginning “Racists” but “Racist parents.”
Weingarten later deleted the tweet.
In the opinion piece, Qami ripped Virginia GOP governor Glenn Youngkin, writing that he had “openly declared war on Virginia’s public education system.” He continued, “&#8230; with CRT, Youngkin has manufactured a crisis in K-12 education that does not exist. In this fictitious narrative, he is the hero, teachers and school boards are the villains, White children are the victims, and racist parents are his foot soldiers. Youngkin established a tip line to report public school educators teaching ‘divisive concepts.’ This is the new Red Scare.”
Qami concluded, “I am most concerned that Youngkin’s administration is stoking the fires of racial discontent, eerily reminiscent of the 1950s, and waging war on sacred ground, the public school classroom. Racist parents are showing up in droves to school board meetings, threatening members and superintendents with recalls, firing — and worse. It is dangerous. It is divisive. It is un-American. As Virginians, let us remember our history and not repeat the errors of our past.”
The night before last November’s Virginia election in which Youngkin defeated Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe, Weingarten appeared with McAuliffe at a rally.
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.<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> is speaking at McAuliffe’s rally now <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vagov?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vagov</a> <a href="https://t.co/Kj2C55Iw5X">pic.twitter.com/Kj2C55Iw5X</a>
&mdash; Julia Manchester (@JuliaManch) <a href="https://twitter.com/JuliaManch/status/1455315323549257732?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2021</a></blockquote>
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In May 2021, Fox News’ Martha MacCallum <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/must-watch-foxs-maccallum-blisters-national-teachers-union-president-on-alleged-influence-on-biden-critical-race-theory-1619-project/">asked</a> Weingarten, “You have said that we quoted you on the way to the break that you know that there&#8217;s that this is a factual finding the 1619 report that was put together in The New York Times that now has been converted to learning materials that are in classrooms, and are parts of curriculums. Do you believe that 1619 is a factual program?”
Weingarten answered, “So, Martha, I believe that I&#8217;m a history teacher, and I&#8217;m a social studies teacher. And I believe we should teach history. And from everything I can see and understand from the data I see 1619 was the year that the first slave boat came from Africa to the United States. So that&#8217;s a point in history that I think we should be teaching.”
MacCallum later asked, “So I am asking you, as you say you’re a social studies teacher, do you favor teaching students that 1619 is more important than 1776? Do you favor that?”
Weingarten replied, “I favor us teaching about 1776, which I have often done, I favor us teaching about 1619. &#8230;”
In February 2021, in an <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/national-teachers-union-president-dismisses-effects-of-school-lockdowns/">interview</a> with Axios, Weingarten said in reference to children who have been out of school for months, “kids are resilient and kids will recover.”
Axios’ Dan Primack asked, “Is there a point — and maybe you think we’re already past it — is there a point in which kids have been out of in-person school for so long that the education that they’ve lost isn’t really recoverable, that the third grade, the fourth grade, the kindergarten they lost, they can take extra semesters in the summer; they can do [that], but it can’t really be fixed?”
“No,” said Weingarten, whose union is the second largest teacher&#8217;s union in America, representing 1.7 million teachers. “I don&#8217;t believe that. I believe that kids are resilient and kids will recover. But we as adults have to meet their needs. Their emotional needs, their social needs, their learning needs.”
“And that’s who America’s educators are,” she said. “That’s who America’s bus drivers are. That’s who America’s paraprofessionals are. That’s who America’s food service workers are. And we are pained about what has happened in this pandemic. The crises that have enveloped our kids, our communities, ourselves.”
“But at the end of the day, we have to believe that this is recoverable,” she added. “And we have to believe that virtually all our kids will thrive with the opportunities that we’ve put before them.”

‘Racists … Are Showing Up In Droves To School Board Meetings’: Teachers Union Prez Weingarten Quotes WaPo Opinion Piece

Parenting

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said on Wednesday that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) should be &#8220;moving heaven and Earth&#8221; to make Chicago schools safer for educators amidst the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Weingarten&#8217;s statements come after the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted Tuesday evening to conduct only remote learning as COVID-19 cases rise in the city. That vote prompted Lightfoot to cancel classes completely on Wednesday, insisting that teachers get back to the classroom by Thursday morning.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/class-canceled-chicago-teachers-union-votes-in-favor-of-remote-learning-at-odds-with-city-demanding-educators-appear-in-person">reported</a>, signs indicate that a teachers strike could be coming, as it’s unlikely a mutual decision between the city and the union will be reached by Thursday morning.
One of the chief complaints is that public schools are not safe enough for teachers even though the vast majority — more than 86% of Chicago teachers union and staff are vaccinated.
Still, CTU voted overwhelmingly to move classes to remote learning and keep children home while Lightfoot and other Chicago health officials desperately tried laying out why it is not only safe, but necessary for teachers to be back in school.
Regardless, on Wednesday morning, Weingarten tweeted that &#8220;Let’s be clear here regarding Chicago schools- No one wants schools closed.&#8221;
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Let’s be clear here regarding Chicago schools- No one wants schools closed. Educators want to be in the classroom with students, where they learn best. We do that through working together to roll out testing, masking, and vaccination—and most major districts have done it.
&mdash; Randi Weingarten ☮️🇺🇦 (@rweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1478742235298549763?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Educators want to be in the classroom with students, where they learn best,&#8221; Weingarten claimed. &#8220;We do that through working together to roll out testing, masking, and vaccination—and most major districts have done it.&#8221;
&#8220;NYC and LA have instituted rigorous testing programs to catch asymptomatic COVID spread in its tracks &amp; keep educators, students, and their communities safe,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Mayor Lightfoot should be moving heaven and earth to get it right in Chicago.&#8221;
&#8220;Until this surge, virtually all public schools were open for in person learning,&#8221; Weingarten continued. &#8220;We got it right for most of this current school year; now the adults have to work together and double down to get it right as we confront this surge. Omicron’s the enemy not each other.&#8221;
&#8220;Our kids, our families, our communities and our educators, who have been herculean deserve no less,&#8221; she concluded.
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Our kids, our families, our communities and our educators, who have been herculean deserve no less
&mdash; Randi Weingarten ☮️🇺🇦 (@rweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten/status/1478742241925648386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Weingarten&#8217;s tweets indicate that the CTU, which is affiliated with the AFT, won&#8217;t be backing down anytime soon. But, it also reveals that Weingarten could be engaging in some revisionist history regarding the role that public teachers unions and their members played during this pandemic, as 73% of CTU&#8217;s 25,000-plus members voted to reject in-person learning on Tuesday.
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As for Chicago teachers&#8217; efforts, readers should remember that last year at this time, an educator who is on the executive board of the Chicago Teachers Union urged special education teachers to refuse to return to work because it would be unsafe. But, then just hours after stating that, she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teacher-on-exec-board-of-chicago-teachers-union-tells-teachers-to-stay-home">was busted for vacationing</a> after posting a photo on Instagram of a pool in Puerto Rico captioned, “Spending the last day of 2020 by the poolside.” She was criticized for saying its too dangerous to work in person,  but not too dangerous to travel thousands of miles away.
And as Weingarten was attacking a typical ally of the teachers union in Lightfoot, several Leftists on Twitter were <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidNorthWSWS/status/1478783818190540806">slamming</a> Weingarten for her claim that teachers wanted to be in school.
In all, the left is now eating their own as the Democratic Party tries to shift gears during an election year to have a sense of normalcy before midterms. If these intra-Leftist fights continue while children suffer, it can only help Republicans who promise to fight teachers unions, bring about school choice, and end COVID-19 mandates.
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The Left Eat Their Own: Randi Weingarten Slams Chicago’s Lori Lightfoot Over Teachers Union Battle, Praises ‘Herculean’ Educators

Chicago Teachers union

Lori Lightfoot

Omicron Variant

Speaking in Zephyrhills on Monday, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis took aim at both Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers labor union in America, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci. He pointed out that Weingarten, who had favored keeping schools closed through much of the pandemic, had been found maskless recently, but protested she did so because it was too hard to communicate while wearing a mask. DeSantis fired, “Well, how do you think these schoolchildren have felt for the last year?”
Regarding Fauci, DeSantis asserted, “I do think just the lack of just leveling with the public, I think it’s been very detrimental … I think you’re gonna see people have really, really serious misgivings the next time St. Fauci comes down the pike and says something.”
Speaking of mask mandates for schoolchildren, DeSantis said, “I think the smiles matter, and particularly the young kids. You will actually have school districts that will say, ‘We are relieving mask mandate for high schoolers but we’re keeping them on those elementary.” First of all, I don’t think you should have a mask mandate, period, but the elementary are the ones that need to be able to see the interaction more than anything, cause they’re learning to speak and read and do all that stuff.”
“And it’s absolutely critical. And don’t tell me it doesn’t make a difference,” he continued. DeSantis referenced Weingarten, who had <a href="https://longislandreport.org/news/aft-president-randi-weingarten-apologizes-for-going-maskless-at-somos-retreat-in-puerto-rico/">said</a>, “We took them off as people were having a hard time hearing us,” snapping, “Heck, this head of the teachers union who tried to keep the schools closed all last year; she was found maskless, and she said, I took it off because it was too hard to understand each other wearing the mask.”
He fired, “Well, how do you think these schoolchildren have felt for the last year?”
DeSantis continued later, “I think you need to have an honest conversation about it and make sure that people are able to make informed decisions. But it is absolutely rational to look at your personal circumstances and I think most people who oppose the mandates, I’ve not heard anyone say that COVID isn’t real; they understand it’s real but they also understand that different people are at different risks depending on their age, their health, a whole host of different things, and prior infection. So making those decisions, that’s absolutely common sense. We’re protecting people’s ability to make those decisions.”
“And unfortunately, you have a lot of stuff that’s happened with the CDC,” he charged. “With the booster for the general public, the FDA recommended against it; their two leading people in the FDA resigned in protest because they said this was being politicized. Can you imagine if that happened under Trump? Corporate press would have a meltdown; this would be like 24/7, CNN, MSNBC; it would be non-stop. That happened under Biden and then CDC overruled FDA on that, and I think that was more political.”
“So the idea that people shouldn’t look at that and factor that into what they may be doing?  Of course (that’s what) they should be doing. But I do think just the lack of just leveling with the public, I think it’s been very detrimental, and look, this COVID vaccine is one thing, there’s a whole host of other things regarding people’s health, and I think you’re gonna see people have really, really serious misgivings the next time St. Fauci comes down the pike and says something or any of these other people because I don’t think most Americans believe they’ve been entirely truthful throughout the course of this pandemic,” he concluded.
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Governor DeSantis Holds Press Briefing

WATCH: DeSantis Rips Teachers Union Prez Weingarten Going Maskless, Slams ‘St. Fauci’

Anthony Fauci

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