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.”
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🚨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

American Federation of Teachers

Education

Politics

Randi Weingarten

America&#8217;s largest teachers union &#8220;coached&#8221; teachers on how to expose students to gender identity in the curriculum, according to a new report.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) &#8220;coached its members on how to inject gender identity politics into classroom teaching,&#8221; said the <a href="https://dfipolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Summer_of_Woke_The_Sequel.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published Wednesday by the conservative Defense of Freedom Institute.
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The report describes the ATF&#8217;s Together Educating America&#8217;s Children (TEACH) conference in July. Two of the sessions at the conference were titled &#8220;Affirming LGBTQIA+ Identities in and out of the Classroom&#8221; and &#8220;The TGNCNB [transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary] Inclusive School and Classroom,&#8221; the report said.
&#8220;Both session descriptions offered attendees ideas and action items to take back to their schools,&#8221; reads the report. &#8220;The unions’ mission is clear: train teachers to affirm every gender identity that conflicts with a student’s sex, ignore basic biological facts, hide the training from parents, and shape school policies to force others to do the same.&#8221;
The AFT along with the nation&#8217;s second largest union, the National Education Association (NEA), are both wholly committed to pushing radical gender ideology in schools, the report says.
Together, the two largest teachers unions represent nearly five million public school teachers across the country.
Just before the union&#8217;s July conference, the ATF also adopted an LGBT resolution that promotes &#8220;age-appropriate and inclusive policies&#8221; on trans-identifying students sharing bathrooms and locker rooms with the opposite sex.
The ATF&#8217;s resolution also commits the union to working with LGBT activist groups, one of which has a <a href="https://www.glsen.org/activity/model-local-education-agency-policy-on-transgender-nonbinary-students#d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">model policy</a> advising school districts to use a student&#8217;s new pronouns without notifying parents.
Both unions have &#8220;vehemently&#8221; opposed legislation meant to protect students from sexually graphic content and gender ideology.
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Meanwhile, the NEA called Florida&#8217;s parental rights law &#8220;extremist&#8221; at its &#8220;Freedom to Learn&#8221; rally during the union&#8217;s Representative Assembly.
Last year, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity through grade three.
The NEA also <a href="https://thenationaldesk.com/news/americas-news-now/national-teachers-union-issues-guidance-for-hanging-pride-flags-blm-signs-in-classrooms-nea-black-lives-matter-school-board-meetings-queer-lgbt-race-children-crisis-in-the-classroom#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> guidance last month on how to place “inclusive symbols” in classrooms and encouraged teachers to buck policies banning Pride flags and Black Lives Matter symbols.
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The unions see the parental rights movement as &#8220;an existential threat to their power over public education,&#8221; the Defense of Freedom Institute&#8217;s report says.
&#8220;The average rank and file teacher got into that field because they care about learning and they care about students,&#8221; <a href="https://wpde.com/news/nation-world/unions-coached-teachers-to-inject-gender-identity-politics-into-classrooms-report-says-national-education-association-nea-american-federation-of-teachers-aft-randi-weingarten-defense-of-freedom-institute-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> one of the report&#8217;s authors, Angela Morabito.
&#8220;And it is not lost on them that teachers unions are actively working against those goals &#8230; The teachers unions are very clearly on the wrong side of not just what&#8217;s good for students and families, but what&#8217;s good for their own membership,&#8221; Morabito told Crisis in the Classroom.
Gender and sexual content in school curricula and libraries has become a hot button issue for parents in recent years. Parents have shown up to school board meetings to vehemently express their concerns about the content their children have access to through their public schools, in some cases even reading sexually explicit passages from school library books to get their point across.
About 74% of voters say they think schools should have to obtain parental consent before helping a child change their gender identity including using new pronouns, according to a March <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/March-16-National-Crosstabs_PDE.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Parents Defending Education.
About the same number, 75% of voters support laws that would require schools to get that parental consent, according to the poll.
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Hillary Clinton Addresses The American Federation Of Teachers Convention

Nation’s Biggest Teachers Union ‘Coached’ Teachers To Inject Gender Identity Into Curricula, Report Says

Nation's Biggest Teachers Union 'Coached' Teachers To Inject Gender Identity Into Curricula, Report Says

Gender

Public Schools

Teachers Unions

Transgender

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>
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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>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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

Twitter users debunked a claim made by Politifact on Wednesday about American Federation of Teachers President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a>, contending she advocated for reopening schools during COVID.
Community Notes, a feature on Twitter that allows a crowd-based solution to collaboratively add context to potentially misleading Tweets without third-party groups, such as the American nonprofit group <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/may/02/in-context-what-afts-randi-weingarten-said-about-r/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politifact</a>, fact-checked the organization for misrepresenting Weingarten&#8217;s positions on reopening schools fully during the pandemic with safety measures. 
&#8220;Teachers union President Randi Weingarten advocated for reopening schools with pandemic safety measures,&#8221; Politifact wrote in a tweet with an article link. &#8220;She criticized the Trump administration&#8217;s 2020 calls to reopen schools fully, but it&#8217;s misleading to claim that she opposed reopening at all.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
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>
Within hours of Politifact tweeting its version of history during the pandemic, Twitter users activated Community Notes to add more context that readers ought to know, including a list of articles from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/17/trump-teachers-reopening-schools-coronavirus-randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a>, The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/08/us/teachers-unions-covid-schools.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times</a>, and <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/how-teachers-unions-are-influencing-decisions-on-school-reopenings/2020/12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Education Week</a> that invalidated both Weingarten and Politifact.
Weingarten <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teacher-union-boss-randi-weingarten-denies-group-delayed-school-openings-or-wrongly-meddled-with-cdc-guidelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> last month that her union neither extended COVID lockdowns, which shuttered government schools for several months, nor improperly helped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) draft their pandemic response policies.
She <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-chief-says-biden-transition-solicited-school-reopening-advice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic last week that the Biden administration’s transition team solicited advice on school closures during the COVID pandemic, preceding a sweeping CDC guidance that critics have faulted for keeping children out of classrooms for too long.
Despite Weingarten&#8217;s claims, students of all ages suffered massive learning losses and detrimental mental health issues as schools nationwide remained closed in the name of health and safety — backed mainly by teachers unions.
<a class="c-link" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-7429">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
Twitter CEO Elon Musk added Community Notes on the platform after his $44 billion purchase in October 2022, which has since unveiled an alleged censorship campaign by the U.S. government. The revelations revealed through the &#8220;Twitter Files&#8221; showed internal company documents and communications released across several installments by multiple journalists.
Twitter under Musk continues to fight against suspected corrupt mergers between legacy media corporations and federal and state governments.
Community Notes has garnered criticism from legacy media and government officials, while citizens praise the feature for restoring balance. Musk himself said recently that the &#8220;power&#8221; of Community Notes aims to &#8220;combat actual disinformation.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
The power of <a href="https://twitter.com/CommunityNotes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CommunityNotes</a> to combat actual disinformation is incredible.
At its core, it requires people with diverse viewpoints to agree that a note is valid before it is shown.
Very hard to game and fully open source.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1653576996876853249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">May 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
&#8220;At its core, it requires people with diverse viewpoints to agree that a note is valid before it is shown,&#8221; Musk said. &#8220;Very hard to game and fully open source.&#8221;

UFT President Mulgrew Media Briefing On First Day Of School Vaccine Mandate

Twitter Users Set The Record Straight After Politifact Says Randi Weingarten ‘Advocated For Reopening Schools’ During Pandemic

Twitter Users Set The Record Straight After Politifact Says Randi Weingarten 'Advocated For Reopening Schools' During Pandemic

Elon Musk

Media

Twitter

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.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
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>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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">pic.twitter.com/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

School closures

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.

PowerUp & Build Back Better With Care

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

A conservative father and former Bush administration official confronted teachers union boss <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> Thursday over her claim that she worked to reopen schools during the COVID pandemic, telling the labor leader during a live CNN panel discussion that parents know better.
The tense moment came on &#8220;CNN Tonight,&#8221; as Scott Jennings, former deputy director of political affairs for President George W. Bush, appeared with Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) on a panel moderated by CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. Weingarten insisted that the AFT “wanted to reopen schools more fulsomely,” and &#8220;knew schools needed to be open.” A dumbfounded Jennings called Weingarten out on the spot.
“We don&#8217;t know each other, but speaking on behalf of millions of American parents, I have four at home,&#8221; Jennings said. &#8220;I had to teach them at home; my wife had to teach them at home. I am stunned at what you have said this week about your claiming to have wanted to reopen schools. I think you&#8217;ll find that most parents believe you were the tip of the spear of school closures.&#8221;
Jennings accused Weingarten of revising history, and her own role in the school shutdowns that began in the spring of 2020 and, by some accounts, set American school children back as they struggled to keep up with their studies online. Weingarten&#8217;s advocacy for school closures, ostensibly to protect teachers from COVID, is well documented, he said.
“There are numerous statements you made over the summer of &#8217;20 scaring people to death about the possibility of opening schools,” Jennings said. “And I hear no remorse whatsoever about the generational damage that&#8217;s been done to these — I have two kids with learning differences. Do you know how hard it is for them to learn at home and not in a classroom that was designed for them?”
“And for you to sit in front of Congress and the American people and say, ‘Oh, I wanted to open up the whole time,’ I am shocked. I&#8217;m stunned. I&#8217;m stunned. And there are millions of parents who feel the exact same way,” Jennings stated.
Weingarten, who earlier this week told the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-chief-says-biden-transition-solicited-school-reopening-advice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic</a> she couldn&#8217;t remember key details of her union&#8217;s discussions with the Biden Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about school closures, insisted that she had sought to balance reopening schools with the safety of her union members.
“I have worked for the last 20 or 30 years helping kids every single day,” Weingarten said. “I have been a schoolteacher. I&#8217;ve been a union leader. I knew and understood the importance of reopening schools and the importance of making sure that people were safe. And poll after poll that we did of parents, and I spent a lot of time with parents, said that they basically understood and supported that we needed to do both.”
Records, obtained by conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust, revealed Weingarten spoke twice with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in the days leading up to the CDC releasing in February 2021 <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/12/967033554/cdc-offers-clearest-guidance-yet-for-reopening-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">updated guidance</a> on reopening schools. But those talks only came after researchers began to find that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent-superspreaders/616669/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">schools were not</a> major <a href="https://apnews.com/article/online-school-covid-learning-loss-7c162ec1b4ce4d5219d5210aaac8f1ae" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spreaders</a> of COVID. Further, in the two years since, studies have shown profound negative effects from prolonged remote learning, including on <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/22/02/harvard-edcast-negative-effects-remote-learning-childrens-wellbeing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">children’s well-being</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/coronavirus-education-lost-learning.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">academic accomplishments</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<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>: &quot;I am stunned at what you have said this week&#8230;I think you&#39;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&#39;s been done&#8230;&quot; <a href="https://t.co/gVCDgpP3dN">pic.twitter.com/gVCDgpP3dN</a>
&mdash; Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinTober94/status/1651778019277537282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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On Wednesday, The New York Post editorial board <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/26/fauci-weingartens-shameful-dont-blame-us-lies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that Weingarten was a driving force behind keeping schools closed for more than a year in some areas.
“She took zero responsibility for pushing medically needless, prolonged school closures that led to historic learning losses for kids,&#8221; the board wrote. &#8220;Even as <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/25/teacher-unions-had-bigger-hand-in-cdc-school-reopening-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a new report showed</a> that she and her union were key to Biden-era Centers for Disease Control directives that restricted so many kids to the farce of &#8216;remote learning&#8217; for so long.”
In February 2021, in an interview with Axios, Weingarten said in reference to children who had been out of school for months, “Kids are resilient and kids will recover.”
When asked if there could be a point at which schoolchildren kids have been out of in-person school for so long that the damage cannot be fixed, Weingarten answered &#8220;No.&#8221;
“I don&#8217;t believe that,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I believe that kids are resilient and kids will recover.”
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.<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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Activists Across The Country Gather For March For Our Lives II To Protest Against Gun Violence

‘You Were The Tip Of The Spear’: Conservative Dad Confronts Teachers Union Boss Over School Closures In Viral Video

Children

The leader of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teacher-union-boss-randi-weingarten-denies-group-delayed-school-openings-or-wrongly-meddled-with-cdc-guidelines?%3Futm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=dwnewstwitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a prominent teachers union</a> told Congress on Wednesday the Biden transition team solicited advice on school closures during the COVID pandemic, preceding a sweeping Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cdc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC</a>) guidance that critics have faulted for keeping children out of classrooms for too long.
During a hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) asked American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten if the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cdc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC</a> first reached out to her union or the other way around.
&#8220;What essentially happened, sir, was that we were talking to the Biden transition team before he was sworn into office,&#8221; Weingarten said. Upon being pressed for clarification, she added: &#8220;The Biden transition team reached out to us.&#8221;
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Chairman BRAD WENSTRUP: &quot;Did the AFT first engage the CDC, or did the CDC reach out to you?&quot;
Randi Weingarten: &quot;What essentially happened sir was that we were talking to the Biden transition team..&quot;
Wenstrup: &quot;Did they reach out to you?&quot;
Weingarten: &quot;Yes. The Biden transition… <a href="https://t.co/5trdJh2g3h">pic.twitter.com/5trdJh2g3h</a>
&mdash; Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1651304082026397698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Further questioning led Weingarten to say she could not remember exactly when conversations with the CDC began — at one point remarking, &#8220;Look, I&#8217;m 65 years old. I don&#8217;t remember anything anymore, I&#8217;m sorry.&#8221; But ultimately the union boss said that she recalled the CDC setting up a conference call on January 29, 2021, which would be a little more than a week after President Joe Biden&#8217;s inauguration.
Intense focus on the CDC during the hearing followed the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/25/teacher-unions-had-bigger-hand-in-cdc-school-reopening-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post reporting</a> that records indicated the AFT and another teachers union, the National Education Association, were in communication with the health agency and the White House.
Those records, obtained by conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust, revealed Weingarten spoke twice with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in the days leading up to the CDC releasing in February 2021 <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/12/967033554/cdc-offers-clearest-guidance-yet-for-reopening-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">updated guidance</a> on reopening schools with various precautions after researchers began to find that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent-superspreaders/616669/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">schools were not</a> major <a href="https://apnews.com/article/online-school-covid-learning-loss-7c162ec1b4ce4d5219d5210aaac8f1ae" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spreaders</a> of COVID. Further, in the two years since, studies have shown profound negative effects from prolonged remote learning, including on <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/22/02/harvard-edcast-negative-effects-remote-learning-childrens-wellbeing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">children&#8217;s well-being</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/coronavirus-education-lost-learning.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">academic accomplishments</a>.
Wenstrup <a href="https://twitter.com/COVIDSelect/status/1651314672274997248" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> his panel is investigating whether the CDC &#8220;followed science as they knew it, or learned it, or merely accepted outside guidance regardless of available data during its guidance drafting and publication process.&#8221;
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🔥🔥🔥
Chairman <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBradWenstrup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepBradWenstrup</a> opens today&#39;s hearing with a revealing question for <a href="https://twitter.com/rweingarten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RWeingarten</a>:
Was <a href="https://twitter.com/AFTunion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AFTUnion</a>&#39;s role in editing CDC school reopening guidance more political than scientific?
American students and families deserve an answer! <a href="https://t.co/N6DLLTpq0S">pic.twitter.com/N6DLLTpq0S</a>
&mdash; Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) <a href="https://twitter.com/COVIDSelect/status/1651314672274997248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
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He pointed to the February 2021 guidance, saying none of three particular recommendations — the use of community spread rates to determine reopening, routine testing, and 6 feet of social distancing instead of 3 feet — were &#8220;based in sound science at the time.&#8221; And, Wenstrup noted, the AFT supported all three of these recommendations.
Weingarten told lawmakers there was &#8220;one particular edit&#8221; that the CDC accepted among the &#8220;several ideas&#8221; proposed by the AFT. She denied that the union suggested &#8220;line-by-line edits.&#8221;
In addition, Weingarten said she has Walensky’s &#8220;direct number.&#8221; She also contended: &#8220;We spent every day from February on trying to get schools open. We knew that remote education was not a substitute for opening schools but we also knew that people had to be safe.&#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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In her prepared remarks, Weingarten argued AFT was committed to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teacher-union-boss-randi-weingarten-denies-group-delayed-school-openings-or-wrongly-meddled-with-cdc-guidelines?%3Futm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=dwnewstwitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resuming in-person learning &#8220;safely</a>&#8221; at schools across the country and she accused the Trump administration of overseeing a &#8220;botched response.&#8221; With the entry of the Biden administration and the efforts that ensued, in-person instruction jumped from 46% of schools in January 2021 to around 97% in May of that year, Weingarten said.
AFT&#8217;s involvement in crafting public health policies was &#8220;completely fitting and proper&#8221; since the CDC should be expected to &#8220;consult with education groups,&#8221; she added.

Teachers Union Chief Says Biden Transition Solicited School Reopening Advice

Executive

High School

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/teachers-unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Federation of Teachers</a> President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> contended that her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union</a> neither extended the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/school-lockdowns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lockdowns</a> which shuttered government schools for several months nor improperly helped the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cdc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC</a> draft their pandemic response policies.
Weingarten, who is scheduled to testify on Wednesday before members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic about her organization’s conduct amid the pandemic, said in prepared <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Prepared-Statement-of-AFT-President-Randi-Weingarten.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarks</a> that the entire hearing is based on a “faulty” and “patently false” assertion that the union wielded its influence with Democrats to keep schools closed even after data indicated that young children were at <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">minimal</a> risk from COVID.
“Even before COVID-19, we knew that kids learn best in person, and that remote, hybrid and simultaneous instruction are not adequate substitutes,” she told lawmakers. “Being in school is essential to children’s academic, social and emotional well-being. We know this not as a matter for study or the grist for a congressional investigation. We know this because we live it every day.”
Weingarten claimed that the AFT “acted quickly” to implement “science-based measures needed to resume in-person schooling safely.” The union, however, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/five-cities-where-teachers-unions-are-keeping-schools-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> a strike days ahead of a planned reopening of District of Columbia Public Schools in February 2021, even as Weingarten insisted that her organization was “not trying to stand in the way of reopening.” As late as July 2021, Weingarten <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-claims-schools-reopened-in-spite-of-republicans-here-are-several-videos-of-democrats-defending-closed-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remained</a> cagey on school lockdowns and insisted that increasing vaccination rates was necessary to “keep kids safe” and “keep our members safe.”
She instead blamed former President Donald Trump, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, suggesting that those officials were responsible for school closures in her Wednesday remarks because they did not implement the health measures the AFT deemed necessary.
“We knew that the safety protocols we advocated for were not an obstacle to reopening schools, as some officials claimed at the time,” she continued. “Health and safety protocols were the pathway for students and staff to get back to school and stay in school and to create trust throughout the school community.”
Weingarten additionally claimed that polls now show parents believe “schools acted appropriately in pivoting to remote and hybrid learning and back to in-person learning.” The school lockdowns, however, drove unprecedented learning loss among children who attended government schools: average reading scores <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nations-report-card-indicates-worst-decline-in-math-and-reading-scores-in-decades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plummeted</a> five points and average mathematics scores dropped seven points among 9-year-olds who took the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Parents have since responded to disruptions in the nation’s education system, which also included the spread of radical gender theory and other Left-wing ideologies, over the past three years by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-the-right-to-homeschooling-under-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">homeschooling</a> their children at record levels, a phenomenon which Weingarten <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extremist-scheme-teachers-union-boss-blasts-education-reforms-homeschooling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> an “extremist scheme” to “erode trust in public schools by stoking fear and division.”
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The AFT also provoked controversy after House Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-gave-teachers-union-unprecedented-access-to-shape-national-covid-19-guidelines-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that the CDC offered Weingarten and other union officials “unprecedented access” to view and shape pandemic response guidelines, a privilege that the officials reportedly used to implement a “trigger” provision that would cause schools to automatically close should COVID test positivity rates reach certain thresholds. Weingarten claimed on Wednesday that the involvement of the AFT in crafting public health policies was “completely fitting and proper” since the CDC should be expected to “consult with education groups.”
“Not surprisingly, the CDC would want to consult with the leadership of the country’s largest teachers union to consider our insights, expertise and suggestions on a strategy that would directly affect our membership in matters of life and death,” she asserted. “AFT leadership was keenly aware of the hopes and fears of our members, whose trust and acceptance were necessary for the success of any operational strategy.”

Teacher Union Boss Randi Weingarten Denies Group Delayed School Openings Or Wrongly Meddled With CDC Guidelines

Teacher Union Boss Denies Group Delayed School Openings Or Meddled With CDC Guidelines

School Lockdowns

Unions

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