Massachusetts’ largest teachers union is threatening to sue a group of Republican state lawmakers who condemned the group for tapping an anti-Israel activist to create learning materials about the Gaza war.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) said this month that it “will not hesitate to take legal action if warranted” against the Massachusetts House and Senate Republican Caucuses for a July letter objecting to the union tasking Ricardo Rosa with developing model curricula about Israel and “Occupied Palestine.”
The Republicans objected to Rosa — who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/turning-classrooms-into-arenas-of-radicalism-teachers-union-tasks-anti-israel-activist-to-create-curriculum-about-israel">has a record</a> of anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric — developing the materials. The lawmakers observed that Rosa advocated for a “Free Palestine” in the days following October 7, called the United States a “settler colony,” glorified terrorist and plane hijacker Leila Khaled, and voiced his support for a professor who called Zionists “swine” and encouraged protests in Jewish neighborhoods.
In response, the MTA board of directors called the Republicans’ letter “reprehensible,” defended Rosa from the lawmakers’ criticism, and threatened legal action.
<div id="attachment_756447" style="width: 375px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-756447" class="size-large wp-image-756447" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-27-at-4.26.08%E2%80%AFPM-365x576.png" alt="" width="365" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-27-at-4.26.08%E2%80%AFPM-365x576.png 365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-27-at-4.26.08%E2%80%AFPM-190x300.png 190w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-27-at-4.26.08%E2%80%AFPM-768x1211.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-27-at-4.26.08%E2%80%AFPM.png 880w" sizes="(max-width: 365px) 100vw, 365px" />Ricardo Rosa&#8217;s posts of pro-Palestine protests.</div>
“Ricardo Rosa, MTA’s Director of Training and Professional Learning, has been reprehensibly attacked for simply performing his job at the MTA,” the MTA <a href="https://icanaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BOD-Letter-to-MA-House-and-Senate-Republican-Caucus-Members-080524_COPY.pdf">wrote</a>,  in response to Republican lawmakers’ claim that Rosa’s inflammatory statements “demonstrate a clear commitment to a political agenda rather than educational integrity.”
The union, which represents 117,000 educators, came under fire for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massachusetts-teachers-union-says-u-s-is-complicit-in-genocidal-assault-in-gaza">condemning</a> the United States for being complicit in a “genocidal assault” in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
The lawmakers called for Rosa’s appointment to be revoked, lest his influence undermine the safety of Jewish and Israeli students and risk “turning classrooms into arenas of radicalism.” They pushed the MTA to instead focus on creating a healthy work environment for teachers and providing a quality education to students.
The union in response called Rosa a “respected scholar” and said they are “privileged to have him on staff.”
Rep. Steven Howitt, who organized the Republican letter, told The Daily Wire that he stands by the statement.
“Our office mobilized members of the Republican Caucus to issue a joint statement condemning the decision and called on the MTA to revoke Dr. Rosa’s appointment and pause the development of these educational materials,” Howitt said. “In response, the MTA issued a statement containing inconsistencies and have chosen to defend Dr. Rosa and the development of these materials. I stand by the original statement issued by our caucus.”
The MTA board of directors said it decided to respond to the lawmakers after ignoring other public criticism because the letter “encouraged unprovoked threats against our staff and our public schools and have forced us to report the most serious threats to the FBI and the Massachusetts Attorney General.”
The MTA  attempted to refute the lawmakers by noting that it held workshops about anti-Semitism and allowed for a “broad range of presenters” to speak in its workshops.
In March, the MTA faced criticism after Rosa’s department hosted a “The Struggle Against Anti-Palestinian Racism,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massachusetts-teachers-union-hosts-webinar-by-professor-who-praised-hamas-enraging-membership">webinar</a>, featuring a presenter who once praised Hamas terrorists for their “courage” on October 7. The webinar aimed to persuade attendees that there was no connection between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.
“Holding such forums does not suggest MTA endorsement of each and every idea presented. Rather, it models the highest democratic value and exchange of diverse and at times competing ideas that is a hallmark of our labor union,” the group wrote.
It added that the MTA “does not develop curriculum” but instead “provide[s] research and resources” for its members to “critically review and utilize as they see fit in their professional development.”
After October 7, the MTA rejected an anti-Semitism workshop proposal from Jany Finkielsztein, a retired instructional coach for the Waltham Public Schools who has created many teacher training programs throughout her 17-year career.
“I believe my workshop proposal, titled ‘Jewish Ethnic and Cultural Diversity at a Time of Rising Anti-Semitism’ was likely declined due to a potential conflict with the narrative promoted by certain members of the MTA, including Rosa, who advocate for portraying Israel as a settler colonial enterprise and Jews as white oppressors,” Finkielsztein told The Daily Wire.
<div id="attachment_756437" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-756437" class="size-large wp-image-756437" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Cover-images-26-1024x576.png" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Cover-images-26-1024x576.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Cover-images-26-300x169.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Cover-images-26-768x432.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Cover-images-26.png 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Ricardo Rosa&#8217;s posts about Aaron Bushnell, a Houthi-run rally, and terrorist and plane hijacker Leila Khaled. (Photo: Instagram)</div>
In recent years, Rosa has taken to social media to <a href="https://archive.is/s2yvO">declare</a> that “Western humanity is a lie,” <a href="https://archive.is/u7Sxc">accuse</a> Israel of committing genocide, and post “Free Palestine” with an image of a <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240308-thousands-of-yemenis-rally-in-support-of-gaza-in-houthi-held-sanaa/">Houthi-run</a> rally calling for supporting Gaza and increasing attacks.
Rosa also <a href="https://archive.is/9XVeY">advocated for</a> the reinstatement of Danny Shaw, a former John Jay College professor, who he described as a “good brother.” Shaw was dismissed after calling Zionists “Babylon swine,” encouraging protests in “their neighborhoods,” and pushing other anti-Semitic tropes, <a href="https://x.com/canarymission/status/1775897208895967331">according to Canary Mission</a>. Rosa also <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C30_1xTvJYp/">praised</a> Aaron Bushnell, the U.S. airman who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., in February.
The MTA has not responded to a request for comment.

Cover images-25

Teachers Union Threatens To Sue Critics After Putting Radical Activist In Charge of Israel Curriculum

Anti-Semitism

Hamas

Israel

Massachusetts

Teachers Unions

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

Randi Weingarten

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

American Federation of Teachers

Democratic National Convention

Elections

Kamala Harris

National Education Association

Politics

School closures

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

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

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

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

Houston

LGBTQ

Opinion

Progressivism

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

PowerUp & Build Back Better With Care

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

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

Education

Labor Unions

Public Schools

The president of the country&#8217;s largest teachers union was mocked for a “totally unhinged” speech in which she shouted about winning &#8220;all the things.&#8221;
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association (NEA), banged on the podium, waved her arms, and laughed out loud as she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ifRgiOOJ8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shouted</a> about social justice last week at the union&#8217;s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly in Philadelphia.
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Teachers union president Becky Pringle lets the mask slip admitting they &quot;organize for POWER.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/8nJtotJ8vr">https://t.co/8nJtotJ8vr</a>
&mdash; Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1810154851080528316?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
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If you had any doubts about the priorities of teachers unions, just watch this bizarre speech by NEA President Becky Pringle.
Believe it or not this isn’t from the Democratic National Convention — it’s the NEA annual convention. <a href="https://t.co/W8lDsqFG2T">pic.twitter.com/W8lDsqFG2T</a>
&mdash; Nicki Neily (@nickineily) <a href="https://twitter.com/nickineily/status/1810314623025119676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
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During her speech, which frequently <a href="https://www.nea.org/about-nea/media-center/press-releases/remarks-prepared-delivery-becky-pringle-president-national-education-association-103rd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">departed</a> from her published prepared remarks, Pringle vowed that the union would &#8220;reclaim&#8221; public education.
&#8220;But you and I know we can&#8217;t stop there,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We have to transform it into something it was never designed to be — a racially and socially just and equitable system that prepares every student! Every student! Every student! Every one! With conviction and commitment.&#8221;
Pringle also reaffirmed the NEA&#8217;s opposition to school choice.
&#8220;With determination and defiance, we will protect public education,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We will fight privatization. We will fight vouchers. We will fight any and all schemes to drain resources from our beloved public schools!&#8221;
Pringle also railed against former President Donald Trump, as well as what she called a &#8220;stacked&#8221; Supreme Court.
“We worked hard to rid ourselves of a tyrannical, deceitful, and corrupt White House. We did. But the reality is that the seeds that were sown during that horrible season continue to germinate,” Pringle said.
&#8220;Today, they sprout as vitriol toward our profession, increased marginalization of black, brown, AAPI, and Indigenous communities, rising hatred toward our LGBTQ+ siblings,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The seeds of hate manifest themselves as attacks against our freedom to teach and our students’ freedom to learn. They&#8217;ve mushroomed into poisonous spores of a stacked Supreme Court — one that continues to render decisions that attack, diminish, and disregard the needs and lived experiences of far too many Americans.&#8221;
“Our students are depending on us to win all the things,” Pringle said.  “All the things! All the things! All the things!”
&#8220;Did I say we ain&#8217;t going back? Ain&#8217;t going back!&#8221; she added.
&#8220;Like Harvey Milk, we will stand in our authenticity!&#8221; Pringle said. &#8220;Like Cesar Chavez, we will practice relentless activism!&#8221;
On social media, critics compared Pringle&#8217;s exuberant remarks to a famous scene with Dwight Schrute on the hit television show The Office, a scene that was based on actual speeches by famous Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
School choice advocate Corey DeAngelis called Pringle&#8217;s speech “off-the-rails” and said she &#8220;pulled a Dwight Schrute.&#8221;
“These power-hungry control freaks think they own your kids. They’re in a cult that worships government and detests parents. It’s time to defund teachers unions and allow the money to follow the child,” DeAngelis <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/07/08/us-news/teachers-union-president-mocked-for-copying-the-office-in-totally-unhinged-speech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News. “Becky Pringle pulled a Dwight Schrute. She is off-the-rails and desperate to maintain control over the minds of other people’s children.”
DeAngelis <a href="https://x.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1810154851080528316" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a> on X that Pringle let the &#8220;mask slip&#8221; in admitting union members &#8220;organize for POWER.&#8221;
Nicki Neily, founder and president of Parents Defending Education, also criticized Pringle.
&#8220;If you had any doubts about the priorities of teachers unions, just watch this bizarre speech by NEA President Becky Pringle. Believe it or not this isn’t from the Democratic National Convention — it’s the NEA annual convention,&#8221; Neily said.
Pringle <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/our-righteous-fight-for-freedom-teachers-union-president-goes-full-dwight-schrute-in-unhinged-speech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">delivered</a> a similar speech last year that was also panned as over the top.

US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-GUN

Teachers Union Head Mocked For ‘Totally Unhinged’ Speech

Teachers

U.S.

‘Turning Classrooms Into Arenas Of Radicalism’: Teachers Union Tasks Anti-Israel Activist To Create Curriculum About Israel

The Portland Association of Teachers, an affiliate of the state teachers’ union which has 4,500 members, reportedly created an anti-Israel and anti-America curriculum for children as young as kindergarteners that says Zionists are “bullies” and blames Israel and the United States for “settler colonialism.”
Journalist Christopher Rufo, the author of <a href="https://manhattan.institute/book/americas-cultural-revolution-how-the-radical-left-conquered-everything" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America’s Cultural Revolution</a>, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/in-portland-the-intifada-begins-in-kindergarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published the information</a> and obtained the curriculum materials called &#8220;Teach Palestine!&#8221; Pre-kindergarten teachers are urged to use a workbook by the Palestinian Feminist Collective with a story of a fictional Palestinian boy named Handala who states, “A group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land so they stole it by force and hurt many people.”
“Students are encouraged to come up with a slogan that they can chant at a protest and complete a maze so that Handala can ‘get back home to Palestine’—represented as a map of Israel,” Rufo notes.
Other leftist tropes are urged for the pre-kindergarteners, including a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BFil0gN8Ql0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> stating, “I feel safe when there are no police,” and a <a href="https://www.wokekindergarten.org/teachpalestine/visualhistoryinstazine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slideshow</a> that salutes the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas. According to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Institute_for_Counter-Terrorism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Institute for Counter-Terrorism</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_in_the_Second_Intifada">during</a> the Second Intifada from September 2000 to February 2005, 887 of the 1,137 Israelis murdered in the attacks were civilians.
“The recommended resource list also <a href="https://www.wokekindergarten.org/teachpalestine/so-you-made-it-to-a-protest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> a ‘sensory guide for kids’ on attending protests. It teaches children what they might see, hear, taste, touch, and smell at protests, and promotes photographs of slogans such as ‘Abolish Prisons’ and ‘From the River to the Sea,&#8217;” Rufo writes.
Once the children are in kindergarten through second grade, a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTGX9wjjqX4S2Au0c8gFe5ir18Ex6Tw73pcezd5VQxj5hph0MJVHeQh-VqtQ6PCPa1QtQg2Woxe0_ue/pub">lesson</a>, “Art and Action for Palestine,” is provided to teach the children to “connect histories of settler colonialism from Palestine to the United States” and to “celebrate Palestinian culture and resistance throughout history and in the present, with a focus on Palestinian children’s resistance.”
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“75 years ago, a lot of decision makers around the world decided to take away Palestinian land to make a country called Israel. Israel would be a country where rules were mostly fair for Jewish people with White skin,” the lesson reads. “There’s a BIG word for when Indigenous land gets taken away to make a country, that’s called settler colonialism.”
Among the “suggested materials” are “keffiyehs, flags, and protest signs.” The curriculum also <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/098/772/original/All_Out_Palestine_Toolkit_3.0.pdf?fbclid=PAAaaGnQ7Ub7uar7rFqlTaVoBEH4SJ7X0yF-AZNoAjumR5BZW2DTVtVhlsTmY_aem_AbjMoHW4HB3HGHoSsk0D2LO9UewWamevwaDlwAtfE0NGXhxeLy1RXQdsvP7XKxsqtxQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> a pamphlet called “All Out for Palestine,” which states, “STOP THE GENOCIDE! END U.S. AID TO ISRAEL! FREE PALESTINE!” The pamphlet refers to “Zionism‘s long genocidal war on Palestinian life,” adding, “End all US aid to Israel and nullify all joint US-Israeli agreements and collaboration in arms trade and policing.”
“The pamphlet includes chants that teachers can adopt in the classroom,” Rufo points out. “Some imply support for militancy and political violence: ‘Resistance is justified when people are occupied!’; ‘We salute all our martyrs! mothers, fathers, sons and daughters!’; ‘Justice is our demand! No peace on stolen land!’”

Toddler is playing with a wooden toy block

Portland Teachers’ Group Offers Kindergarten Curriculum Teaching Anti-Israel Hate

Kindergarten

Oregon

Palestinians

Portland

teachers union

A Minnesota teachers union has reportedly expelled one of its members, a school counselor who blew the whistle on the school district&#8217;s transgender policies.
Elementary student counselor Christina Barton received a letter from her union, the Rochester Education Association informing her that she was being kicked out, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240515015012/https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-teachers-union-expels-counselor-for-mischaracterizing-the-districts-transgender-guidelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515015012/https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-teachers-union-expels-counselor-for-mischaracterizing-the-districts-transgender-guidelines&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1715895013138000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1m4phWSLvLBjmxekbrCa-Z">according</a> to local newspaper the Post Bulletin.
The union accused Barton of violating the National Education Association’s “code of ethics,” saying she “mischaracterized Rochester Public Schools policies and practices regarding LGBTQ+ students, spoke negatively of fellow union members, and spread misinformation about transgender youth.”
“REA recognizes that you are free to hold whatever viewpoints you wish regarding LGBTQ+ students or any other matter, but viewpoints are not free from consequences, especially if they cause or contribute to unprofessional behavior,” the letter <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240515015012/https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-teachers-union-expels-counselor-for-mischaracterizing-the-districts-transgender-guidelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515015012/https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-teachers-union-expels-counselor-for-mischaracterizing-the-districts-transgender-guidelines&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1715895013138000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1m4phWSLvLBjmxekbrCa-Z">read</a>.
The union&#8217;s president, Vince Wagner said the union&#8217;s executive board voted to expel Barton earlier this month.
“We had a lot of discussion and deliberation,” Wagner told the Post Bulletin. “It wasn’t something we undertook lightly.”
Barton previously criticized the school district for not informing parents when their children change their gender identity.
She spoke to the school board twice on March 19 and again on May 7, the day before the union expelled her, expressing her concerns about the district&#8217;s <a href="https://cdn.vev.design/private/fqyfdrVOk4g7fDyyD5tPSdtwLKo1/3eue-transgender-student-support-guidelines-2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cdn.vev.design/private/fqyfdrVOk4g7fDyyD5tPSdtwLKo1/3eue-transgender-student-support-guidelines-2.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1715895013138000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3MU5sKXJEdJE60vkf2uV4v">guidelines</a> on trans-identifying students.
“How would a parent know how to request such information if they aren’t aware their child is struggling with gender dysphoria? How would a parent be able to care for and support their student if the school never reached out to them,” she <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/05/13/rochester-public-schools-move-to-formalize-procedure-for-helping-transgender-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/05/13/rochester-public-schools-move-to-formalize-procedure-for-helping-transgender-kids&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1715895013138000&amp;usg=AOvVaw094_MIUlD4wEFzLfCibuR1">said</a> at one of the board meetings.
Last month, Wagner, the union president read a statement during a school board meeting expressing the union&#8217;s explicit support for the district&#8217;s transgender guidelines. He referenced the staff at Barton&#8217;s elementary school but did not mention her by name.
Barton also <a href="https://alphanews.org/rochester-counselor-blows-whistle-on-trans-guidelines-that-district-was-trying-to-hide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://alphanews.org/rochester-counselor-blows-whistle-on-trans-guidelines-that-district-was-trying-to-hide/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1715895013138000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3KQIa_owieFz-MchC4ggFc">spoke</a> to the media about her concerns.
“It seems that in a culture where ‘all are welcome’ and ‘kindness abides and bullying isn’t allowed’ that only those employees who succumb to censorship and intimidation are welcome,” Barton <a href="https://www.americanexperiment.org/teachers-union-expels-whistleblower-school-counselor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.americanexperiment.org/teachers-union-expels-whistleblower-school-counselor/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1715895013138000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0NkDWcF9zABS_OAz81J2Y-">said</a>, according to the group American Experiment, which <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240515015012/https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-teachers-union-expels-counselor-for-mischaracterizing-the-districts-transgender-guidelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515015012/https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/rochester-teachers-union-expels-counselor-for-mischaracterizing-the-districts-transgender-guidelines&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1715895013138000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1m4phWSLvLBjmxekbrCa-Z">published</a> a photo of the union&#8217;s expulsion letter.
“Following my public statement to the school board on March 19, I have experienced countless retaliatory responses that are unprofessional, inaccurate, and very hurtful to me as a person as well as a concerned counselor and parent who is merely trying to advocate in the best interests of kids and on behalf of all parents,” Barton said. “I love my students with all of my heart and soul; always have, always will.”

Close up of a female psychologist taking notes and a students knees

Minnesota Teachers Union Expels School Counselor Who Blew Whistle On Transgender Policies: Report

New York

Rochester

The Chicago Teachers Union is demanding another $50 billion in its contract negotiations for things like free abortions, migrant services, and LGBT training, all while students continue to score poorly.
The union&#8217;s contract <a href="https://files.illinoispolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/FILE_0918.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demands</a>, which have not been publicly released but leaked recently, include a minimum 9% pay increase every year through fiscal year 2028 and <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-teachers-union-demands-include-45-days-off-9-new-ways-to-take-off/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more</a> days off.
The average Chicago teacher&#8217;s salary is currently $93,182, according to the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative nonprofit think tank. It would rise to $144,620 by 2028 under the union&#8217;s demands.
Other demands <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-teachers-50b-demands-includes-pay-hikes-abortions-migrant-accommodation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">include</a> free abortions for public school employees, free mass transit for all public school students and employees, and $2,000 for each migrant to help with things like academics and mental health counseling. The union also wants to <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2024/05/03/50-billion-chicago-teachers-union-contract-demands-higher-pay-and-lower-expectations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">turn</a> unused school facilities into homeless migrant housing.
The teachers union also wants school employees to receive mandatory LGBT training and require every school to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom. It also demands the school board ensure no school employee is forced to tell parents about a student adopting a new gender identity.
The budget for Chicago Public Schools is <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/03/10/editorial-stacy-davis-gates-chicago-teachers-union/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already</a> $9.4 billion this year, up almost 30% from $7.4 billion just five years ago. The teachers union&#8217;s current contract expires at the end of June.
The union&#8217;s president, Stacy Davis Gates, defended the aggressive demands.
&#8220;We are asking you to give us an opportunity to tell our story,&#8221; Davis Gates said <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/03/10/editorial-stacy-davis-gates-chicago-teachers-union/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during</a> a speech in March. &#8220;It will cost $50 billion and three cents. And so what, that’s audacity. That’s Chicago.&#8221;
Davis Gates, a vocal critic of private schools, sent her freshman son to a Catholic school last year, sparking outrage from her critics.
In defense of her decision, Davis Gates criticized school choice, blaming such policies for the lack of resources at Chicago’s public schools.
“It was a very difficult decision for us because there is not a lot to offer black youth who are entering high school” in Chicago, Davis Gates <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chicago-teachers-union-president-defends-sending-son-to-private-school-after-backlash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the time.
Chicago&#8217;s Democratic mayor, Brandon Johnson, is a former teacher and organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union. He helped organize the union&#8217;s 2012 strike.
The teachers union also donated heavily to Johnson&#8217;s campaign, prompting critics to question the mayor&#8217;s impartiality in the contract negotiations.
Mailee Smith, an Illinois parent and director of the Illinois Policy Institute, called it the union&#8217;s &#8220;most radical agenda yet&#8221; but said the demands were to be expected.
&#8220;CTU&#8217;s leadership has a long history of progressive activism,&#8221; Smith <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6352409450112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News. &#8220;It focuses on power and politics over what&#8217;s best for teachers and students.&#8221;
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She added that the union has fought against linking teacher evaluations to pay or benefits.
&#8220;In fact, in these contract demands they are trying to water down evaluation criteria for teachers,&#8221; Smith said.
Last year, Chicago Public Schools <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?ID2=1709930" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent</a> nearly $22,000 per student, much <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/public-school-spending.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">higher</a> than the national average of $14,347.
Meanwhile, in 2022, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/dst2022/pdf/2023011XC8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only</a> 12% of Chicago&#8217;s eighth graders were proficient in math, and <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/dst2022/pdf/2023010xc8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only</a> 19% were proficient in reading.
The district serves about 322,000 students across 644 schools.

Chicago Teachers Hold Major Rally In Downtown Chicago As Strike Continues

Chicago Teachers Union Demands Extra $50 Billion To Fund Abortions, Migrant Services As Students Score Lower

Chicago Teachers Union Demanding Extra $50 Billion To Fund Abortions, Migrant Services As Students Score Lower

Chicago

Chicago Teachers union

Illinois

Remote Learning

Much to the annoyance of the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-school-teacher-with-no-interest-in-defunding-the-police-takes-stand-for-first-amendment-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glenn Laird</a> refuses to go away quietly.
After decades as a Los Angeles teacher, Laird is involved in a messy <a href="https://www.freedomfoundation.com/labor/la-teacher-sues-utla-says-demand-to-defund-police-was-the-last-straw/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> with the union over its reluctance to allow him to opt out of membership and dues as prescribed by law. Last week, the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. 
What makes his experience so compelling for the public — and embarrassing for UTLA — is that Laird is neither a malcontent nor a union-basher by inclination. He is, in fact, a much-decorated educator who served for many years as UTLA campus chapter co-chair.
But when the union began advocating several years ago to “defund the police” and put students’ and teachers’ lives at risk, he’d had enough.
Over the years, Laird has witnessed countless violent acts on campus, including the death of a former student, and was outraged that UTLA would call for the removal of law enforcement from the district’s schools.
“I couldn’t in good conscience continue to pay dues to an organization that was campaigning against something that is so personal to me,” explained Laird. “I support fully funding the police to keep our students safe.”
He responded by opting out of his UTLA membership and requesting it stop taking his money to fund messaging with which he disagrees.
His legal right to do so is unequivocal. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in Janus v. AFSCME that unions could no longer take public employees’ money for use in political speech without their consent.
The ruling also specified that by agreeing to give money to a public labor union, workers are waiving their First Amendment right against compelled speech.
In the case of Glenn Laird, UTLA tried to have it both ways.
They told Laird his previous agreement was an effective waiver of his First Amendment rights, even though he signed it before Janus was even decided.
Even more to the point, the union refused to honor the terms of Laird’s actual agreement, which allowed him to end the deduction of his money. He specifically objected to the last union agreement he signed with UTLA by striking out the language supposedly restricting his ability to end his membership at any time with a felt marker.
UTLA kept taking his money without his consent anyway.
In other words, the First Amendment did not matter.
Left with no alternative, Laird took UTLA and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to federal court. Represented pro bono by the Freedom Foundation, he asked the court to rule on the scope of his constitutional rights, and to acknowledge UTLA’s violations.
But UTLA doesn’t want a judge to decide the constitutional claims.
Instead, its leaders cut him a check for the money deducted from his pay without his consent and asked him to please drop the case.
This tactic has become all too common among public unions trying to avoid their responsibilities under the First Amendment.
Laird refused to dismiss his lawsuit, and with good reason. Because his case is about more than the return of his money. In fact, Laird is donating the entire amount he received from UTLA to a nonprofit group that helps disadvantaged students in the Los Angeles area.
When judges at both the lower court level and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the union, the Freedom Foundation filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.
Glenn Laird’s case is about a judicial acknowledgment and vindication of his First Amendment rights by a federal judge. As long as unions can cut checks using their members’ dues dollars to make lawsuits disappear, judges will never have the opportunity to rule on the actual constitutional issues, rendering the First Amendment and Janus decision meaningless.
“Hopefully the Supreme Court will find my case worthy of making a ruling,” concluded Laird. “Janus set the stage, but now we need to build on that precedent so unions and lower court judges don’t continue to ignore the Supremes.”
While it should not take a federal lawsuit for unions to recognize their responsibilities under the Constitution, UTLA doesn’t get to put a price tag on the First Amendment and cannot kill a case by simply doing the right thing after the fact.
For one principled Los Angeles teacher, the fight is far from over.
* * *
Timothy R. Snowball is a civil rights attorney with Freedom Foundation, where his practice is focused on protecting the First Amendment rights of government workers to make their own decisions about whether to join or support public sector unions.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Supreme Court and Cherry Blossoms

L.A. Teacher’s Fight With Union Appealed To Supreme Court

L.A. Teacher's Fight With Union Appealed To Supreme Court

Defund The Police

Los Angeles

Police

Readers Pass

Supreme Court

A parental rights group has filed a federal complaint against public schools in Portland, Oregon, for taking gender identity and race into account when disciplining students.
On Thursday, Parents Defending Education filed a federal civil rights <a target="_blank" href="https://defendinged.org/complaints/ocr-complaint-portland-public-schools-2/" rel="noopener">complaint</a> with the Department of Education against Portland Public Schools, criticizing the district&#8217;s new discipline policy.
&#8220;Portland Public Schools has enacted several concerning policies that treat students and educators differently based on race and gender identity,&#8221; including &#8220;disciplining some students and not others, solely based on immutable characteristics,&#8221; reads the complaint.
&#8220;Accordingly, we ask that the Department promptly investigate the allegations in this complaint, act swiftly to remedy unlawful policies and practices, and order appropriate relief,&#8221; the complaint says.
The new discipline policy is part of a collective bargaining <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/56/Tentative%20Agreements%20Combined%2011.27.23%20PAT.pdf" rel="noopener">agreement</a> between Portland Public Schools and its unionized teachers, which ended a nearly month-long strike in late November.
When a student engages in “continuous disruptive behavior,” school officials must develop a “support plan” for the student that “must take into consideration the impact of issues related to the student’s trauma, race, gender identity/presentation, sexual orientation, disability, social emotional learning, and restorative justice as appropriate for the student,” the agreement <a target="_blank" href="https://defendinged.org/complaints/ocr-complaint-portland-public-schools-2/" rel="noopener">states</a>.
“Teachers in Portland Public Schools are encouraged to discipline students based on their race and it&#8217;s appalling,&#8221; said Caroline Moore, vice president of Parents Defending Education.
&#8220;The teachers wanted to amend the policy so desperately that they included the provision in their strike agreement. This is corrupt and un-American. I’m anxiously awaiting the U.S. Department of Education’s investigation into this district&#8217;s unlawful practices,&#8221; Moore said.
The new disciplinary policy also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/portland-teachers-will-take-gender-identity-race-into-account-before-disciplining" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> suspending a student who threatens or harms other people. Those students may now only be removed from their classroom and sent to a “self-regulation space” within the school.
Previously, Portland schools <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/portland-public-schools-changed-suspension-policy-teachers-strike/283-57387413-23d3-46e9-aea7-c532fd91b37f" rel="noopener">could</a> suspend middle and high school students for at least five days for extreme cases of students causing physical harm or threatening violence. Now, through the union agreement, the district has expanded its rapid response teams, which are supposed to intervene early in these situations.
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The agreement replaces the term “unacceptable” student behavior with “continuous disruptive” behavior and refers to “support plans” rather than “behavior correction plans.”
Student discipline has been a growing concern in Portland’s public schools.
Portland teachers have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/portland-public-schools-changed-suspension-policy-teachers-strike/283-57387413-23d3-46e9-aea7-c532fd91b37f" rel="noopener">said</a> they are seeing “more students in crisis” with mental health issues, which can lead to fights.
In response, the Portland school district has been working to beef up its “restorative justice” practices over the last two years. However, after the pandemic, the district saw a spike in requests for the district’s restorative justice services, highlighting the discipline issue.

Rear view of teenage girls and boys learning in classroom

Parent Group Files Federal Complaint Against Portland Schools For Disciplining Based On Gender Identity, Race

Parents rights

Organized labor in America seems to be at a crossroads. On the one hand, the union membership rate in 2022 dropped to 10.1%, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the lowest level</a> on record. At the same time, Americans’ approval of unions in general has been <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/what-you-need-to-know-about-gen-zs-support-for-unions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the rise</a> since 2012. And if the current data is any indication, the latest generation to enter the workforce is poised to give unions a surge the likes of which they haven’t seen in decades. While they’re at it, they might also fundamentally change the meaning and purpose of the labor movement in this country.
Gen Z shows strong pro-union tendencies. According to the 2020 American National Election Studies survey, Gen Z gave unions a <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/what-you-need-to-know-about-gen-zs-support-for-unions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">64.3% approval rating</a>, surpassing Millennials at 60.5%, Gen X at 57.8%, and Baby Boomers at 57.2%. They’ve demonstrated their commitment as active organizers, unionizing <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/labor-unionization/2023/04/26/were-not-slowing-down-student-workers-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">student workers</a> on college campuses and baristas at <a href="https://time.com/6148475/starbucks-union-organizers-gen-z/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Starbucks locations</a> across the country. The Left-leaning Center for American Progress reports that not only is Gen Z the most pro-union generation currently alive, they are more pro-union than other generations were at the same age. 
 
Gen Z’s strong support for unions is a broader part of their <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/gen-z-has-a-passion-for-political-activism-schools-can-nurture-it/2023/01" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demonstrated predisposition</a> for political activism. John Della Volpe of the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, the author of “Fight: How Gen Z Is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America,” has observed that this generation has chosen “to lean in and fight and try to change the system,” on issues from climate change to gun control to foreign policy. 
 
As American labor unions struggle to decide whether their primary function is to negotiate on behalf of workers or to act as foot soldiers and financial backers for a kaleidoscope of progressive political causes, it’s not difficult to see which side Gen Z will come down on. If the <a href="https://www.inc.com/principal/5-ways-gen-z-may-impact-your-workplace-and-why-thats-a-good-thing.html#:~:text=Diversity%2C%20equity%2C%20and%20inclusion%20(,on%20them%20than%20older%20generations.&amp;text=2-,In%20fact%2C%2074%20percent%20of%20Gen%20Z%20employees%20say%20it's,a%20company%20that%20prioritizes%20DEI." target="_blank" rel="noopener">74% of Gen Z members</a> who consider Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies to be a top priority are any indication, we can expect them to use the power of organized labor to implement DEI policies in more workplaces, following the lead of <a href="https://www.aft.org/resolution/dei-and-racial-justice-investments">the American Federation of Teachers</a> (AFT), the second-largest teachers union in the United States.
Indeed, teachers’ union activism has become the norm nationwide. The National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest teachers union, <a href="https://www.nea.org/resource-library/nea-lgbtq-resources#:~:text=The%20NEA%20is%20committed%20to,welcoming%20schools%20for%20all%20students.">promotes and provides</a> teaching resources on pro-LGBTQ+ topics on its website. The Oakland Education Association took an anti-Israel stance by endorsing a <a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/oakland-union-endorses-pro-palestine-teach-in-says-they-wont-be-intimidated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘teach-in’ in support of Gaza.</a> 
If the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-most-young-americans-back-ending-israel-many-find-jewish-genocide-calls-okay/">60% of young Americans</a> who consider Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacre of Israeli citizens to be “justified” end up joining their workplace unions, they will likely be only too happy to support more such actions.
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It’s fair to ask what any of this has to do with unions’ supposed goal of bargaining for better wages and conditions for workers. The data is regrettably clear: with this trend towards increased activism, representation for actual union members has suffered. Some of the nation&#8217;s largest labor unions routinely spend as much or more on political activities than they do on representing their existing members. For example, in 2022 the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), representing over 1.8 million workers, <a href="https://americansforfairtreatment.org/resources-and-data/seiu-where-do-your-dues-go/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent $63.5 million</a> on political activities and lobbying, which is more than double what it spent representing its membership. The American Federation of Teachers <a href="https://americansforfairtreatment.org/resources-and-data/aft-where-do-your-union-dues-go/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent $46.9 million</a> supporting Left-wing politics in 2023, while the National Education Association <a href="https://americansforfairtreatment.org/resources-and-data/nea-where-do-your-union-dues-go/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent less</a> on member representation than it did on political causes. 
 
Organized labor is already diverting too much time and money away from the well-being of workers and toward unrelated political agendas. As more members of Gen Z join unions and gain leadership positions, we can only expect this trend to increase.
As a member of Gen Z, it is disheartening to watch my generation embrace the entanglement of labor unions and partisan politics. Rather than prioritizing the genuine needs of their members, unions carry out the agendas of their Democratic allies, advocating for policies that prioritize a political agenda over addressing the practical concerns of workers. When they push for unreasonable demands such as a four-day work week (<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/companies-around-the-world-adopt-four-day-work-week-pilot-programs-to-meet-growing-demand-from-gen-z-and-millennial-employees/#:~:text=About%2083%25%20of%20Gen%2DZ,their%20employer%20offers%20the%20option." target="_blank" rel="noopener">supported by 83% of Gen Z and Millennial workers),</a> it undermines good faith collective bargaining. The regular union members, who deserve representation that is focused on responding to their needs, will be the ones to suffer.
The American labor movement has lost its way, and unfortunately, Gen Z doesn’t look poised to help find it any time soon.
However, despite the prevalence of Gen Z’s mindset, there is hope to be found in the workers all over the country pushing back against that mentality. Several hundred of these employees are members of the organization I work for – Americans for Fair Treatment. Our <a href="https://americansforfairtreatment.org/category/member-spotlight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">members</a> are teachers, law enforcement, and public servants from across the country who stand against pressure from their unions and their co-workers for the individual rights of all employees.
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Andrew Breschard is the Community Manager at <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/americansforfairtreatment.org/__;!!F0Stn7g!H6OhYq765ApSVaoPx_zalKEQD0GT0i39OEI3GACqk7AFmbpUqS676sRi4YtHyVzV9h1Z918R258MqLlpGe8NMSzT$" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Americans for Fair Treatment</a>, a national nonprofit that educates public employees about their rights in a unionized workplace.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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