Randi Weingarten is fed up with the attacks on her, her union, and the teaching profession.
The president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest national teachers鈥� union, spent a large portion of her keynote speech last week decrying conservative talking points against educators and teachers鈥� unions. Teachers have found themselves in the center of debates over how schools should handle conversations and lessons on race and racism, students鈥� gender identity and pronouns, and other cultural lightning rods.
鈥淲hy are our opponents going Defcon 1, with sleazy lies about 鈥榞rooming鈥� and calling teachers 鈥榩edophiles鈥�? Why are Fox News and some GOP officials spreading these conspiracies and other hateful ideas, which social media stokes and amplifies?鈥� Weingarten said, as screenshots of inflammatory tweets and headlines appeared on the screen behind her. 鈥淏ecause the extremists鈥攖he anti-public schools crowd, the anti-union crowd, the privatizers, the haters鈥攖hey see the importance of public schooling as a unifying American value, and that Americans value educators. So the extremists plot to change that.鈥�
More than 2,000 union delegates were meeting in Boston for the AFT鈥檚 convention at the same time some of Weingarten鈥檚 most vocal critics鈥擬oms for Liberty鈥攚ere in Tampa, Fla. Moms for Liberty is a national advocacy group of mostly conservative parents that has battled mask mandates in school, sought to ban books on LGBTQ issues or gender identity, and opposed classroom discussions on racial discrimination. The group鈥檚 leaders have blamed Weingarten for her role in school closures and mask mandates.
In her speech, Weingarten said parents and educators must be partners鈥攁nd that found that 88 percent of parents of school-aged children said their child鈥檚 teacher has done the best they can, given the circumstances around the pandemic. 鈥淓xtremist politicians鈥� are trying to drive a wedge between parents and teachers, she said, adding that the AFT is focused on investing in schools and students.
The union is gearing up for a fight in the midterm elections, where education and the related cultural debates will likely be a big issue for voters. In May, AFT and the Democratic firm Hart Research and found that just 44 percent said they have confidence in teachers鈥� unions to have the right ideas for public schools. Sixty-two percent said they had confidence in teachers, and 56 percent pointed to parent organizations.
When asked whether they鈥檇 trust teachers or a group of conservative parents to be right during an education disagreement, 40 percent of respondents said they鈥檇 have more confidence in teachers, while 36 percent said they鈥檇 trust the conservative parent group. When the choice was between teachers and conservative politicians, voters were more likely to trust teachers鈥�58 percent said they鈥檇 have more confidence in teachers, compared to 24 percent who鈥檇 have more confidence in conservative politicians.
Meanwhile, a recent Democrats for 91制片厂视频 Reform poll found that voters think politicians from both parties are too focused on race and gender issues in education and are not prioritizing learning recovery.
First lady Jill Biden and several Democratic members of Congress, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Ed Markey, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, also addressed the AFT delegates during their convention. So did Nathan Monell, the executive director of the National Parent Teacher Association, who called for collaboration and unity and said that 鈥渢he loudest voices, the harshest voices, and the most divisive voices鈥� do not represent the majority of parents.
A conversation with Weingarten
Weingarten, who was re-elected for an eighth two-year term last week after running unopposed, sat down with 91制片厂视频 Week to discuss the effects of legislation restricting what teachers can do and say, and what she sees as 鈥渋ndoctrination鈥� by conservatives. This interview has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
AFT delegates . I鈥檓 curious your thoughts about certification solutions like in Arizona, which just made it so .
It鈥檚 very dangerous. It鈥檚 a good and dangerous example of the disrespect for knowledge in this country. They would never, ever do this about airline pilots. They would never do this about engineers. They would never do this about doctors. They would never do this about lawyers. But frankly, they are fearful about teachers actually teaching critical thinking, actually having knowledge. It鈥檚 antithetical to having an educated citizenry.
What you鈥檙e seeing is the hints of indoctrination on the right-wing鈥攖hat instead of actually having teachers who have the knowledge and skills and the conditions that they need to teach and the pay that benefits them, they鈥檙e just trying to deal with having a warm body in the room. And it鈥檚 just terrible for kids. They want some kids to have a decent education, but not all kids.
They do not care about children鈥檚 knowledge if they are watering down credentialing so that you do not have people who know their content, know how to teach. That has always been signified by a college diploma, and they would never do it in the professions or the occupations they thought were important. It shows you why they don鈥檛 think teaching is important. And it鈥檚 another indication of the culture war.
Speaking of the culture war, you said in your keynote speech that AFT has a legal defense fund for any teacher who鈥檚 disciplined for teaching the truth. Have you had to use that?
Very rarely. There are some cases where a couple of educators have said鈥擨鈥檓 not going to talk about the cases, [but] they said they think they have been disciplined because of this. But this is what we鈥檝e really seen: These laws are intended to chill speech, and to scare people, and to create fear. What we have seen throughout the country is that many teachers are saying, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how to answer a child鈥檚 question anymore.鈥�
In many instances in Texas and Florida and other places, [teachers] have changed their curriculum to comply with laws, which means they are not teaching the way they want to teach. ... The other thing we鈥檙e seeing though is at the same time this is happening, the right wing is trying to create curriculum that indoctrinates kids. [Editor鈥檚 note: Weingarten later cited Hillsdale College鈥檚 as an example.] Frankly, it feels to me like these laws should be stopping that as well, but they鈥檙e trying to install these curriculum in schools. So they鈥檙e not letting people teach labor history, but they want people to teach, quote, 鈥渇reedom.鈥�
One of the most important things I said this week is: Let鈥檚 really focus on who鈥檚 being political here and who isn鈥檛. I know we engage in elections, and you have to engage in elections鈥攊n most of America, school boards are run by leaders who get elected. Elections matter, but on a day-to-day basis in schools, what educators are trying to do, and what they鈥檙e saying, is: Invest in the basics. Let us make sure that kids can learn reading, let us meet their social-emotional and academic needs. Let鈥檚 make sure they have pathways after high school. Let鈥檚 have the things that they enjoy, like play and sports and music and art, and let鈥檚 teach the other essentials, including critical thinking.
What the other side is doing, like [Govs.] DeSantis and Abbott鈥攖hey鈥檙e just making everything political. They鈥檙e thwarting us from teaching kids. They鈥檙e stopping us from teaching honest history. They鈥檙e trying to say that we shouldn鈥檛 see all kids. And what they鈥檙e not doing is they鈥檙e not giving us the resources and the conditions we need to actually help kids recover from a pandemic and then accelerating learning. They are playing politics.
These folks who are doing their so-called anti-woke stuff鈥攚here鈥檚 their work on helping us with reading? Where鈥檚 their work with helping us on [career and technical education]? Where鈥檚 their work with helping us on the [teacher] shortage?
. They didn鈥檛 read [my] freaking speech. Their agenda is about fear and division. That is not what public education in America is about.
How do you respond to critics who ask: Why isn鈥檛 focused on what鈥檚 happening in school buildings instead of politics?
Well, because AFT is about democracy too, and teachers live in democracy. ... We engage in our democracy, and we do it publicly and transparently. We don鈥檛 smear. We don鈥檛 demean. We make the case about why elections matter and why people who are gonna help better the lives of people matter. But if you look at our resolutions, we spend as much time on the issues that matter to the day-to-day life of a school teacher and a college professor and a nurse as we spend on other things.
Gun violence matters. People don鈥檛 want to be armed鈥攖hey want guns off the street, they want guns out of schools. The only way to actually get that done is to change laws. Is that a safety condition? Is that an educational condition? Or is that what we have to do in the aftermath of elections? But I don鈥檛 think the Koch brothers had the kind of conversation that we had about [] and what they mean, or about , or about how to solve the shortage.
You know what that question reminds me of? Teachers should be seen and not heard. They should just do what we tell them to do, as opposed to: They should have a voice in this.
Elementary teachers in one Florida school district from displaying pictures of their same-sex partner on their desk or wearing rainbow items of clothing, although the state the law does not restrict the display of personal photos. Are you worried we鈥檙e going to see teachers鈥� personal lives being censored in states with laws restricting how LGBTQ issues are addressed in schools?
Yes, I鈥檓 totally worried about it. If I was in a heterosexual couple, and my kid had a bat mitzvah, and I had a picture of my family with the kid at the bat mitzvah with a tallit on, and somebody said, 鈥渢ake that picture down,鈥� people would be screaming bloody murder. Because you are saying that the state is telling me how to define the free exercise of religion.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness鈥攊t鈥檚 in the declaration of freaking independence. How do you say to somebody, you must take down a picture of somebody you鈥檙e close with?
Is there room for litigation there?
People are looking at it. People are looking at it. I don鈥檛 want anybody to have to be invisible about who they are, and nobody should want anybody to be invisible about who they are. I want people to be able to show who they are based upon their religion, based upon their sex, based upon their gender identity. They have an inalienable right under the [U.S.] Constitution to show who they are.
And what is happening is because these folks think it is politically in their interest, they want to take away an inalienable right of people they think should have less power than they have. It鈥檚 going back to a dark age that some people have rights and other people don鈥檛.
In your speech, you mentioned Willie Carver, the Kentucky teacher of the year who left the profession because of the attack on LGBTQ rights. Are you worried we鈥檙e going to see more LGBTQ teachers, more teachers of color leave?
We are already. The . The Kentucky teacher of the year left. But I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 simply people who have been historically discriminated against. I think you鈥檙e going to see more women leave the profession. You鈥檙e gonna see people who are just being bullied because somebody doesn鈥檛 like what they say or who they are.
