Teachers Union Can't Read The Room
While teaching scores plummet to historic lows, the president of America's largest teacher union attacks "fascists" in the GOP and Christian conservatives.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten’s new book is entitled, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers.”
She claims the book represents a rousing defense of public education as the cornerstone of American democracy.
But the reference to “fascists” - which is normally set aside for Hitler and Benito Mussolini, is an obvious reference to the Republican administration of President Donald Trump. It also insults the Republican Party, which currently hold the majority in both houses of the U.S. Congress.
(The AFT year’s long alignment with the Democratic Party has left it estranged from the halls of power, without any influence.)
Does labeling Trump a fascist help the AFT’s 1.8 million members?
Meanwhile, a recent report of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a congressionally mandated program that measures U.S. students’ academic achievement, is a disaster for teachers.
Math and reading scores dropped to their lowest levels since 1992 among 12th graders, making them woefully unprepared for college.
The dismal performance of the nation’s public schools is probably why there is no public outcry about the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), and return responsibility for education to the states. How could teachers do worse? DOE staff already has been slashed in half, to less than 2,200 employees.
Insult to Injury?
The release of Weingarten’s book also coincided with the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk, an influential 31-year-old Christian conservative who challenged leftist orthodoxy (e.g. abortion and transgender ideology) on college campuses. Kirk left a wife and two small children.
There is considerable ongoing discussion about whether the extreme polarization of society today is contributing to a wave of political assassinations. The head of the teacher’s union calling the U.S. President a fascist probably doesn’t help matters.
There were many calls for Weingarten’s resignation after she endorsed an online comment that claimed left-wingers stood in line to challenge Kirk while right-wingers “did what right wingers (sic) do and shot him. We are not the same!”
As an aside, there is mounting evidence that Kirk’s shooter was a lefty who was influenced by transgenderism, a theology the AFT strongly endorses.
Did Weingarten’s indictment of Christians and conservatives help the AFT’s 1.8 million members? And, by the way, aren’t at least some members of Weingarten’s union Christian conservatives? Why do they put up with this?
D’s and F’s
There was nothing for teachers to celebrate in the NAEP’s 2024 report on U.S. students’ academic achievement., which shows declining math, science and reading scores for students in grades K-12.
Thirty-two percent of high school seniors scored below “basic” in reading. They are unable to find details in a text to help them understand its meaning. Only about one-third of 12th graders have reading skills necessary for college-level work
Thirty-three percent of eighth graders - the highest percentage ever recorded - scored below basic in reading. They could not identify basic literary elements, like the order of events, character traits, or main ideas.
A whopping 40% of fourth graders did not achieve basic proficiency in reading, the largest percentage since 2002. These children struggle to recognize the reasons for a character’s actions in a story.
It seems outrageous that Americans pay more to educate primary/secondary school pupils ($17,277) than any other equivalent nation. Only four much smaller countries pay more - Luxembourg ($25,000), Austria ($18,000), Norway ($19,000) and Switzerland. ($18,500)
Plus, teachers can’t complain about their pay.
Education Week reports there was a 27% increase in teacher pay from 2015-16 to 2024-25.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Education Association say the national average salary for public school teachers was approximately $74,177 for the 2024-2025 school year, a three percent increase over the prior year.
Bottom line - this probably isn’t the best time for the president of the American Federation of Teachers to insult the President, Republicans, the 77 million voters who elected him, and Christian conservatives.
The first labor union in the United States, the Knights of Labor, was founded in 1869 in Philadelphia to lobby for high wages for garment workers, plus better working conditions and an eight-hour workday. Think of all that the union movement has accomplished for American workers!
But labor isn’t a one-way street. Teachers have to actually do their jobs and teach America’s children to prepare them for the future.
Additionally, while social change may appeal to union leaders, there are many pressing issues facing members of the ATF. For example, labor is being transformed with the rise of automation and artificial intelligence. Teachers will be affected.
The bottom line is the leadership of the AFT has shown a remarkable inability to read the room. Weingarten et. al., should rethink their focus on teaching young children about the spectrum of gender choices, and focus on its membership.