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Randi Weingarten has taken to wearing a paper clip on her lapel as a bizarre symbol of her crusade against “fascism,” aka Donald Trump.
The president of the American Federation of Teachers is on tour to peddle her new book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers” — yet another example of prioritizing poisonous politics over education from this Marxist fossil. Not to mention fattening her own wallet.
The paper clip, she likes to explain to anyone who will listen — mostly on MSNBC — symbolizes a Norwegian protest against Adolf Hitler in World War II.
“Teachers in Norway when there was Nazi occupation, they started wearing paper clips . . . to bind people together as community,” Weingarten told MSNBC.
Pretty subtle analogy there — less than three weeks after Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a young leftist of the sort radicalized in Weingarten’s classrooms who engraved anti-fascist messages on his bullets.
The fact she would continue with her “fascist” book tour after such a tragedy proves that her moral compass is badly awry.
Meanwhile, not a single child was found to be proficient in math and reading in 55 public schools in Chicago, according to 2024 state tests.
New York is not quite as bad but, still, two thirds of fourth-graders are not proficient in math and reading and 12th-grade scores have dropped to levels not seen since 1992 in reading and 2005 in math.
When US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon released the latest scores for eighth-grade science and 12th-grade reading and mathematics in the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress last month, she described them as “devastating.”
“American students are testing at historic lows across all of K-12,” she said.
“Nearly half of America’s high school seniors are testing at below basic levels in math and reading.”
“Despite spending billions annually on numerous K-12 programs, the achievement gap is widening, and more high school seniors are performing below the basic benchmark in math and reading than ever before.”
The “Nation’s Report Card” shows little to no progress in regaining pre-pandemic levels in math and reading.
Reading scores for each grade level fell 5 points from 2019 levels.
Math scores dropped 3 points for fourth-graders and 8 points for eighth-graders.
Only 22% of 12th-grade students meet proficiency in math, while just 35% of 12th-grade students have achieved proficiency in reading.
Just 31% of 8th-grade students meet proficiency in science.
Lasting harm
The unnecessarily prolonged school lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of which extended well into 2021, caused lasting harm to children in public schools.
The most severe impact was on kids from low-income families, and black, Hispanic and rural students.
A lot of kids just figured school was a waste of time and lost the habit of going to class.
Absenteeism has soared since the pandemic with more than one-third of New York City students chronically absent last year.
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In Chicago, almost half the students just don’t bother turning up.
Is it any wonder that gang violence in Chicago is through the roof?
There’s not much hope for the future in kids betrayed by the system and destined for a life on the margins.
The way to tackle the root causes of crime is to teach every child to read and do math proficiently so they have the tools to seize the American dream.
What a contrast to the “Mississippi Miracle” where kids have gone from last place in the nation to first place (when adjusted for socioeconomic factors) (when adjusted for in the nation in reading proficiency) after the state implemented phonics-based literacy reforms.
Fourth-grade students in Mississippi now read at a level that is almost a full school year ahead of their New York City counterparts.
Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee are following suit and showing the same gains.
Every child in New York and Chicago deserves the same.
The fact there is any argument at all is due entirely to Weingarten and the teachers unions — and their inextricable links with the Democrats who run the cities with the worst education and the worst youth crime.
When they’re not lionizing terrorists and demanding pay rises, Weingarten and pals are propagandizing students in left-wing politics.
If there is institutional racism in this country, it is concentrated in one institution — not police forces but the teachers unions run by Randi Weingarten for more than 30 years.
She doesn’t care about the students, the majority of whom are illiterate when they graduate after 13 years in school.
They are just a means to an end.
In her book, she says the role of a teacher is to defend “our democracy.”
Anyone who paid attention during the Biden years knows that’s code for fighting Trump, aka “the fascists.”
Dem friends in power
The Biden years were golden for Weingarten and friends.
Then-First Lady “Dr.” Jill Biden was a teacher in the Weingarten mold.
In a White House event honoring educators, she once described Weingarten and her National Education Association counterpart Becky Pringle as “good friends,” and “incredible partners.”
Just eight days into Joe Biden’s term, he phoned Weingarten to assure her that “I am not abandoning you,” amid pressure from parents to end school closures.
After promising to open a majority of K-12 public schools within his first 100 days, Biden wimped out, redefining “open” to “at least one day a week.”
You see, Weingarten was holding out for another big taxpayer handout before it was “safe” for teachers to return to classrooms.
A big chunk of the inflationary $1.9 trillion slush fund that Dems misleadingly titled the “American Rescue Plan” went to schools to be frittered away on anything but reading, science and math.
Hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer largesse, and the results for students were horrendous.
Presumably prodded by his wife, Biden would boast that he was “teacher-centric,” and ran a “teacher-oriented Department of Education.”
That’s the problem.
They forgot about the kids.
When peddling her book this week, Weingarten let the cat out of the bag when she said “education is power.”
Of course, the power she is talking about is union power, political power, prioritizing woke brainwashing and protecting underperforming teachers at the expense of student achievement.
Weingarten has done enough damage.
Let the book tour be her swan song.