Posted on 04/22/2022 8:38:29 PM PDT by Trillian
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said on a recent podcast that GOP-backed parental rights legislation could have alarming results and even suggested that such laws are how "wars start."
During an appearance on a podcast with radio host Rick Smith earlier this month, Weingarten criticized parental rights bills like the one recently signed into law in Florida.
"This notion – we've been very lucky in America, and we in some ways live in a bubble for a long time," she said. "This is propaganda. This is misinformation. This is the way in which wars start. This is the way in which hatred starts."
The AFT president also dismissed the suggestion that teachers are engaging in efforts to make students think in a certain way or are exposing children to inappropriate content.
"We're not indoctrinating," she said. “We're not grooming. … What we're doing is making sure we educate kids. We keep them safe. We keep them welcome. And we teach them how to think, not what to think."
Weingarten and the AFT have been vocal critics of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his state's push for parental rights legislation regarding instruction on critical race theory, and sex and gender.
Last year, DeSantis signed legislation into law banning CRT in Florida's schools. The Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act, otherwise known as the W.O.K.E. Act, equips Floridians with the tools they need to combat "woke indoctrination."
And Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, signed into law last month, prohibits instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades kindergarten through third grade and limits age-inappropriate discussions of sexuality in other grades.
Dubbed by critics as the "Don't say gay" bill despite there being no mention of a ban on the word, H.B. 1557 also allows parents to access their children's education and health records and requires schools to notify parents of changes to their child's mental, physical or emotional well-being. The bill exempts schools from disclosing information to their parents if a "reasonably prudent person" would be concerned that doing so could result in abuse, abandonment or neglect.
Similar legislation has been introduced in other states, including Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Ohio.
Weingarten claimed on the podcast that "right-wing extremists" were "trying to put back in the closet people who may be gay or trans."
The issue of parental rights has become a hot-button topic since the start of the COVID pandemic. School board meetings across the country have included parents protesting school mask mandates, critical race theory instruction and transgender policies.
LOL!
It doesn’t matter what her religion is, this crap has to END!
Let’s dance, perverts.
In the newspeak language of the day, up is down, right is wrong.
Contrary to Weingarten’s statement, the apparent effectiveness of getting “don’t say GAY” into the mainstream well proves that today’s educational establishment is, in fact, teaching children what to think, not how to think. And, yes, public education, today, is government sponsored indoctrination, writ large.
Randi, who is most likely a Lesbian with no children should juts STFU!
Ya think elementary school is a bit early to teach kids the gay sex garbage and divide them by race/victimhood status?
Meanwhile the “teachers” have full private access to your kids at school. Pass all the laws you want. No one is monitoring what they say or do in the classroom. Your kids won’t tell you what’s going on do to peer pressure. Parents will stay silent for fear their kids will be punished at school. The only solutions are home schooling or a complete remake of the school system. Neither is likely. What an f-ing disaster.
Public school groomer. Parents are taking a stand across the country.
According to Wikipedia, she is a lesbian.
“”And we teach them how to think, not what to think.””
Neither is true. Kids are currently taught NOT to think, just to parrot leftist and woke idiocy.
Teachers union president misspells Ukraine on Twitter after posing with upside-down Ukrainian flag
This self-serving blob doth protest too loudly. None are so defensive as they who know full well they are guilty, guilty, guilty.
“This is misinformation. This is the way in which wars start. This is the way in which hatred starts.”
Here they go again.
Reading between the lines, the passive voice implication here is “those right wing haters are gonna bring back lynchings.”
Is it pathetic yet?
...that is all
Get rid of the government schools and that will get rid of the teachers unions and federal government. Vouchers for all! (Backpack funding.)
Your tag line is so true.
FTA: “Weingarten claimed on the podcast that “right-wing extremists” were “trying to put back in the closet people who may be gay or trans.””
Not really seeing a downside here —
Pedophiles thinking they have a right to groom children without parental consent is how wars SHOULD start.
Re: Remake the school system
Privatize the entire system. Vouchers for all.
This is the way in which wars start.
Fine. Bring it on.
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