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.
Funny, I thought forcing people to get medical procedures against their will, or placing government agents/administrators between them and their children was how wars start. Silly me.
Yikes...what Jewish woman isn’t these days :)
Vouchers still depend on the government’s assent and largesse - and taxation of others. Get out of the government’s grasp - teach your own children what you know and believe.
These idiots started the war a long time ago. It’s about time that we are finally waking up and we will finish this war for them.
Says one of the demons who has been waging war upon us and our children for decades…
What’s the matter Randi are you afraid of competition? Don’t you teachers always tell us how you would make more in the private sector? Well let’s see and I hope you know how to code.
I’d rather promote participation of the parents as much as possible. Get them vested in what they are paying for with their tax dollars. Hold teachers accountable and if they can’t do it at a state level, empower county and city to take more of a roll and make it a local affair, as it always should have been.
Don’t abandon the fight, empower vested parents to defeat the beast.
Either way, we got our kids through and they are off on their various paths, but yeah, it was a struggle fighting some of the idiocy the lefttards tried to inflict. We helped get at least one teacher kicked out of the system, so one down…
So true. Why should taxpayers have to find alternative means of educating their kids? What qualifications do the “teachers” need to teach gender, sexuality or CRT? Are they simply bringing their personal opinion into the classroom or are they qualified in hormone replacement, psychology, anatomy, etc. These are the questions parents should be asking. How and when will these “theories” be taught, will there be specific classes? This should not be mandatory, but elective and parental permission should be required.
Yes Randi....... first off in the war will be your death. You are on the list
Immature children should not be used as soldiers in a political, cultural, and religious battle with the left.
A parent’s first responsibility is to his or her child. Remove the child from this filth!
Then get active in pushing for vouchers, charters, and tax credits to help ease the transition to complete separation of school and state.
Learned a new word - thanks!
What the Nazis did to the Jews, Democrats will do to us.
Schools ARE indoctrinating children and yes, that includes grooming.
Ask your local elementary school principal if ‘Gay Pride Day’ was celebrated at your child’s school. It was.
They are NOT educating kids - check out test scores. Our schools are NOT safe - our cities are not safe.
Parents are NOT welcome in schools and their input is resented...
Schools ARE indoctrinating children and yes, that includes grooming.
Ask your local elementary school principal if ‘Gay Pride Day’ was celebrated at your child’s school. It was.
They are NOT educating kids - check out test scores. Our schools are NOT safe - our cities are not safe.
Parents are NOT welcome in schools and their input is resented...
And that’s just for starters.
Thanks RACPE. Threats of violence? How typical of the Demagogic Party.
a child’s first and most important teacher are the parents. war was declared on that fact and many resources have been spent that could have been better spent teaching our children how to think, not what to think.
She was ‘almost’ raped?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randi_Weingarten
Personal life
On October 11, 2007, Weingarten publicly announced she is a lesbian. Weingarten introduced Liz Margolies, 54, a psychotherapist and health care activist, as her partner while accepting the Empire State Pride Agenda’s 2007 Community Service Award from Christine Quinn.[4][142] By December 2012, she was in a relationship with Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah.[143] They married March 25, 2018.[144][145]
In December 2014, Weingarten wrote in Jezebel that she had almost been raped just after her junior year in college.[146]
Homosexuality is not ok. Even in closets.
Hey, thanks. I learned a new word today. IOW, she’s paranoid, Jim.
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