Posted on 03/10/2025 4:28:09 PM PDT by Libloather
Teachers' union boss Randi Weingarten said during a recent podcast appearance that she is fearful President Donald Trump's plans to terminate the Department of Education will mean more funding for school choice vouchers, which she decried as a "tax credit" for wealthy families already sending their kids to private school.
Weingarten's comments came during a podcast interview with Molly Jong-Fast, who spoke with her about the implications of Trump's spending reforms, particularly his plan to terminate the Department of Education. Weingarten stated that cutting the department's roughly $100 billion in funding will primarily benefit tax cuts for the wealthy or – "equally pernicious" – be redirected to states as "block grants."
"We know, for example, what Texas would do," Weingarten told Jong-Fast. "They'll use it for vouchers. So they won't give [federal funding] to the kids who have it now, they'll just give it for vouchers."
"And frankly, what we are seeing in all the programs now – in terms of vouchers – they don't work for kids," Weingarten continued. "They basically go right now – it becomes a tax credit for people who already are sending their kids to private schools. So it's income redistribution."
Trump has not taken any formal action to dismantle the the department, but media reports have signaled he is close to signing an executive order directing his education secretary, Linda McMahon, to begin the process. Last month, the president mused during a press conference from the Oval Office that the Education Department was "a big con job" that needed to be shut down "immediately."
Alongside his anticipated executive action to dismantle the department Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 29 to expand "educational freedom" for families through various school choice programs, including vouchers.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It will go to 50 laboratories of democracy where the best methods will win out and there will be competition between states to produce the best educated kids.
Howzabout we taxpayers just keep our money?
This Randy person also made a treck out to Ukraine, for her share of ALL those laundered tax dollars that Zelensky can’t find!!
She’s been in power FOREVER. Also, if you have a great product you really don’t have to worry. It’s when you have a bad or mediocre product that consumers look elsewhere.
People stick with what works, provides a quality product,& some school districts shouldn’t even exist. As a retired teacher I saw how power & money drive administrations.
FR headline -
The “National Democratic Institute” - with Tom Daschle, Stacey Abrams, Donna Brazile, Michael McFaul, & Randi Weingarten on its board—received $887k from fundraisers in 2022-2023 and received $167 MILLION in govt grants.
Wow, didn’t know we were this close To closing down the Department of Education. cool, if true.
Randi has done a good job with education - not! One of the lowest performance in education and the highest cost per student. Not a track record to brag about.
> She’s been in power FOREVER. <
Yep. I’m a retired teacher. And I was an involuntary member of the AFT, the union Weingarten leads. (I say involuntary there, because at the time membership was mandatory.)
Now here’s the thing. The AFT preaches democracy. They’re all about democracy. Let the people decide!
Yet I was never once allowed to vote for or against Weingarten - or any other national or state union official. Those folks are all chosen by shadowy delegates at conventions. It’s like something out of the movie “On the Waterfront”.
It’s so rigged and unfair that a group of us teachers went to see a labor lawyer. He was sympathetic, but told us we had no case. As long as the union bosses were following the union constitution, there was nothing we could do.
I didn’t know Tom Daschle was still around.
If school choice vouchers become reality I can see a lot of closed Catholic schools reopening.
What will also happen is it will show these schools operate with a lot less funding than the public schools.
“So it’s income redistribution.”
The feds only ↑ excel at one thing.
School choice. The horror, the horror.
They know they can never go back until possibly decades if we succeed. Distance between Revolution and Counter Revolution.
Reagan was counter revolution
Obama and Biden revolution
Trump is leading a counter revolution and those are far more difficult to win once the country is accustomed to that way of life and order.
“Randi Weingarten says quiet part out loud: Fears Ed Dept closure will boost school choice funds”
If Public Schools were doing the job of actually educating students on subjects like STEM there would be almost no need for school choice funds.
Ughlee as sin.
As usual, Trump is right. There never should have been a, “Department of Education”. That’s up to the states to oversee and control education.
Why is a childless lesbian involved in childrens education?
He’s right. Many school elections were dishonest, with the favored party somehow always winning. Randi Weingarten is a lesbian with all of about 6 months’ experience in the classroom. The rest she spent climbing the union ladder. That’s where the money is.
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