[ "Maybe spend a minute in one of the classrooms with my members
and their students and you will get a real lesson in the promise and
potential of America," said AFT president Randi Weingarten.]
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TEACHERS’ UNION LEADER HITS BACK AFTER POMPEO CALLS HER THE ‘MOST
DANGEROUS PERSON IN THE WORLD’  
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Kenny Stancil
November 22, 2022
Common Dreams
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_ "Maybe spend a minute in one of the classrooms with my members and
their students and you will get a real lesson in the promise and
potential of America," said AFT president Randi Weingarten. _

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers,
speaks during a March for Our Lives rally on June 11, 2022 in
Washington, D.C. , (Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for March For Our
Lives)

 

RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRESIDENT OF the American Federation of Teachers,
defended the egalitarian legacy and aspirations of public education on
Monday after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused her of
being "the most dangerous person in the world."

In an interview
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Pompeo said: "I tell the story often—I get asked, 'Who's the most
dangerous person in the world? Is it Chairman Kim, is it Xi Jinping?'
The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten."

"It's not a close call," Pompeo, who worked in the Trump
administration and is considered a potential Republican presidential
candidate, continued. "If you ask, 'Who's the most likely to take this
republic down?' It would be the teachers' unions, and the filth that
they're teaching our kids, and the fact that they don't know math and
reading or writing."

While the news outlet failed to push back on Pompeo's absurd claims,
Weingarten took to Twitter to defend her union and the institution of
public education.

Admitting that she wasn't sure whether to characterize Pompeo's
remarks "as ridiculous or dangerous," Weingarten noted that he
defended tyrants in various parts of the world during his tenure with
the State Department.

Pompeo "was more focused on pleasing Trump than fighting for freedom,
national security, and democracy," said Weingarten.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), by contrast, fights "for
freedom, democracy, and an economy that works for all," Weingarten
continued. "We fight for what kids and communities need: Strong public
schools that are safe and welcoming, where kids learn how to think and
work with others."

"And we fight against this kind of rhetoric and hate," she added.
"Maybe spend a minute in one of the classrooms with my members and
their students and you will get a real lesson in the promise and
potential of America."

Pompeo's attack on teachers' unions and inclusive curriculum comes
amid an ongoing right-wing censorship campaign
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assault
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public school students and employees.

A recent analysis by PEN America detailed
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138 school districts across 32 states have prohibited more than 1,600
titles in classrooms and libraries since July 2021. The vast majority
of banned books deal with LGBTQ+ themes, address racism, contain
sexual content, or are related to activism.

In addition, according to
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America, Republican lawmakers in 42 states have introduced more than
190 bills since January 2021 that seek to limit the ability of
educators and students to discuss gender, racial inequality, and other
topics—including a growing number of proposals
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establish so-called "tip lines" that would empower parents to
discipline teachers. Nearly two dozen educational gag orders have been
enacted in more than a dozen states.

In an opinion piece published before far-right Florida Gov. Ron
DeSantis signed
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state's infamous "Don't Say Gay" bill, _Washington Post_ columnist
Greg Sargent argued
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the GOP's tidal wave of repressive education legislation has "an
obvious purpose: to make teachers feel perpetually on thin ice
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so they shy away from difficult discussions about our national past
rather than risk breaking laws in ways they cannot themselves
anticipate."

"But there's another, more pernicious goal driving these bills that
might well succeed politically precisely because it remains largely
unstated," Sargent continued. "The darker underlying premise here is
that these bills are needed in the first place, because subversive
elements lurk around every corner in schools, looking to pervert,
indoctrinate, or psychologically torture your kids."

The "combination of... vagueness and punitive mechanisms such as
rights of action and tip lines" is intentionally designed to promote
self-censorship, wrote Sargent. "Precisely because teachers might fear
that they can't anticipate _how_ they might run afoul of the
law—while also fearing punishment for such transgressions—they
might skirt difficult subjects altogether."

He added that "calls for maximal parental choice and control in
schools have been used by the right for decades as a smoke screen to
sow fears and doubts about public education at its ideological
foundations."

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), a former middle school
principal, called
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comments about Weingarten "outrageous, dangerous, and asinine."

"Radical republicans hate education," he said, "because it cripples
their lies and fear-mongering. I stand with Randi Weingarten and all
teachers in the fight for our kids, our democracy, and our planet."

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
president Lee Saunders, meanwhile, said in a statement that "if Mike
Pompeo really thinks Randi Weingarten is 'the most dangerous person in
the world,' then he is the most clueless person in the world."

"More likely, though, this is just a stunt by a politician desperate
to get attention for a longshot presidential run," said Saunders.
"Either way, what a relief that a man who calls an educator a greater
security threat than global dictators is no longer in charge of our
diplomatic relations around the world. While Pompeo continues to
bluster, Randi will keep working for safe, vibrant schools that enrich
our children and strengthen our communities."

_Kenny Stancil is a staff writer for Common Dreams._

* Public Education
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* Culture Wars
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* Mike Pompeo
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* Randi Weingarten
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