Posts tagged Randi Weingarten
Julie Su Pining for Labor Secretary
June 1, 2023 // The National Education Association, one of the largest unions in the nation, began placing ads in states with senators who have yet to commit to voting for Su if – and when – her nomination comes before the full Senate. Ads like these are running in Alaska (Murkowski, R), Arizona (Kelly, D, and Sinema I-ish), West Virginia (Manchin, D). None – along with Angus King (I) of Maine and John Tester (D) of Montana – have said for sure they will vote Su for sure. The NEA came out in favor of Su even before she was nominated, and unusual thing to do for the union, a union that – like its counterpart the AFT led by the egregious Randi Weingarten – pushed strongly to keep schools closed across the country during the pandemic.
AFT PRESIDENT RANDI WEINGARTEN QUALIFIED FOR PUBLIC PENSION FOR YEARS SPENT OUT OF THE CLASSROOM ON UNION LEAVE
May 17, 2023 // AFT president Randi Weingarten’s teaching experience is very limited. While she describes having worked as a New York City public school teacher for six years, she only worked as a regularly appointed full-time teacher for three years, after having spent three years as a per diem substitute. Documents recently obtained by the Freedom Foundation show that Weingarten has been on union leave from her teaching position for the past quarter century. Additional documents show that the Teacher Retirement System of the City of New York has credited Weingarten with nearly 11-and-a-half years of service credit for time spent out of the classroom on full-time union leave as an officer for the United Federation of Teachers.
AFT president Randi Weingarten scores $15K annual teacher’s pension in deal with union and NYC
May 16, 2023 // “The New York Post has refused to provide us with the supposed analysis this story is based on. Regardless, it’s pure speculation because Ms. Weingarten is not retired,” AFT spokesman Andrew Crook said. “Ms. Weingarten has worked on behalf of UFT members—including teaching in NYC public schools—for nearly 40 years.” Weingarten began serving as a legal counsel at UFT in 1986 before becoming a teacher. Other records obtained by the Freedom Foundation show she worked about two hours a day as a substitute from September 1991 to August 1994, amounting to about a year of service in her retirement account.
Don’t Be Fooled by Randi Weingarten’s Rehabilitation Tour
May 8, 2023 // Weingarten worked for six years as a history teacher early on in her 40-year career. But for most of her life, she has advocated for teachers' interests, which is demonstrably not the same as "helping kids." To tell parents, many of whom are concerned by the two decades' worth of progress wiped out in math and reading for fourth-graders; the fact that eighth-graders' average math scores fell in all 50 states minus one; and may have in some cases initiated the exodus of some of the 1.3 million children from the public school system, that the person who helped keep schools closed has their kids' best interests in mind is deeply offensive. Her job is fundamentally to secure higher pay and more job protection for teachers who pay union dues, not to make sure your child is happy, healthy, or safe.
Weingarten Called out for Perjury During House Oversight Hearing
May 5, 2023 // Even far-left mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot told CNN this week, Weingarten’s claims were “not the reality” of what unfolded under her reign. Congress must hold this radical union boss accountable for not only her crimes against children during the pandemic, but for committing perjury in the process of denying her nefarious actions.
Congressional hearing features union-backed politicians
May 1, 2023 // Six of the seven Democratic Party lawmakers received campaign contributions from AFT, and yet not a single lawmaker publicly acknowledged their financial ties to the union. Zero Republican committee members received AFT funding. According to Open Secrets, a campaign contribution transparency website, AFT’s political action committee (PAC) donated to each of the following committee members between 2021-2022: AFT was not the only teachers union to donate to committee members. The National Education Association donated to 6 of the 7 Democrat lawmakers on the committee, who were Reps. Ruiz ($10,000), Mfume ($10,000), Ross ($4,000), Dingell ($4,000), Bera ($4,000), and Hawaiian Rep. Jill Tokuda ($6,000) for a total of $38,000.
Hunter Tower: Is Pittsburgh a blueprint for other union-dominated blue cities?
May 1, 2023 // SEIU leaders now hold key posts in Gainey’s administration. Silas Russell, SEIU Healthcare executive vice president and political director, co-chaired Gainey’s transition team. Maria Montano, former SEIU Healthcare communications director, is now Gainey’s press secretary. And Lisa Frank, former SEIU vice president and director of strategic communications, is now the city of Pittsburgh’s chief operating officer. Emails uncovered through right-to-know requests by CBS Pittsburgh reveal that Russell provided the mayor with union-generated talking points ahead of a meeting last year with UPMC officials.
Randi Weingarten, teacher’s union helped coordinate CDC’s 2021 school reopening guidance, records reveal
April 27, 2023 // Powerful AFT boss Randi Weingarten spoke twice by phone with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in the week leading up to the Feb. 12, 2021, announcement that halted full re-opening of in-person classes — including the day before the guidance was released, according to records obtained by the conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust. AFT and its fellow union, the National Education Association, also asked the White House and CDC for help shaping its press strategy to show the rank-and-file they and the Biden administration were on the same page, emails reveal. The extent of the unions’ role in government policy was revealed the day before Weingarten is set to face a House select subcommittee hearing about the effects of school closures on America’s kids. The records show Walensky took a call from Weingarten on Feb. 7, 2021, five days before the CDC released its “Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools Through Phased Mitigation.”
Op-ed: Expect the Same Familiar Lies From Randi Weingarten on Capitol Hill Today
April 26, 2023 // In July 2020, Weingarten vehemently opposed allowing students to learn in person, even threatening a strike if her demands weren’t met. “(N)othing is off the table,” she said. And she meant it. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) proudly announced it would not reopen unless certain conditions were met. These included the closure of privately operated, publicly funded charter schools; defunding law enforcement; adoption of a government-run Medicare-for-all healthcare system; implementation of a statewide wealth tax; construction of fully-funded housing for the state’s homeless population; and, increased financial support for the children of illegal aliens. Predictably, none of the conditions had anything to do with educating students and everything to do with pushing UTLA’s radical, leftwing agenda.