ON NATION’S BIRTHDAY, UNIONS BEGIN MEETING
TO ADOPT NATIONAL PLATFORMS
Possibilities include renewed schools closures, defunding the police and ‘decolonizing’ curriculum As we celebrate the birth of America’s freedom, two of the foremost organizations working against freedom for millions of school kids and their parents, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are holding conventions.
The irony of their timing is not lost on most. While millions of parents are getting a much needed and celebratory Independence Day break, the unions will be hatching their plans to limit education opportunity and innovation again and roll back the gains of the last six months.
Following is what you need to know is happening while you’re celebrating your Independence Day holiday:
A push to delay school, again?
“The NEA will call for mandatory safe & effective COVID-19 vaccinations & testing for all students and staff before returning to face-to-face instruction in the fall, subject to medical exceptions in accordance with existing law, and will widely publicize this position via social media. We will further call for and publicize safety measures such as social distancing, making proper ventilation be mandatory for all.” (New business item #33)
Priorities for spending include:
★ Forcing education to only be delivered in “brick & mortar” schools
★ “Decolonizing the curriculum”
★ Replacing the police
★ Requiring “inspections periodically as deemed needed by updated science and research, in spaces where students learn and education employees work”
★ Unionizing Amazon
★ Supporting the Palestinian struggle for justice
★ Recruiting and training educators to run for local office and school boards
★ And so much more… As we head into this holiday weekend, celebrating our Nation’s independence from tyranny, we also celebrate the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME ruling, the landmark decision which found compulsory union dues are unconstitutional. Help a union friend declare their independence by informing them of their right to opt-out and earn back those once-compulsory dues and fees. Happy Independence Day!
For more NEA and union antics follow along on Twitter @edreform and @UnionReport74, @DeAngelisCorey, @NEAToday, @AFTunion, @educationweek, and our own @JeanneAllen. Let us know if you’re watching another account we should include in our coverage!
For the Media – Questions you might consider asking of members and attendees:
★ What is your reaction to the fact that there were schools – from traditional public schools in Miami to charter schools in Arizona or Boston Catholic schools – that were able to educate their students in person most of the year without detriment if the science dictated school closures?
★ A common excuse for refusing to go back in a classroom was that unions were just “following the science.” Months ago the CDC said it was safe for schoolroom desks to be 3ft apart. The unions insisted that they remain 6ft apart or they wouldn’t return to school. Why?
★ What is your position on allowing school enrollment to be based on a child’s residence similar to racially biased “red lining” by housing lenders, which has long been outlawed?
★ The president of the Pasco County (Washington) teachers union claimed the push to reopen schools for in-person learning was an example of “white supremacy,” and concerns for children who were suicidal without school or sports are “ignorant and another expression of white privilege.” Is this an acceptable mindset for an education leader?
★ The Chicago Teachers Union supported protesters who erected a guillotine outside of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’s house, tweeting “we are completely impressed by and completely in support of wherever this is headed.” What lessons were the teachers trying to impart to their students?
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