Teachers’ union president Randi Weingarten is under fire – after she was caught plotting to sabotage the public school system in Puerto Rico as a protest against conservative education reform.
During a ride in the first-class car on Amtrak’s high-speed Acela commuter train from Washington to New York, Weingarten was overheard taking a phone call where she discussed her union’s, the American Federation of Teachers, plans to fight back against Puerto Rico’s new education reforms. Recently, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello’s signed a bill that would dramatically increase the number of charter schools and voucher programs, while shuttering some public schools due to declining enrollment.
Charter schools and voucher programs have been positive for students and families, but negative for teachers’ unions, which would explain Weingarten’s vehement opposition.
“We never use the word strike,” Weingarten said on the phone, during her trip. “We are a human shield for the kids… teachers are doing this in the stead of parents and kids.”
Weingarten added that her goal was to be “cloaking this in Oklahoma and West Virginia,” referencing the teacher strikes in those states. But while those strikes were about teacher pay and school spending, Puerto Rico’s is about student-centric education reform – explaining why Weingarten would want to tie it to the more sympathetic protests in the continental United States.
“Let everyone call in for a personal day so they can’t open schools,” she said, hinting that she would rather kids miss a day of school rather than cede any ground to education reforms. “Let them call in for a sick day. They’re sick to death about the schools. They’re so anxiety-ridden about the schools.”
Weingarten’s plan comes after Puerto Rico announced sweeping education reforms, including a decision to close 238 schools after plummeting enrollment caused by Hurricane Maria last year.
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AAN Staff
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