Weingarten calls DeVos a liar over teachers’ union comments
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten called out Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, saying she lied about the teachers’ unions losing members in the wake of the Janus v. AFSCME decision.
Weingarten said that while DeVos is secretly cheerleading the Janus decision and is anti-union, they actually added new members.
“The reality is the AFT has added 100,000 members from February 2018 to February 2019, and we’ve tallied 14 organizing wins since June,” stated Weingarten. “We are close to 1.7 million members again and have added a quarter of a million members in the last decade.”
Weingarten said that the Supreme Court decision ignited a “which side are you on?” moment for teachers instead of the reverse.
“The real reason DeVos is attacking us is because her antipathy toward public schools, public school children and the Special Olympics has been on front street this week,” said Weingarten. “Her disastrous testimony before Congress showed just how far she would go to privatize the schools that 91 percent of kids attend. Betsy isn’t concerned about fixing mold and crumbling classrooms because it gets in the way of her political project to syphon public money into private hands. And she wants to silence people like us who champion the aspirations of working families for a better life.”
Last month, DeVos unveiled a $64 billion proposed budget for the Department of Education that would take away $17.6 million in federal funds earmarked for the Special Olympics.
After the outcry, DeVos said she supports the Special Olympics, but it isn’t a federal program. She said it’s a private organization and she wants to CONTINUE READING: Weingarten calls DeVos a liar over teachers’ union comments | New York Amsterdam News: The new Black view
