The American Federation of Teachers union boss shared an article on ‘What’s behind the increase in homeschooling’
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten got more than she asked for after she posted an article about the rise in homeschooling in America on social media Sunday.
“What’s behind the increase in homeschooling,” Weingarten posted on X along with an article with the same title from Axios, which included experts attributing the rise to kids needing specialized services and the pandemic.
Some X users, however, blamed Weingarten and the agenda the AFT has pushed for in education.
Colin Wright, an evolutionary biologist, shared an image of a gender ideology instruction used in public schools around the country. He said, “I’ve identified the suspect. Although according to them suspects should be able to identify themselves.”
The AFT previously promoted the use of a pronoun card which included a question of whether the student wanted their parents to know about their pronouns.
The AFT has also partnered with First Book, an organization that distributes books containing gender ideology education to K-12 schools around the country.
Dozens of comments flooded in, blaming Weingarten for parents opting out of the public school system.
“You are,” said Jon Gabriel, the editor-in-chief of Ricochet, a conservative news site, as the answer for the increase in homeschooling.
Manhattan Institute constitutional expert Ilya Shapiro said Weingarten was also responsible for the increase in support for school choice.
After saying, “The answer is in your mirror @rweingarten,” Townhall columnist Phil Hollaway questioned why Weingarten turned off replies to her post.
“Are you afraid of the answers you’ll get? You and the teacher unions with help from [former CDC director Rochelle Walensky] sent public schools into a death spiral from which they may never recover,” he said.
Pastor Jesse Johnson of the Immanuel Bible Church echoed that same question. “This tweet is ironic at like six levels. But here is another: A person touted as the country’s top teacher asks a question then turns off replies to keep people from answering it. That sums up pedagogy in public schools right now,” the pastor said.
A right-leaning organization responded in kind, mocking Weingarten as an advocate for homeschooling.
“Homeschooling is now the fastest-growing form of education in the U.S. Randi still doesn’t realize she is one of the greatest homeschool advocates in American history,” Young Americans for Liberty posted.
The director of the Independent Women’s Forum, Ginny Gentles, blamed what she deemed to be an anti-parent agenda.
She said, “What’s behind the increase in homeschooling? Well, [Randi Weingarten], with unions/activists pushing school districts to craft policies that assume parents are abusers, it’s time for families to find healthy and safe alternative education options.”
Moms for Liberty attributed it to the rise in parents feeling they were given a backseat as stakeholders in public education.
“Parents learned during covid that they often can’t trust schools to teach children effectively or respect their fundamental parental rights. You closed schools & left many parents with no other options. Now they know they can handle homeschooling. We should be thanking you,” the organization said.
The press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Jeremy Redfern said, “Can’t believe she posted this unironically. The lack of introspection continues.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the AFT for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Written by Hannah Grossman for Fox News ~ November 13, 2023