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March 16, 2023

Over the past few years, I’ve grown accustomed to hearing ludicrous statements about my former profession, however, Randi Weingarten’s recent declaration that “kids do better in schools with teachers unions” certainly takes the cake.

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Weingarten, who currently serves as president of the American Federation of Teachers and previously presided over the United Federation of Teachers, recently penned an op-ed for the Daily Beast in which she made numerous false claims in an effort to cast teachers unions in a positive light.

Apparently, Weingarten is under the assumption that Americans have short memories and have forgotten the wanton destruction wrought by teachers unions, which became especially evident during the pandemic.

So, without further ado, here are the four most absurd assertions courtesy of Weingarten.

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Lie number one: “Research shows that teachers unions are positively associated with student achievement.”

Actually, the total opposite is true. According to U.S. News & World Report, “Research has consistently shown that private school students tend to perform better in standardized tests. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is often referred to as ‘the nation’s report card’” assesses both public and private school students in subjects such as math, reading, science and writing. The most recent NAEP data shows what other research has found: Private school students score better in almost all subjects. On college entry tests such as the SAT, NAIS found that students in private schools consistently outperformed their public school peers in all subject areas.”

Lie number two: “After the onset of the pandemic, teachers worked harder than ever.”

This would be true had Weingarten inserted the words “non-public school” before “teachers” in the sentence above. In reality, the vast majority of teachers unions refused to teach in-person during the duration of the pandemic and for months (and in some cases, more than a full year) after the pandemic had subsided. Meanwhile, almost all private schools remained open for in-person learning during the same period.

Anecdotally, we’ve also witnessed countless stories of teachers and teachers union officials going on vacation while they vehemently pushed to keep public schools closed under the guise of the pandemic.

Lie number three: “In addition to fighting for educators to be paid in accordance with the important work they do, my union also fights for what students, their families, and their communities need.”