Dana Perino: Randi Weingarten is going after parents again
'The Five' co-hosts react to AFT President Randi Weingarten comparing parental rights to segregation and a Chicago union boss defending her son's enrollment in private school.
The American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Tuesday was fact-checked by social media platform X after she touted in-person learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In-person learning is where kids do best, which is why educators & their unions worked hard to reopen US schools safe in-person learning beginning back in April 2020, and why we’ve spent the last several years following the pandemic prioritizing public schooling & investing in #RealSolutionsForKids that help them recover & thrive."
The teachers union chief's remarks come from a statement she posted in a press release that addressed learning loss due to COVID-19 school closures.
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Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, was previously fact-checked in October for claiming she was "always" in favor of reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
She explained further, "Our focus is on well-being; wrapping services around schools and making them hubs of their communities; regulating the influence of harmful social media; and expanding opportunities for experiential and hands-on learning that equips kids with the skills and knowledge to pursue careers, college and life."
The post was marked by "community notes" from X with additional information to provide context around her statements. The fact-check made clear to users that Weingarten’s current position on in-person learning was inconsistent with her previous rhetoric.
The community notes contained links to articles that explained her past position on in-person learning: Weingarten in July 2020 threatened to go on strike if schools returned to in-person learning.
In August, she pushed for strengthening online learning.
"She only changed her tune when returning in person was inevitable," X fact-checkers wrote under her post, as well as tagging a link.
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American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten in July 2020 threatened to go on strike if school returned to in-person learning and in August she pushed to strengthen online learning. ((Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images))
Since Weingarten restricted replies only to accounts she followed, some accounts on X posted screenshots of her post to acknowledge the fact-checking it prompted.
Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily reacted to the issue.
"The damage Randi Weingarten did to American children could last a lifetime. We cannot allow her to rewrite history and avoid accountability," Neily said.
"Randi Weingarten got slapped with THREE COMMUNITY NOTE fact-checks for lying today about her role in keeping schools closed. Glorious," American Federation For Children Senior Fellow Corey DeAngelis said.
"Randi Weingarten never fails to congratulate herself on failure," Angela Morabito from the Independent Women's Forum wrote.
Morabito went on to say, "She kept schools closed and is still lying about it."
Weingarten was previously fact-checked in October for claiming she was "always" in favor of reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reports show that COVID-19's had an impact on education on students in all grade levels and college. Learning loss, social and emotional development and college acceptance standards have all changed since the early days of 2020. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Back in May, Weingarten was called out for "rewriting history" when she was slapped with another fact-check after she claimed that she advocated for reopening schools as early as April 2020, one month after the pandemic began.
Other fact checks said AFT "pushed aggressively at the local level" to keep schools closed until further safety precautions could be implemented, focusing on how areas of high union influence remained closed longer than others.
Reports show that COVID-19 had an impact on the education of students at all grade levels and college. Learning loss, social and emotional development, and college acceptance standards have all changed since the early days of 2020.
Weingarten did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Fox News' Kendall Tietz contributed to this report.