

The president of one of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions asserted that school choice is a policy rooted in segregation and racism.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), characterized school choice policies as the cousin of segregated schooling.
“Make no mistake, this use of privatization, coupled with disinvestment, are only slightly more polite cousins of segregation,” Weingarten said during a speech Thursday.
Her comments are part of a wider narrative being pushed by teachers unions that both President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are bad for students.
DeVos has been a strong advocate for alternatives to the traditional public school model. Her advocacy and philanthropy irks the education establishment, as she has been disrupting the status quo by fighting for “school choice” and charter school laws.
The harsh rhetoric from AFT comes just weeks after the president of the nation’s largest teachers unions blasted Trump and DeVos as cruel and callous.