Randi Weingarten likens parental rights and school choice supporters to segregationists 

National teachers national brag Randi Weingarten likened the rhetoric of supporters of schoolhouse prime and parental rights initiatives to that of segregationists, sparking an outcry from supporters of the movements. 

The explosive examination of Jim Crow-era racists to modern-day activists pushing for schoolhouse districts to let parents to person much input successful their children’s acquisition was made by the American Federation of Teachers president during a Tuesday interview with Northeastern University’s Burnes Center for Social Change elder chap Seth D. Harris. 

“The aforesaid benignant of roots that happened successful the aftermath of Brown v. Board, those aforesaid words that you heard, successful presumption of wanting segregation, station Brown v. Board of Education, those aforesaid words you perceive today,” Weingarten, 65, said successful effect to a question astir the differences successful the governmental treatment surrounding schools present compared to the 20th century. 

Weingarten claims the words “choice” and “parental rights” were favored by segregationists seeking to halt the integration of nationalist schools successful the Jim Crowe era. The Burnes Center for Social Change

“I was benignant of gobsmacked erstwhile I was talking to Southern Poverty Law Center, and they showed maine the aforesaid words: choice’, ‘parental rights’ and attempts to disagreement parents versus teachers, and astatine that point, it was achromatic parents versus different parents. But it’s the aforesaid benignant of words,” she added. 

Weingarten argued that lone a “small radical of extremists,” who privation to spot an extremity to nationalist education, backmost schoolhouse prime and parental rights policies. She specifically named erstwhile Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, New College of Florida committee subordinate Christopher Rufo and the blimpish nonprofit radical Moms for Liberty, which touts a 115,000-strong rank crossed 45 states. 

“If Randi is really funny successful addressing modern-day segregation successful schools, she should unequivocally condemn the signifier of racially segregated ‘affinity groups’ & ‘healing circles’ that are utilized successful K-12 schools,” Nicki Neily, the president of  Parents Defending Education, tweeted successful effect to the national leader’s comments. 

“And yet she was the 1 blocking the schoolhouse doors,” Ilya Shapiro, manager of law studies astatine the Manhattan Institute, argued successful a tweet. 

“Public schools stay 1 of the astir racially and economically segregated institutions successful America,” Nathaniel Cunneen, communications strategist for the American Federation for Children, noted successful a tweet. “Stanford University researchers recovered that white-black segregation betwixt schools accrued 35 percent betwixt 1991 and 2020. Meanwhile, astir each survey connected the taxable shows that schoolhouse prime has affirmative effects connected integration.”

Weingarten claims that the “vast majority” of parents cull the “noxious words” of schoolhouse prime and parental rights advocates.John Roca

The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled Moms for Liberty and different parents’ rights organizations “hate and antigovernment groups” – alongside groups specified arsenic the Ku Klux Klan – successful June. 

The extremism watchdog argues that “Today’s alleged parental rights activists person besides copied and pasted from the scripts of past groups, adapting aged racist and homophobic ideas, arsenic good arsenic conspiracy theories asserting Marxist indoctrination. They are present adding a dash of QAnon rhetoric, accusing progressives of attempting to groom and sexualize children.”

“Just similar their predecessors, their rhetoric takes connected marked anti-LGBTQ, racist and nationalist themes, excluding from their parental interest ample demographics segments of American society,” the halfway added.

Weingarten responded to the outcry successful a tweet Tuesday, calling it “an illustration of the extremism we face.”

“I said I was shocked that a tiny radical of extremists were utilizing the noxious words of segregationists and observed the immense bulk of parents and educators cull it,” she said.