American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten suggested without evidence Tuesday that President Donald Trump is snatching money away from funding public education to give to “billionaires.”
The Trump administration has reportedly begun drafting an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education (DOE) and direct Congress to pass legislation to officially dissolve the agency, after having repeatedly stated that public education should be managed by states. Weingarten claimed that Trump intends to use the money directed toward public schools and allocate it toward tax cuts for billionaires.
“Congress appropriates the money directly for these kids. Where’s the money going? Who’s taking it? Are they trying to take that money that kids get for tax cuts for billionaires? What’s going on? That’s why we have to see what they’re doing. It is illegal to take that money out of children’s mouths and give it to billionaires,” Weingarten said.
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The AFT president further said the education system needs the federal government to make necessary changes.
Federal, state and local governments spend roughly $857.2 billion on K-12 public education annually, though students’ test scores in core subjects have continued to plummet since the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government spent a record $190 billion in aid to schools since the pandemic, but the funds have thus far failed to improve children’s testing scores.
Trump said in a Sept. 2023 video that the DOE should be shut down, arguing that the agency’s spending on public education has not improved the quality of education at public schools.
“In total American society pours more than $1 trillion a year into public education systems but instead of being at the top of the list, we are literally right smack — guess what — at the bottom,” Trump said.
Weingarten was a leading advocate for school closures during the pandemic, telling the public in 2021 that “millions” of children would die if Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reopened schools. The AFT president worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to coordinate and draft guidance for reopening schools in 2021, and later criticized the agency for announcing it was safe for children to return to in-person learning.
School closures and remote learning had a detrimental impact on students’ education, as one analysis conducted by The New York Times found that elementary school students fell behind in math by over half-a-year and also struggled in reading and science. School closure rates and results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that students in remote learning settings were worse off on their test scores than those who were granted in-person learning.
Weingarten’s union also spent $35.7 million of members’ dues on left-wing politics in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, including thousands of dollars that were sent to left-wing organizations such as Media Matters for America and Friends for Kathy Hochul, the Democratic New York governor’s campaign. About 17% of the union’s spending went toward political and lobby initiatives, with $1 million being donated to Put Michigan First, an organization that bought ads to target former Republican Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
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