Randi Weingarten is the shame of the nation

I liked a remark that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made last year.

That the most dangerous person for America is not a foreign despot, but our very own Randi Weingarten.

The President of the American Federation of Teachers did not take kindly to that point.

But this week she once again showed why it was true.

In a piece in USA Today, Weingarten once again showed where her true priorities lie.

The piece was headlined “MAGA Republicans are destroying our public schools. Teachers and parents must fight back.”

There she called people who disagree with her as “extremists” who wish to put “their political vendettas and ideologies ahead of children´s education.”

Which is a good example of what psychologists call “projection.”

Because that is almost a perfect description of what Weingarten does.

It doesn’t matter what the subject, Weingarten is a master of seizing on it.

When Covid was the big issue Weingarten could be relied upon to shutter the schools and keep them shut.

Making pupils the priority was the last thing on her mind.

Whenever “racism” comes up, Weingarten can be found blaming all of America’s ills on that.

She both denies that Critical Race Theory is taught in America’s schools, and seems to think that it is a good thing that it is.

So add cognitive dissonance to her list of virtues too.

When Ukraine was the big issue, Weingarten could be found doing a photo-op tour of the country, as though she had anything to learn there, or had anything to teach the people of that war-ravaged country.

Why does she all of these things?

Well I would suggest it is because she — and her union — are failing so abysmally at the only task they are meant to be dedicated to.

Which is the education of America´s youth and the improvement of education in this country.

Look at the facts and you realize why this is the last thing that the American Federation of Teachers wants to talk about.

After all, what excuse can there be for the facts?

Facts which shame this country, nevermind the teaching unions.

Consider just a few examples.

Take a city like Baltimore. In the 23 City Schools in Baltimore, 93% of 3rd-8th graders can’t do math at grade level.

At one of the city’s schools — Patterson High School — 77% of students reading ability is at elementary school level.

Weingarten and her comrades love to talk about racism of course.

But if Weingarten and her union actually cared about the lives and life-chances of black Americans they would not grandstand every time there is a high-profile bad interaction between the police and a black citizen.

They would do something about the fact that — for instance — in DC public school system last year only 9% of black 3rd-12th graders were counted as being proficient in math.

Just 19% of students are proficient overall.

But does nobody think it a scandal that with the education spend per pupil DC public schools can only get 9% of black students proficient in math?

What are the life chances of these students after such a start?

It’s not much better for other groups.

Only 17% of Hispanic students are proficient in math.

And in English, only 20% of black students and 31% of Hispanic students count as proficient.

Or take the situation in our own state.

Despite the fact that NY State spends more per pupil than any other state in the country the results here are equally dire.

According to statewide test results last year, just 38% of NY 3rd-8th graders showed proficiency in English and 34% in math.

And parents are starting to notice, with enrollment in NYC public schools falling by almost 2% in 2021-22 alone.

What is Weingarten’s answer to results such as those above?

Well apart from blaming MAGA Republicans, she can also be found blaming standardized testing itself.

In a way it’s a brilliant equation that she’s made.

Bad teaching equals bad test results.

Bad test results leads to potentially tricky questions for Weingarten and her union.

Therefore remove tests entirely and hey — presto! the problem of bad results disappears.

I might consider adopting this technique next time I play soccer.

If we could only remove the goalposts I feel fairly confident that my performance on the pitch will be judged to have improved.

Well it’s high time to judge Weingarten and her union more harshly.

American education standards should shame the nation.

We should be producing a generation of young Americans who will be able to compete with their contemporaries around the world — not least in China.

At present they’re not even remotely competitive.

There’s only one group of people responsible for that.

And it isn’t MAGA Republicans.

Defining women

I wonder whether we can send Education Secretary Miguel Cardona back to elementary school to study some basic biology?

This week he was the latest US official unable to explain what a woman is.

He was asked the apparently impossible-to-answer question during a House committee hearing on potential changes to Title IX.

Cardona dodged the question, though not very expertly.

One of his distinctly un-athletic responses was “I think that’s almost secondary to the important role that I have as secretary of education.”

What is wrong with these people?

Perhaps I can refer US officials still tying themselves in knots on this question to a certain Prime Minister across the pond.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was recently asked the same question.

The moderate Conservative Prime Minister was asked whether he agreed with the statement “100% of women do not have a penis.”

His answer “Yes, of course.”

This is in contrast with his left-wing opponent who claimed that some 99% of women don’t have penises.

Anyhow — the point is not a rounding error.

It’s the difference between fantasy and reality.

So you see, it really is pretty easy to assert biological reality.

And if a UK Prime Minister can do so, why can so few officials here in the US?