Union will defend teachers in ‘critical race theory’ fights

By Collin Binkley, APNEWs.com

By COLLIN BINKLEYJuly 6, 2021

FILE – American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten, May 2021. One of the nation’s largest teachers unions on Tuesday promised to defend members who are punished for teaching an “honest history” of the United States. The AFT said it is adding $2.5 million to its legal defense fund in anticipation of local battles over the teaching of race. (Christopher Dolan/The Times-Tribune via AP, File)

In a virtual address to members of the American Federation of Teachers, president Randi Weingarten said the union is preparing litigation and has a legal defense fund “ready to go.” She promised to fight “culture warriors” who attempt to limit lessons on racism and discrimination by labeling it as critical race theory….

…The nation’s other major teachers union, the National Education Association, recently issued its own call for an honest teaching of the nation’s racial histories. At the union’s national meeting last week, president Becky Pringle urged teachers to prepare students for a society that “has wrestled with the sins of its past” and learned from them.

“If this grand experiment in democracy is to succeed, if the inhabitants of our nation are to prosper, we must continuously do the work to challenge ourselves and others to dismantle the racist interconnected systems, and the economic injustices that have perpetuated systemic inequities,” Pringle said.

Weingarten’s pledge was included in a broader call for improved civics education. She called for better lessons on how to identify disinformation and on current events, such as the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. To help, the union is recruiting 20 teachers in three school districts to produce new classroom materials and share them with other teachers across the country….

Read the full article here.

Learn more about Critical Race Theory here and its opponents here and here.

Read the bill banning anti-racist and anti-sexist education in schools currently being considered by Wisconsin legislators as of Independence Day 2021 here.

More Breaking News here.