On Friday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten stated that bills like Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law are “stopping us, chilling us as teachers from meeting the needs of kids, kids who come to us who may be a trans kid or trying to decide what his, her, or their sexual identity is.” And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is worried about teachers “actually trying to help kids see who they are and have the freedom to learn and the freedom to be.” Weingarten further said she prefers such discussions “get done in an age-appropriate way in a school under the guidance of a teacher who knows what he, she, or they is doing as opposed to it being done on the Internet.”
Weingarten began by saying, “I’ve been a teacher, and I’ve been a teacher and a parent and a student advocate for a very long time. Parents, obviously, have, not only the rights to, but they are their children’s first teacher. They are their children’s guardian, and they — we have to do everything we can to support parents as they support their kids. And the same is true in terms of teachers. We have to do everything we can to support teachers as they support children.”
She continued, “You heard Gov. Desantis’ real push here. It’s an attempt to divide parents and teachers and parents from schools. And you heard him near the end of what he said, which is, he’s really taking on children’s freedom to be and freedom to learn, and what these bills are doing all across America is, there may be sloganeering about it, but they are actually stopping us, chilling us as teachers from meeting the needs of kids, kids who come to us who may be a trans kid or trying to decide what his, her, or their sexual identity is. What this bill does is — and I have read it — is it basically threatens the teacher that the teacher can’t actually engage the kid in conversation. A kindergarten teacher in Florida who happens to be gay, beloved by his children, has the picture of his partner up and he got threatened and bullied. PFLAG, one of the parent groups, came to his aid and assistance.”
Weingarten concluded, “What’s happening is I don’t know why Ron DeSantis is scared of us actually trying to help kids see who they are and have the freedom to learn and the freedom to be. I don’t know why he’s scared about us talking about slavery and teaching about slavery. I don’t know why he’s scared about us talking about the Holocaust and teaching about the Holocaust. I’d rather all of these things get done in an age-appropriate way in a school under the guidance of a teacher who knows what he, she, or they is doing as opposed to it being done on the Internet. So, this is just the same kind of political propaganda that starts hate and division and polarization, and it’s really hurtful and harmful to kids.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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