On Monday, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he believed Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) labor union, was “the most dangerous person in the world.”
Pompeo shared these comments in an interview with: Traffic lights. In the interview, he discussed a possible run for president in 2024 and the issues that the Republican Party should focus on.
“The core ideas of America are timeless — limited government, expanded freedoms, protecting people’s ability to practice their faith,” Pompeo said, adding that “making sure we don’t teach nonsense to our children in schools” should be a fundamental issue. He then declared that Weingarten and teachers’ unions were teaching children “dirty” and “don’t know how to do math, reading and writing.”
“I tell this story often – people ask me, ‘Who is the most dangerous person in the world?’ Is it Chairman Kim or Xi Jinping?” The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten. This is not a close decision. If you ask, “Who is most likely to overthrow this republic?” It would be teachers unions and the filth they teach our children and the fact that they don’t know math, reading and writing. These are issues that candidates should talk about in a way that says, “That’s the problem.” Here’s a suggestion on how to solve it. And if the opportunity arises, this is what I will work on to achieve an outcome that solves this problem. Pretty elementary stuff,” Pompeo said in an interview.
Pompeo continued by stating that pointing out something in the manual that “shouldn’t be there” is “just a start.”
“If our children don’t grow up understanding that America is a special nation, it’s over. If they think that it’s the oppressor class and the oppressed class, if they think that the 1619 Project and that we were founded on a racist idea – if these are things that people started seventh grade with, deeply embedded in their understanding of America, then it’s hard to understand Xi’s claim Jinping that America is in decline will not turn out to be true,” he said.
Weingarten responded on Twitter that she didn’t know whether she should describe the interview as “ridiculous” or “dangerous.”
I know Mike Pompeo is running for president and I honestly don’t know how to describe his characterization to me. @daveweigel interview considered absurd or dangerous. https://t.co/5QBx2lE0K4
— Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩🎓 (@rweingarten) November 22, 2022
This month, Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson introduced legislation to block federal funding for corrupt teachers unions.
“Corrupt teachers unions sold out our children when they lined the pockets of Democratic politicians with campaign contributions to keep students out of the classroom and then enforce mask wearing, despite clear evidence that these decisions were harmful to children’s educational and developmental advancement.” he added. Jackson said. “They have even pushed a radical and inappropriate curriculum that seeks to indoctrinate our students with a woke, racist and anti-American worldview.”
Townhall reports that teachers’ unions have imposed curricula teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity on children as adolescent as kindergarten, and in some cases school districts have advised their teachers to hide students’ gender transitions from parents.
In one case, the largest U.S. teachers’ union provided teachers in Ohio with online resources to direct students to guides promoting “nonbinary” gender identity, “queer sex” and the idea that “transgender men” can get pregnant.
Additionally, several teachers unions organized strikes at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year on issues such as air conditioning in schools, salaries and staffing. That’s despite the government providing billions of taxpayer dollars to school districts during the pandemic, in part to replace dated HVAC systems, hire fresh workers, retire teachers and raise salaries. Reports also show that less than 40 percent of public schools that received the money used it to address air conditioning problems.
To make matters worse, the latest report from National Assessment of Educational Progress found that math and reading scores among 9-year-olds declined over the past two years regardless of race and income level, although they were significantly worse among low-achieving students. Students in the 90th percentile showed a 3 percent decline in math scores, while students in the 10th percentile dropped by 12 points, which Leah took into account. The average scores of 9-year-olds have fallen the most on record in math (seven points) and reading since 1990 (five points).
“The same people who should have had the best interests of our children at heart have repeatedly betrayed them. It’s time for us to give parents a voice back, ban corrupt teachers unions from using tax money to advance their radical agendas, and send them a clear message: LEAVE OUR CHILDREN ALONE!” Jackson said about his legislation.
