Randi Weingarten sidesteps question of hiding students’ orientations from parents
Jenny Goldsberry
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American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten refused to commit to complete transparency with students’ parents.
Weingarten appeared on C-SPAN on Thursday and answered questions from callers regarding the current state of education. One caller from Florida asked whether it was a good idea for schools to withhold information about their students’ gender identity. As a gay woman, Weingarten admitted she would have been upset with her high school teacher, who she had previously come out to, if the teacher told her parents about it. She did not come out to her parents until she graduated law school.
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“I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So, [these are] the questions he said the tough issues that the teachers have all the time,” Weingarten said. “We try to figure out what’s going on, and we try to make a decision that’s in the best interest of the kids.”
Weingarten avoided outright condemning teachers withholding information about their students but also skirted the line of recommending that teachers always keep personal information a secret from parents.
“I don’t think there’s a bright light here,” Weingarten said.
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Weingarten has previously taken issue with a part of the Florida curriculum that instructs teachers to include lessons on how “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) faced additional criticisms from black advocacy groups and other organizations for allegedly sanitizing the teaching of black history.
The AFT has over 1.7 million members in its union. Weingarten has been at the helm since 2008.