Randi Weingarten, the leader of the country’s second-largest teachers union, can always be relied on to make claims that are equal parts absurd and untrue.
After the Wall Street Journal editorial board rightly pointed out that Weingarten “wants racial preferences to hide the failure of union schools,” she responded in a letter to the editor that was completely fact-free. It contained debunked claim after debunked claim.
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First, Weingarten argued that "the use of affirmative action has no connection to student test scores — none whatsoever." But this is clearly untrue. Research shows that Asian students must score 140 points higher than white students, 270 points higher than Hispanic students, and 450 points higher than black students to have the same odds of admission to universities. Other data reveal that “an Asian American in the fourth-lowest [academic] decile has virtually no chance of being admitted to Harvard (0.9%); but an African American in that decile has a higher chance at admission (12.8%) than an Asian American in the top decile (12.7%).”
Weingarten went on, writing that "by a margin of 80% to 20%, polling shows that parents and the public want lawmakers to focus on improving public education rather than expanding school choice."
Once again, this is false. The poll she links to was done by a firm notorious for producing results according to whatever the group that pays it believes. In this case, that group is the American Federation of Teachers — as the link indicates the poll was done in partnership with the AFT (although Weingarten does not mention that).
Additionally, strictly on the merits, this finding is at complete odds with others done on school choice. A poll from Education Next, for example, finds that Americans approve of universal vouchers by a ten-point margin — with parents and black Americans showing the strongest support. That same poll also shows that only 20% of Americans would give public schools an “A” or “B” grade. A survey done by the American Federation for Children found that support for school choice is at 72% — which is eight points higher than it was in 2020.
Last, Weingarten claims that she has "serious proposals" that "could be game-changers for student achievement." This, too, is just not true. Weingarten’s main proposal is “investing in community schools.” But data show that per-pupil, inflation-adjusted education spending has risen by more than 245% since 1970. Even so, test scores only rose 2%. Funding is not the problem. The incentives and teaching methods associated with the traditional public school Weingarten has an entrenched interest to defend, are.
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All of these distortions were put forward as fact in a short letter that spanned only three paragraphs. From this, we realize that the fact Weingarten has had so much influence over policy in recent years is quite worrisome.
The reason is simple: The primary victims of her poor decision-making and disastrous policy recommendations are the nation's youth.
Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.