Teachers’ unions note ‘racist, homophobic’ education initiatives as students fight pandemic learning loss

That of the nation large teacher unions have set their sights on fighting so-called “racist” and “homophobic” educational initiatives as students have fallen behind academically during the pandemic and struggle to make up lost ground.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that U.S. students have shown “slower-than-average growth in math and reading” compared to before the pandemic and that learning gaps “may be increasing” despite billions of federal dollars being directed at the problem.

“We’re actually seeing evidence of regression,” NWEA Center for School and Student Progress Director Karyn Lewis told the publication.

But as students across the country face pandemic-induced learning loss, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are focusing on initiatives to ‘republican education that they say is aimed at LGBTQ+ students.

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NEA President Becky Pringle focused on the issue last week while addressing the union’s representative assembly in Orlando, Florida.

During the speech, Pringle said the Sunshine State is “our ground zero for shameful, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic and dangerous actions,” which is why NEA leaders gathered there, according to their site web.

“We came here because our kids are here. We came here because our teammates are here,” Pringle said. “We came here because educators, students, and their communities are being attacked by laws that threaten their safety, challenge their humanity, and block their access to all the basic rights that define the word freedom. Right here in Florida, we will preserve and strengthen a democracy that was imbued with the power of “We the People.”.‘”

Pringle’s prepared comments did not mention the loss of student learning resulting from the pandemic, according to the transcript of his speech. The NEA did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The AFT, meanwhile, has recently teamed up with a leftist dark money group initially formed to push back against opponents of critical theory of race in K-12 schools.

The union teamed up with the Campaign for Our Shared Future, a so-called “nonpartisan” group founded to combat a wave of “culture war attacks” on communities, children and the K-12 system, for an initiative to provide support to educators. they say they are under attack from Republicans across the country.

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“Attacks on public education in America by extremists and politicians peddling culture war have reached new heights (‘low’ may be more apt), but they are not new.” AFT President Randi Weingarten he wrote on the union’s website in April. “The difference today is that the attacks are not just aimed at undermining public education but at destroying it.”

“From banning books and censoring honest history to erasing and dismissing the existence and experiences of Black, LGBTQIA+, and minority students, MAGA lawmakers have used culture wars to divide communities and enact schemes that consume public education resources,” Weingarten said.

The Campaign for Our Shared Future announced the formation of the Educator Defense Fund earlier this year to provide assistance ranging from legal support to threat assessments. A spokesperson for the group previously told Fox News Digital that the fund is separate from the hotline, which is run by AFT.

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“Schools have become a flashpoint for politicians looking to advance their agendas and are using scare tactics to target teachers and school staff who are focused on preparing our students for future,” Campaign for Our Shared Future said of its Educator Defense Fund in March.

“These dangerous shenanigans show that radical politicians are willing to use anything to gain office, including endangering the safety of educators and students,” the group added. “COSF is uniquely positioned to connect education professionals with rapid support in response to deeply troubling developments in the field. The Educator Defense Fund will give our educators a helping hand to fight back to these attacks.”

The campaign for our shared future is part of a massive liberal dark money network. Your 501(c)(3) educational arm is fiscally sponsored by the New Venture Fund. Campaign for Our Shared Future Action Fund, its 501(c)(4) advocacy arm, is included in the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

The New Venture Fund and Sixteen Thirty Fund are nonprofit incubators that provide their tax and legal status to numerous left-leaning nonprofits. Fiscally sponsored groups are exempt from providing tax records to the IRS, further shielding information like their finances from the public.

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Fox News Digital previously reported on this campaign for our shared future originally released last summer after conservative parents flooded school board meetings in several states over what they said were their local schools teaching children critical race theory, which liberals have maintained is not the case.

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Weingarten’s post attacking “extremists” and “culture war peddlers” referenced a speech he gave in defense of public education in which he outlined a “four-part plan to help young people recover from learning loss”.

According to the publication, his speech called for “a major expansion of community schools; experiential learning for all children, including career and technical education; the revival and restoration of the teaching profession; and deepened partnerships with parents and the community”.