Teachers’ Union Boss Randi Weingarten’s Rant About Student Loan Forgiveness at SCOTUS Draws Fire

Susan Berry, PhD

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, who was unhinged as she ranted and raved on the steps of the Supreme Court over the prospect that Joe Biden’s student loan handout could be declared unconstitutional, is drawing rebukes for being the height of hypocrisy.

Weingarten, joined by other far-left proponents of student debt relief, screamed on the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday as oral arguments were heard in challenges to Joe Biden’s plan to cancel student loan payments, claiming the move is essential to “make good with the students of America”:

Frankly, and this is what really pisses me off, during the pandemic, we understood that small businesses were hurting, and we helped them, and it didn’t go to the Supreme Court to challenge it. Big businesses were hurting, and we helped them, and it didn’t go to the Supreme Court to challenge it. All of a sudden, when it’s about our students, they challenge it, the corporations challenge it, the student loan lenders challenge it. That not right, that is not fair, and that is what we are fighting as well when we say cancel student debt.

Regarding the Supreme Court, Weingarten continued shouting, “Whatever they do, regardless of what they do, we need to keep this fight up, that is how we make good with the students of America!”

Later, however, the union boss revealed to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that, in polling members of her union about their student debt, they told her they feel burdened and need debt relief:

When you say 43 million people can get some relief here, it’s people who have done everything right and something tripped them up, or they just really can’t afford this right now because of the huge escalating costs of college and then on top of it, we had COVID.

…

Everything else about COVID that small businesses got, big businesses got, the states didn’t sue. Why are they suing about individuals who really need it?

Weingarten said student loan cancellation is a “moral issue.”

Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe said in a statement sent to The Star News Network, however, that, once again, Weingarten is “inserting herself in another political debate that has nothing to do with getting American school kids back on track – this time ranting and raving on the steps of the Supreme Court to force American taxpayers to shoulder the burden of student loans they didn’t take out.”

Withe drew attention to the revelation in March 2022 that, throughout the pandemic, Weingarten’s AFT used its political influence with their Democrat allies in the Biden administration to keep schools closed.

House Republican leaders discovered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) used “political science” and not “medical science” to collaborate with the AFT to create guidance on the issue of reopening the nation’s government-run schools.

Then-House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA-01) referred to a report released by Republicans on a coronavirus subcommittee that revealed a CDC official’s testimony confirming the nation’s top health agency coordinated with teachers’ unions at an “unprecedented” level to craft school reopening guidance, despite the CDC’s earlier claims that its coordination with the unions was routine.

“Weingarten neglects to mention it is her own American Federation of Teachers union that rewrote the CDC school reopening guidelines, putting up barriers in place that kept schools closed far longer than necessary – often preventing parents from going to work because they had children at home,” Withe said, adding:

Randi Weingarten did her best to prevent the American economic engine from roaring back for nearly two years thanks to her efforts in playing union politics with our students’ education. Now, by jumping up and down and screaming at the top of her lungs, Randi hopes people will forget that she is the one who prevented millions from earning a living.

“Randi Weingarten caused untold millions of school children to lose two decades of progress in reading and math, creating the lowest K-12 test scores in three decades,” Withe asserted. “She would like the public to forget that. We won’t.”

In October, Parents Defending Education condemned the teachers’ unions for national assessment results that exposed unprecedented academic losses during the pandemic and the school shutdowns.

Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) also weighed in Wednesday on Weingarten’s rant. Appearing as a guest on Newsmax’s Eric Bolling The Balance, Braun observed student debt cancellation by American taxpayers amounts to a “moral hazard”:

First of all, she sounded like Howard Dean, if you remember from years ago ranting and raving, another crazy Democrat … this goes on everywhere when it comes to their justification for when they want something. And she didn’t mention that it was going to throw roughly $500 to $600 billion into the economy, on top of all the inflation we’ve got. What does that say about the 65% of people that don’t have college degrees? What about everyone that’s taken a loan out for some other purpose? It’s got a lot of moral hazard to it. Eric, it’s typical of their side. That’s a sugar high they think they can sell it. There’s a small group that benefits from it.

Biden’s plan for student loan cancellation would cancel up to $10,000 in federal student debt for Americans earning under $125,000, and up to $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants.

– – –

Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Randi Weingarten” by Student Debt Crisis Center. 

 

 

 

Related posts

Comments