Here’s where I agree with a recent opinion piece in The Hill about antisemitism and teachers’ unions: Schools should be safe places for all students and all teachers. Antisemitism, like all forms of hate, should be opposed and educated against. It has no place in our schools.
Where I disagree is that teachers’ unions are harbingers of the situation the story characterizes.
At the American Federation of Teachers, where I am president, we prioritize fighting hatred of all kinds. As a Jewish woman married to a rabbi, I take antisemitism extremely seriously. And I know that since Oct. 7, the situation in our schools has only gotten worse.
Violence against Jews, efforts to call out or marginalize Jewish students or teachers, making students feel unsafe on campuses or in the community are unconscionable acts that must be challenged. This hatred has paralleled a rise in hate and extremism overall, alongside the rise of anti-democratic actions fostered by President Trump himself.
I believe that everyone in the Jewish community is safer in an America that is firmly democratic. That’s why I have spent my entire career in supporting the strengthening of our democracy, as well as promoting inclusivity in our classrooms.
It’s why I have proactively led the American Federation of Teachers in a unique partnership with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs to teach our teachers how to ensure safe and welcoming classrooms and to build relationships between our union locals, the local Jewish community and communal leaders.
Teachers’ unions continue to be blamed for school curricula, but this simply doesn’t hold up. In most instances, it is the local Board of Education, state and local elected officials and those who run municipal or state education departments that determine curriculum — not the teachers’ unions.
Where teachers partner with local officials, they often give critical feedback, but ignoring how education decision-making actually happens to score anti-union political points won’t help keep any student or teacher safe.
And, where the American Federation of Teachers can influence curriculum, we educate against antisemitism and all forms of hatred. For example, we offer a special Share My Lesson curriculum on fighting antisemitism and promoting Holocaust education that is readily available to all teachers online.
At the same time, we are dismayed that the Trump administration is destroying the very institutions and tools we need to protect Jewish and all vulnerable students. Secretary Linda McMahon claims to prioritize the fight against antisemitism, but in seeking to shutter the Department of Education, she is gutting its Office for Civil Rights.
I would welcome critics’ partnership in fighting to keep the department and this critical office open. But so far, the same critics who go after the teachers’ unions have not raised their voices to support the remedies we need to protect our students.
The Office of Civil Rights is the office where Jewish students could seek assistance, yet the administration, while embracing the rhetoric of the fight against antisemitism, is taking away the tools that all of us need to ensure safe classrooms for all kids.
Instead of wheeling out the same old tired attacks on those of us who are dedicated to teaching and protecting children, why not join with us in ensuring safe and nurturing environments?
There is a famous concept in the Talmud — that whoever saves one life, saves an entire world. Each child in the classroom is like an entire world. This is a precept I take with me each day in my job. It inspires me to do what I do — help our nearly 2 million members engage in public service for this and future generations.
Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers.