ALLEIGH MARRÉ: A Teachers Union Focused Everywhere But The Classroom

(Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

America’s students are in crisis.

Nearly half of high school seniors are not proficient in reading or math, and one-third of eighth graders cannot read at a basic level. The aftershocks of pandemic-era school closures are still playing out, with students regressing to levels not seen in more than 25 years, and one in four now chronically absent from the classroom. An overreliance on technology, lax policies around personal devices like cell phones, and weakened discipline standards have only deepened the problem, eroding focus, accountability, and real learning.

The current challenges also extend beyond students. Nearly eight in 10 teachers say they have considered leaving the profession, citing burnout as their pay continues to fall behind that of other college-educated workers. The system is strained at every level, and every person with skin in the game knows it. (RELATED: Teacher Keeps Job After Allegedly ‘Licking’ Student’s Foot On Video)

Who is at the center of it all? America’s teachers’ unions. While students slip to historic lows in reading and math and classrooms struggle to recover from union-driven school shutdowns, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and its president Randi Weingarten appear focused elsewhere, pouring time, money, and political muscle into ideological conflicts and partisan campaigns instead of fixing the........

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