American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten appeared to change her tune on the Department of Education Saturday, getting heated over the prospect of its elimination after previously seeming indifferent.
President Donald Trump, who campaigned on dismantling the Education Department during the 2024 presidential election, is expected to issue an executive order calling on the new Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, to start the process of abolishing the agency.
The union head was very animated in an MSNBC interview with Katie Phang when asked about Trump moving to shut down the department, saying, "It's a disaster symbolically as much as a disaster in reality."
Weingarten argued the importance of the Department of Education comes from its implementation of programs like Title I, which supports funding for students who are underachieving in areas with high poverty, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law that gives disabled children a free education that is tailored to their needs.
She also tied it to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), another target of the Trump administration.
The true meaning of DEI is "opportunity," Weingarten said, growing increasingly agitated. "It’s so we can create that ladder of opportunity. It’s so we can make sure that kids can succeed. Poor kids, kids with disabilities, kids who want to go to career, tech ed, kids who are first generation college goers to get some scholarship money. That’s what the Department of Education does."
"That is why so many people are so mad about it," she insisted, getting heated. "Because they’re just taking opportunity away from kids that don’t have it. So billionaires - kids of billionaires, they have it, they go to private schools. Everyone else, 90% go to public schools. Don’t take away their opportunity."
"Sorry, I’m really angry about this … I’m really angry," Weingarten said.
ED DEPARTMENT CUTS $600M IN TAXPAYER-FUNDED GRANTS PUSHING ‘DIVISIVE IDEOLOGIES’
However, shortly after Trump won in November, Weingarten seemed to have a different opinion when asked about the president-elect's pledge to eliminate the Education Department.
"I mean, my members don't really care about whether they have a bureaucracy of the Department of Education or not," Weingarten said during an appearance on MSNBC. "In fact, Al Shanker and the [American Federation of Teachers] in the 1970s were opposed to its creation."
When Fox News Digital reached out to Weingarten for further comment Monday, she said, "It’s the cuts to programs we are very upset about- the cuts directly to programs that affect children with disabilities and children who are poor."
School choice proponent Corey DeAngelis responded to Weingarten's comments on MSNBC, telling Fox News Digital, "Why wasn't Randi Weingarten angry about years of school closures in union-controlled districts? Why wasn't she angry about the latest Nation's Report Card scores showing decades of learning loss? Her priorities are all messed up. She sees the school system as a jobs program for adults instead of an education initiative for kids."