AFT's Weingarten on Trump’s Executive Orders on K-12 Schools

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on K-12 education:

“Today’s executive orders make clear that despite its mantra of local control, the Trump administration really does want to be in the business of education after all. It just wants to pick and choose who it helps and who it hurts, rather than build on six decades of bipartisan efforts to improve public education. That is the point of federal education policy—to fill opportunity gaps and help all students, particularly the least well-off, succeed.

“With the workforce executive order, Trump appears to be referencing what many of us, including President Joe Biden and former Secretaries Gina Raimondo and Julie Su, championed: pre-apprenticeship pathways starting in high school in various industries, including advanced manufacturing. It’s a good idea, and I saw a real-life model in action today in Rio Rancho, N.M., when business, labor and the school community came together to launch a pioneering career and technical education high school. The best way to develop these pathways is to work with educators, not sideline them.

“The artificial intelligence executive order is different; it’s a transparent attempt to open up schools to unaccountable tech companies, with wholly inadequate safeguards to protect our kids. It mandates that school districts spend their limited resources on unproven software, at the same time the administration is planning to slash districts’ overall funding. The administration has decided to ignore the trained professionals who will need to implement this mandate: America’s teachers. Instead, it is trying to impose AI from on high. It also appears to ignore the pressing need to enhance infrastructure, particularly broadband, in rural and other high-needs areas.

“We want to use AI for good. While AI can be a helpful and important tool for educators and students in classrooms, we’ve instead seen systems that produce disinformation, impinge on privacy and tell inaccurate accounts of history.

“Parents and teachers alike want students’ data and privacy protected, the ethical use of AI, and opportunities for their kids to safely engage with new technology. Instead, the president’s order prioritizes the interests of billionaire tech donors. It should be rejected in favor of what the research says works best: investing in classrooms and instruction designed by educators who work directly with students and who have the knowledge and expertise to meet their needs.

“On the discipline order, we need a commonsense approach and to give teachers authority, but this fails to create a safe and welcoming environment. It simply ignores a history where Black and brown students were disproportionately suspended or expelled from school rather than provided the opportunity to thrive.

“As much as we may disagree with some of the goals of this administration, our obligation is always to help teachers help kids. And we are ready to roll up our sleeves to work with anyone to make this happen.”