Nicole Solas joins Students Over Systems to review the IWF Education Freedom Center’s 2023 Naughty and Nice List. Teachers unions that closed schools with strikes top the naughty list. Union leaders Randi Weingarten, Becky Pringle, and Chicago’s Stacy Davis Gates, as well as Baltimore Public Schools, Providence Public Schools, PEN America, and school districts that forced teachers to lie to parents were also quite naughty this year. The nice list features governors and states that expanded education freedom by creating education savings accounts (ESAs) and universal school choice programs, as well as states that passed the Given Name Act. The conversation concludes with our hopes for 2024 and Nicole dispelling a persistent school choice myth.
Relevant Links:
- Putting Politics Over Students (American Federation of Teachers)
- Prioritizing a Political Agenda (National Education Association)
- “Banned” Books Week (National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers)
- Explicit and “Banned” Books (National Education Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers
- Education Freedom in Texas (National Education Association and Texas State Teachers Association)
- UFT and Hamas (New York City’s United Federation of Teachers)
- Portland Teachers Union Strike (Portland Association of Teachers)
- Four Unions That Closed School This Fall (National Education Association Affiliates)
- Maryland Union Spends Millions on Travel (Maryland State Education Association)
- Iowa Teachers Union Sues to Expose Children to Sexually Explicit Books (Iowa State Education Association)
- Chicago Teachers Union Leader Makes $289,000
