(The Lion) — First Lady Jill Biden and two teachers’ union bosses held an event where they praised one another’s work while failing to address the dire state of education.
In a “virtual thank you event” streamed Tuesday, First Lady Jill Biden spoke alongside National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten.
“Over the last four years, we’ve built an even stronger education system in this country, and it took all of us,” the first lady began.
But education reformer Corey DeAngelis reacted to the video, noting that “U.S. math scores dropped 27 points for 8th graders since 2019.”
Students nationwide fared poorly over the past four years, with state report cards showing dismal outcomes in both reading and math.
And fewer families than ever are choosing to send their children to public schools, as the Department of Education notes widespread enrollment decline.
Biden continued, thanking teachers for “coming together during the last election, using your teacher voice to organize and get out the vote.”
Then, she addressed the union bosses directly, thanking Pringle for “being a bold champion of students and educators, and for encouraging them to become changemakers too.”
Pringle – who openly endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2024 – is known for advocating for mostly progressive causes, including LGBT rights, unrestricted abortion, affirmative action and social justice.
In her 2024 NEA convention speech, she said her goal was to turn public education into a “racially and socially just and equitable system.”
Next, Jill Biden addressed Weingarten, saying, “Randi, you are a force, and you use your power to lift up educators so that we can lift up our students.”
Weingarten and the AFT also pushed for leftist policies, and she gained notoriety during the early years of Biden’s presidency for fighting to keep schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More recently, she’s compared parental rights and school choice to racial segregation, even though her anti-school choice stance was shared by the KKK.
Both the AFT and the NEA have supported the Bidens, donating millions to Democrat politicians and radically leftist policies.
After Jill Biden finished, both Pringle and Weingarten gushed about how wonderful the Biden administration was and the importance of public schools.
Weingarten said educators must “try to create a safe environment and frankly, Dr. Biden, you and your husband did that for the country.”
However, critics of the administration’s progressive transgender polices argue students were less safe after the attempt to rewrite Title IX protections to allow biological males in girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms and sports.
The AFT boss then addressed teachers directly, implying that educators are raising the next generation of children instead of their parents.
“The American people know how important you are. They say this to you over and over and over again, about the importance of public education,” she continued. “And more than the American people are American children. They need you.”
Pringle also praised the Bidens’ education policies – but skated over worsened learning outcomes.
“Whether we’re talking about healthy meals for every student, whether we’re talking about student loan debt relief, whether we’re talking about addressing the mental health of our students, that’s what you did in partnership with us.”
