President of Kansas teachers union calls Pompeo messaging on education a ‘scare tactic’
The Kansas branch of the American Federation of Teachers is standing behind the president of their national organization after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called her the “most dangerous person in the world.”
In an interview published Monday in Semafor, Pompeo said teachers would be “the most likely to take our Republic down.” He compared Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, to the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
”I get asked ‘who’s the most dangerous person in the world? Is it Chairman Kim, is it Xi Jinping?’ The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten. It’s not a close call,” said Pompeo, who served as former President Donald Trump’s CIA director before his elevation to secretary of state.
Pompeo, a former Wichita congressman who is signaling a possible 2024 presidential run, doubled down on the rhetoric Tuesday on Twitter.
“Our greatest long-term threat isn’t an external enemy,” he said. “It’s teachers unions that push toxic wokeness on kids instead of teaching real American history, reading and math.”
In an interview with The Star Ron Hobert, President of AFT-Kansas, defended Weingarten. He lumped Pompeo in with a broader conservative movement that has taken aim at public school curriculum and teachers unions.
“I think all of these conservatives are petrified that we have a voice and we’re using it and we’re united and we’re advocating for what’s best for our students and our teachers,” Hobert said.
“They’re using critical race theory and LGBTQ issues to scare people. They’re scare tactics. They don’t look at the whole picture they just look at one slice of the picture and it gets people up in arms.”
Pompeo’s messaging follows a pattern among Kansas Republicans.
In the past year, Kansas lawmakers have sought to pass legislation allowing parents to challenge school curriculum. Lawmakers have also falsely claimed critical race theory, a law school-level theory examining institutional racism, is taught in Kansas classrooms.
Republican state Attorney General Derek Schmidt focused on these issues in his failed campaign for governor, often claiming Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly favored the wants of teachers unions over students and parents.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 2:39 PM.
