Randi Weingarten Calls Elon Musk and DOGE Cruel for Wanting to Audit Department of Education

BROWN: “So for more on this, Randi Weingarten joins us now. She’s the president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the country. What are you hearing, Randi, from your members who have woken up to these letters?”
Weingarten: “So, you know, our members work in the field in schools. We don’t have members that actually work at the Department of Education, but we have people like, for example, the head of all of CareerTechEd at the Department of Education. This is CareerTechEd month, so we were talking to her when she was put on leave. And she’s the one who actually makes sure that — that school districts all across America have the money that they need for kids to become welders and for kids to have apprentice programs or for things like that. So what we’re hearing is just complete chaos and, frankly, a whole bunch of cruelty. Because at the end of the day, you can make departments more efficient, and I’m not a big believer in bureaucracy, but this feels like, as Elon Musk said to you, evisceration. So here’s a guy who has hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts from these departments, and he’s not touching them, but what he’s doing is really taking money from kids who really need it in the field and these departments. Yes, they can be much more efficient, but that’s what the Education Department does. It gives out money to kids so you can feed them a decent lunch, so we can have, you know, tutors for reading, so you can actually help kids with math problems. That’s what’s going on right now.”
BROWN: “And to be clear on Elon Musk, we really don’t know the scope of what exactly he’s doing. He’s been involved with 19 agencies. He does have some contracts in front of those agencies, but there’s not transparency. And when it comes to the funds, the Trump Administration says that it’s going to go to locals, that the local officials know what’s best for their community, and the Education Department is no longer needed. That is what they say. Why — why is that an issue —“
Weingarten: “Right.”
BROWN: “— for you?”
Weingarten: “So look, spoiler alert, that’s what happens now. I mean, education, if I can — if I can make one point to your listeners or viewers, education is run by states and localities. It’s always been run by states and localities, but about 50 or 60 years ago, you know, Lyndon Johnson, who was one of those local teachers, his kids would come into his classroom without shoes on. They were really poor. And so when he became president, he said, look, let’s actually level up. Instead of taking — you know, instead of actually trying to say to states and localities, you got to spend more, which, you know, they should, let’s actually have federal dollars that help kids who are poor. Let’s actually have federal dollars that help kids who are disabled. Let’s actually have federal dollars if CareerTechEd is important for that kind of things. So what the Department of Education does is it’s a supplement that actually really helps kids. And if you ask any teacher in America, and you say to them, ‘Title I,’ they’re like, ‘oh my God, we need those funds to help kids.’”