Teachers union honcho Randi Weingarten likens parental rights, school choice supporters to segregationists 

National teachers union boss Randi Weingarten likened the rhetoric of supporters of school choice and parental rights initiatives to that of segregationists, sparking an outcry from supporters of the movements. 

The explosive comparison of Jim Crow-era racists to modern-day activists pushing for school districts to allow parents to have more input in their children’s education was made by the American Federation of Teachers president during a Tuesday interview with Northeastern University’s Burnes Center for Social Change senior fellow Seth D. Harris. 

“The same kind of roots that happened in the aftermath of Brown v. Board, those same words that you heard, in terms of wanting segregation, post Brown v. Board of Education, those same words you hear today,” Weingarten, 65, said in response to a question about the differences in the political discussion surrounding schools now compared to the 20th century.