Randi Weingarten launches hotline for parents, public to report instances of book banning, censorship

Randi Weingarten addressed the American Federation of Teachers following the Nashville school shooting on Tuesday. (AFT)

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten launched a hotline called "Freedom to Teach and Learn" to report instances of book banning and challenges against curricula.

The "Freedom to Teach and Learn" hotline comes amid the myriad of book bans and protests against progressive curricula across the country.

The hotline was announced in Weingarten’s address to the National Press Club, one of a 4-part plan to "help kids’ recovery and reclaim the purpose and promise of public education." 

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Furthermore, Weingarten, the leader of the 1.7 million-member union, claimed that "MAGA lawmakers have used culture wars to divide communities and other schemes that drain resources from public education."

The hotline was launched in conjunction with the Campaign for Our Shared Future to report "instances of political interference and censorship."

Teachers’ union boss Randi Weingarten gave a speech outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Feb.  28, 2023. (YouTube screenshot/Student Debt Crisis Center)

"It’s a place to call if you’ve been told to remove a book from the curriculum or from the library, if you’ve been told that there are topics that can’t be discussed in your classes or that you cannot teach honestly and appropriately, or if politicians in your district or state are targeting vulnerable student groups to score political points," she said.

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Since the pandemic, school board meetings have become battlegrounds between parents and school board officials. Parents across the country have protested controversial curriculum like critical race theory as well as certain books in public libraries. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has fronted the purge of books that were deemed controversial. He also signed a parental rights bill that banned teachers from giving classroom instruction on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" in kindergarten through third grade. The governor is also considering expanding the measure to all K-12.

Documents show that a Arizona high school counselor is coaching staff to obtain students’ secret genders, a process that appears to have been kept undercover from parents. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Other states have made similar moves, reigniting the debate on how much control parents have over their children's education. 

School board meetings have gotten so heated that the National School Board Association in September 2021 sent a controversial letter to the Justice Department that compared actions taken by frustrated parents at school board meetings to domestic terrorism.

The letter prompted the Department of Justice to launch an effort to combat what it said is an "increase" in "threats of violence" against school officials and teachers across the country.

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Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., Aug. 8, 2022.  (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

Recently, the Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into the Department of Justice's actions and released a report finding that the federal agency misused authorities to investigate parents who were vocal during school board meetings.