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Remarks by teachers union president Randi Weingarten claim GOP 'bullying' teachers on race, preventing teaching accurate history
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten claimed Wednesday night that many Republican lawmakers are "bullying" teachers on "honest history" regarding race, during a livestreamed event headlined by the controversial "How to Be an Antiracist" author Ibram X Kendi.

"There are legislators, mostly from the Republican party, who are currently bullying teachers and trying to stop us from teaching kids honest history," Weingarten told the audience.

"Look, maybe they are just trying to raise the temperature on race relations because of the next election," she continued.

Weingarten, who leads the roughly 1.7 million-member teacher's union, has delivered remarks at multiple events this week during the AFT's TEACH Virtual Conference 2021 where she has claimed that Republicans are at odds with American teachers.

In her remarks during the opening session of the conference, she touched on how, "culture warriors are labeling any discussion of race, racism or discrimination as [critical race theory] to try to make it toxic. They are bullying teachers and trying to stop us from teaching students accurate history."

The rhetoric around teachers getting bullied has been a common theme during the first two days of the conference. The defensive language comes as individual states and legislators decide whether or not they support or oppose the theory being taught in schools. Earlier today, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina came out against CRT. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

In other developments:
- Politico claims critical race theory curriculum isn't being taught in schools
- Ohio moms speak out after private school expels their children over critical race theory pushback
- Parents say they're running for local school boards to fight 'poisonous' critical race theory
- CNN scolds critics of critical race theory, says concerned parents don’t understand what it is
- Critical race theory critic rips MSNBC's Joy Reid following teachers union decision to embrace ideology

Florida grand jury to explore ways to prevent another building collapse
A Miami-Dade County grand jury will look into ways to prevent a disaster similar to the collapse of a condo building last month that killed dozens of people and prompted concerns over the structural integrity of high-rise buildings in the region.

In a statement released Wednesday, county State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said she has requested the panel, pending the conclusion of a long-term investigation that will determine the cause of the June 24 collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside.

"As a community, we remain shaken and horrified by the immense loss of life and the sheer destruction caused by the collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium building," Fernandez Rundle said. "The members of the grand Jury enthusiastically agreed to accept this challenge and voted in favor of conducting such an investigation."

The panel would look into how to prevent a similar occurrence in all buildings and structures "in the coastal, intercoastal and surrounding areas of our county, state and nation," she said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
- Condo collapse: 'Rescue' operation switches gears into 'recovery,' with little hope of more survivors
- Building collapse shows town's rich, middle-class division
- Sisters in Florida condo collapse buried in same coffin
- Surfside building collapse: Multiple lawsuits seek to get answers, assign blame

Coronavirus death toll hits 4 million worldwide as Delta variant spreads
As countries rush to vaccinate their citizens, the global death toll passed 4 million on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The Delta variant is spreading through some countries where vaccinations lag, causing a "wave of death," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

"Variants are currently winning the race against vaccines because of inequitable vaccine production and distribution," Ghebreyesus said at his biweekly conference in Geneva. "It didn’t have to be this way and it doesn’t have to be this way going forward."

The number of deaths is approximately the number of people killed in every battle since 1982, according to estimates from the Peace Research Institute Oslo and more than three times the number of people killed in traffic accidents around the world every year.

Even then, it is widely believed to be an undercount because of overlooked cases or deliberate concealment.

Global death rates are currently less than half of the highest point in January, with more than 18,000 deaths a day before vaccines were readily available. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
- ‘GET OVER IT’: Fauci tells unvaccinated Americans to stop with the ‘political statement’
- John Kerry caught maskless at airport in 2nd mask mishap this year
- Connecticut to start reporting coronavirus deaths weekly not daily as positivity rates remain low

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TODAY'S MUST-READS:
- Trump to sue Facebook, Twitter, Google over alleged censorship, says they've 'ceased to be private'
- Tucker Carlson: NSA has been reading my private emails, planned to leak the contents
- Times Square suspect, 16, in custody after Marine injured in shooting
- Haiti’s president assassinated by ‘professional’ commandos, 4 killed, 2 arrested, gunfight rages
- Lightning shut out Canadiens in Game 5 to win second straight Stanley Cup

THE LATEST FROM FOX BUSINESS:
- FAA investigating Bahamas-bound flight delayed by teen mask rebellion
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- US industry groups, lawmakers press White House to lift travel restrictions
- US states allege Google 'unlawfully' preserves Play Store monopoly
- John McAfee hideout traced to Spanish ‘ghost hotel’ with a bitcoin farm

#TheFlashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on "This Day in History."

SOME PARTING WORDS

Laura Ingraham slammed the Left’s COVID policies and the intensifying pressure they’re putting on your children on Wednesday’s "The Ingraham Angle."

"Every day the barbarity of the Left’s COVID lockdowns and school closures becomes more apparent," Ingraham said. "The great global resetters who love to see us shut in and shut up were fine seeing our economy destroyed – and even turning kids into screaming zombies."

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Fox News First was compiled by Fox News' Jack Durschlag. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! We’ll see you in your inbox first thing Friday.