The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) said Andrew Yang “suffers from a profound misunderstanding of public schools” after the Democratic New York City mayoral candidate said schools need to open faster.
Sally Goldenberg, Politico’s city hall bureau chief, tweeted UFT’s second response to their first article published Thursday.
“Thanks to his limited knowledge of education and government, along with the ideological partisanship of his advisors, Andrew Yang suffers from a profound misunderstanding of the importance of our public schools and the role of teachers and their union,” the union said.
After publication of this article @UFT issued 2nd statement:
“Thanks to his limited knowledge of education and government, along with the ideological partisanship of his advisors, Andrew Yang suffers from a profound misunderstanding of the importance of our public schools” 1/3 https://t.co/bXaz7rp0Vd— Sally Goldenberg (@SallyGold) March 21, 2021
Michael Mulgrew, the president of the city’s 190,000-member union, said in a statement Friday Yang should clarify his position if he wants to receive support in the mayoral election, according to Politico. (RELATED: Andrew Yang Announces Candidacy for New York City Mayor)
Yang has a 5-year-old son in a Manhattan public school, according to Politico.
“I will confess to being a parent that has been frustrated by how slow our schools have been to open, and I do believe that the UFT has been a significant reason why our schools have been slow to open,” Yang told Politico.
“I think it’s ridiculous that we’re tenuring teachers at like the two-year mark or something, and make it so you can’t be paid or you can’t be disciplined or fired,” Yang said.