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The bosses of America’s largest teachers’ unions appear to have taken opposite stances on the recent Supreme Court ruling about LGBTQ books in school, with one saying the “expertise of trained educational professionals” should have been deferred to, while the other said, “Parents must have a say.”
On Friday, the justices decided 6-3 in Mahmoud v. Taylor that parents could opt their children out of a Maryland public school system’s lessons that contain themes about homosexuality and transgenderism if they feel the material conflicts with their religious faith.
“Students pay the price when books are censored and educators are silenced,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said in reaction to the decision on BlueSky.
“Today, in the ruling on Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court failed students. They have discounted and ignored the expertise of trained educational professionals, and harmed students in the process,” she added. “Shameful.”
The bosses of America’s largest teachers’ unions appear to have taken opposing stances on the recent Supreme Court ruling that sided with parents who sought to shield children from LGBTQ books in school.
AUTHORS BLAST ‘HARMFUL’ SCOTUS RULING ALLOWING PARENTS TO OPT KIDS OUT OF READING THEIR LGBTQ+ BOOKS
The National Education Association is the largest teachers’ union in the country, presiding over 3 million members.
However, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said on Friday that parents and families should be respected.
“We have to respect all children and all families. Bad facts make bad law. Mahmoud should have been worked out on a local level, it’s a shame it went all the way to SCOTUS,” Weingarten said. “Parents must have a say about their own kids, they are our partners in education.”
A child holds a sign as people supporting the right to opt-out their children from classes containing LGBTQ-related content demonstrate outside the US Supreme Court, as the court hears oral arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor case, in Washington, DC, April 22, 2025. (Getty Images)
SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CASE ON LGBTQ-THEMED STORYBOOKS AND PARENTS’ RIGHT TO OPT OUT
Weingarten shared similar sentiments on “The Story” in April, when the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case.
“This is something that has to be happening at the local level and not in the Supreme Court,” Weingarten said, while also noting that the books containing LGBTQ content are not ones she would read to children.
The two teachers’ union bosses usually align in political views, having both endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
(Parents, school boards and teachers’ unions have battled over what books are appropriate in schools.)
In the past, Weingarten has pushed back on book challenges from parents. In 2023, Weingarten launched a hotline called “Freedom to Teach and Learn” to report instances of book banning and challenges against curricula.
Weingarten, the leader of the 1.7 million-member union, claimed at the time that “MAGA lawmakers have used culture wars to divide communities and other schemes that drain resources from public education.”
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