{"id":49458,"date":"2026-07-29T13:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49458"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:04:22","slug":"book-why-fascists-fear-teachers-public-education-and-the-future-of-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/book-why-fascists-fear-teachers-public-education-and-the-future-of-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Book: “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Randi Weingarten<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

America\u2019s most influential teacher\u2019s union leader tells the anti-fascist history of public education, warning that American teachers today are under a new fascist assault–from\u00a0book bans to culture wars and organized groups of \u201cconcerned\u201d parents dictating what can be taught.<\/strong>

In 1940, as Hitler was gaining power and territory across Europe, a Nazi puppet government was put in power in Norway.\u00a0 Teachers were among the first to publicly resist their rule\u2014and they were winning. Frustrated that their attempts to recruit teachers into the party failed, the Nazis barged into Norway\u2019s schools, beating teachers and students.\u00a0When they still refused to submit, the Nazis closed the schools.\u00a0 But the teachers figured out how to teach in private.\u00a0 Increasingly incensed, the fascist government sent 1,300 teachers to concentration camps and 500 others to forced labor camps.\u00a0 Even there, teachers kept teaching–and students kept learning how to think for themselves.\u00a0\u00a0

As the head of one of the largest teacher\u2019s union in the country, Randi Weingarten sees firsthand how today\u2019s teachers are guarding American democracy against the threat of fascism. Drawing on history and decades of experience in the American public school system, she argues that teaching students to think critically is the key to defeating would-be dictators. She encourages teachers to continue promoting difference and healthy debate in their classrooms, and warns against censorship and complacency, looking to history to warn us all about what can happen if we devalue teachers and public schools.

Part history and part call to arms,\u00a0Why Fascists Fear Teachers<\/em>\u00a0is a manifesto for American teachers from the author that Trump-appointed former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once called \u201cthe most dangerous person in the world.\u201d This deeply researched, urgent book from teachers\u2019 greatest champion is necessary reading for our times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Goodreads.com)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy Randi Weingarten America\u2019s most influential teacher\u2019s union leader tells the anti-fascist history of public education, warning that American teachers today are under a new fascist assault–from\u00a0book bans to culture wars and organized groups of \u201cconcerned\u201d parents dictating what can… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1945],"tags":[436,2305,2304,2306],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49459,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49458\/revisions\/49459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}