For the first time in decades, Fred Albert won’t be part of the West Virginia Legislative session in an elected capacity.
That doesn’t mean, though, that the education advocate isn’t looking in, he said this week.
Albert retired last year as president of the state chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, a key union for the people who spend their workdays in the front of the classroom.
“There’s a lot going on,” he said. “I know I’ll be at the capitol a lot.”
What isn’t known, the former math teacher said, is how the pursuit of education in America is going to end up under the second administration of President Donald Trump.
Trump has already directed Linda McMahon, his nominee for education cabinet secretary, to “put herself out of a job,” should she be confirmed.
According to Oval Office directives, that means shuttling some programs and services to other federal agencies – while giving control over curricula and other benchmark measures back to individual U.S. states.
Meanwhile, $900 million in contracts for an office tracking student learning from kindergarten to the senior year of high school was slashed last week.
The current administration has also vowed to cut off federal money for schools and colleges continuing to push critical race theory, sexuality, certain political movements and other lesson plans it deems “inappropriate” for the classroom.
“Our public schools have been underfunded for years,” Albert said. “We can’t afford to give up any more.”
Albert in 2018 was named Middle School Math Teacher of the Year by the state Council of
Teachers’ of Mathematics.
Learning styles among students are different, he said.
Which is why he’s keenly watching the 504 plan, which tailors teaching for students with learning disabilities and other considerations. That plan is also under the Trump microscope right now.
“It’s very concerning,” the educator and union activist said.
