Two major teachers’ unions call on GOP leadership to remove Greene from Education Committee

The two largest teachers’ unions in the U.S. released a joint statement on Tuesday calling for controversial GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) to be removed from the House Education Committee.

The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) released a letter addressed to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) imploring him to remove Greene from the Education Committee, saying she lacked the “judgment, empathy or wisdom” to have responsibility over learning environments.

“On behalf of the nation’s two leading teachers’ organizations, representing more than 4 million educators nationwide, we request that you immediately rescind the appointment of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to serve on the House Committee on Education and Labor,” the statement reads.

“Conspiracy theories do not belong in our schools. Hate, racism and anti-Semitism do not belong in our schools. Bullying and harassment do not belong in our schools,” the letter continues. “Greene has trafficked in all of these heinous activities. She has therefore disqualified herself from serving on the committee that plays a crucial role in the teaching and learning of America’s children and in ensuring their safe learning environments.”

Today @rweingarten and I are calling on @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy to immediately remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House education committee.

Greene does not have the judgment, empathy or wisdom to oversee education legislation.

✍ Our letter: https://t.co/I6fc3sB6od pic.twitter.com/AopxJVLhhx

— Becky Pringle (@BeckyPringle) February 2, 2021

The letter made note of a video that surfaced last week showing Greene harassing David Hogg, survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 people. Hogg has since become a prominent gun control activist. Greene has previously referred to the Stoneman Douglas shooting as a “false flag.”

“It is one thing to disagree with the advocacy that Parkland, Fla., students chose to engage in, but quite another to castigate and threaten them for it. How much more can society traumatize victims of violence? And this was a U.S. representative,” the NEA and AFT said in their letter. “The fact is, if any educator harassed students and called horrifying shootings false flags, there would be serious consequences. There should absolutely be consequences for a member of Congress, as well.”

In a statement provided by her office, Greene said that “Democrats and their spokesmen in the Fake News Media” are “coming after” her and “want to take me out.”

The statement did not address the contents of the unions’ letter.

The Hill has also reached out to McCarthy’s office for a response to the letter.

Democratic congress members have called for Greene to be removed from all committees, censured or expelled. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) referred to Greene’s embrace of conspiracy theories as a “cancer for the Republican Party.” However, reports have indicated that former President Trump is supportive of Greene, with the Georgia representative saying this week that she would be meeting with Trump soon.

–Updated at 1:54 p.m.