Randi Weingarten got caught on video bragging about using pension funds to pressure Target over ICE.
The Chicago Teachers Union just got caught on tape going further.
What a pre-school teacher told the group to do when the school won't play along is something no one in that webinar expected to see made public.
NEA and Chicago Teachers Union Webinar Coaches Teachers to Hide Political Activism From Parents
On April 2, the Chicago Teachers Union hosted what it called a "curriculum build" webinar.
CTU teamed up with the National Education Association and the Zinn Education Project – an outfit that has placed radical lessons inside 176,000 classrooms nationwide – to coach teachers on bringing left-wing politics into classrooms before May 1st.
The recording was obtained and posted publicly by the North American Values Institute.
The most damning moment came when a math teacher asked what to do if her administration told her to stay neutral.
Zinn Education Project's Jesse Hagopian called that request "infuriating."
"We know nothing is neutral," Hagopian said – then encouraged teachers to engage in what he called "fugitive pedagogy."
Pre-school teacher Kirstin Roberts went further.
When a participant asked what to do if the school won't close for May Day, Roberts had a solution: plan "field trips" to union headquarters instead.
Use the students as cover.
Chicago Teachers Union Targets Preschool Students With May Day Protest Curriculum
Roberts told the webinar that teachers of young children should not "feel like this is stuff that's way beyond their students."
She listed what she wants pushed on children still learning their ABCs: workers' rights, anti-racism, pro-LGBTQIA+ issues, and immigration advocacy.
Chicago history teacher Dave Stieber framed the entire operation plainly.
"There's probably gonna be a lot worse things that Trump does, and so May Day is a dress rehearsal," Stieber said.
He described it as preparation for "a random day in June that we all are, like, no work, no school, no shopping, because of something Pete just did."
Taxpayer-funded teachers, planning economic shutdowns on command, training each other to use classrooms – and children – as the mechanism.
Chicago Public Schools Faces Pressure to Cancel Classes for May Day Protests
This wasn't a fringe webinar disconnected from union policy.
The CTU's 730-member House of Delegates voted to join the national "No School, No Work, No Shopping" May Day movement, demanding ICE out of Chicago and higher taxes on the wealthy.
CPS CEO Macquline King said no – schools stay open.
Then Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former CTU organizer who won his 2023 mayoral election with union backing, got involved.
King reversed course, then reversed again.
As of this week the Chicago Board of Education is holding a formal public vote on canceling classes for 315,000 students – including students with AP exams, field trips, prom, and senior events already on the calendar.
The CTU posted its position on social media without apology: "Through our collective bargaining, we secured the ability to stand united on May Day with No School. No work. No shopping."
Teachers Union Indoctrination Goes Beyond Chicago as NEA Embeds Activism Nationwide
Heritage Foundation research published last month documented the full playbook: the NEA passed a resolution to mobilize students against ICE raids, hosted anti-ICE teacher trainings, and placed open-borders protest posters inside classrooms across the country.
The Zinn Education Project publicly announced it is abandoning its single June day of action to embed organizing into May Day, Pride marches, and Juneteenth – year-round.
The webinar is the training.
The fake field trip is the tactic.
The school closure push is the deployment.
Mika Hackner of NAVI named it: "Our teacher unions view students as foot soldiers in their political and ideological battles and the classroom as an appropriate venue to wage their war."
Ryan Walters of the Teacher Freedom Alliance named it too: "The fact that they are targeting students as young as 3 years old with this anti-American propaganda should be criminal."
They stopped hiding.
Hagopian puts "fugitive pedagogy" on the record. Roberts tells teachers to fake field trips as cover. The CTU tweets "No School. No work. No shopping." like a campaign slogan.
They believe parents won't do anything about it – and for years, they've been right.
May 1 is weeks away.
The school board vote is this week.
Parents in Chicago have a very short window to prove them wrong.
Sources:
- Andrew Mark Miller, "Inside teachers' union May Day 'dress rehearsal' critics warn will 'groom' students into Dem 'foot soldiers'," Fox News, April 14, 2026.
- "NEA, CTU May Day Webinar Trains Teachers To Turn Students Into Activists," NAVI K-12 Tracker, April 2026.
- "Randi Weingarten Turns Teachers Union Into Political Weapon Against ICE," The Heritage Foundation, March 9, 2026.
- "CTU plans to join May 1 'no school, no work' day of action, wants classes canceled," WBEZ Chicago, March 12, 2026.
- "CPS Cancels Classes on May 1 After Pressure From Teachers Union," Chicago Today, April 9, 2026.
- "Zinn Education Project funneling social justice curriculum to young students," Fox News, October 2025.
- Andrew Mark Miller, "NEA funneling millions to far-left activist groups, federal labor filings show," Fox News, January 2026.
