The Problem With The Ideology Of Redfored Leadership

Noah Karvelis with Arizona Educators United

Earlier this month, in the Phoenix New Times, Noah Karvelis (Arizona Educators United and leader of the RedForEd movement) defended his motives for speaking at the Socialism 2018 conference, held in Chicago that kicked off the following day after the Fourth of July.  A conference which included talks such as “Karl Marx: From Extreme Democrat to Revolutionary,” and “A World Without Borders? Marxism, Nations, and Migration.”  The conference whose moderator, Dana Blanchard (a former teacher) from the International Socialist Organization (ISO) declared, “We need to use our powers as workers to take down this wretched system.” In his defense, Karvelis argued that he would speak at any conference who would have him, Republican, Socialist, or otherwise.  Fair enough.

It is his statement regarding the reason he went to Chicago that has me the most troubled.  According to the article, Karvelis states that he attended the conference as a networking opportunity with other teacher-organizers when the Chicago teachers’ union asked him to participate as a speaker.  “That was the draw,” he told Phoenix New Times, “to go and talk to these educators who are leading these different movements.”

I must ask why teachers and teachers unions are congregating at the Socialism 2018 conference.  It seemed at first that the involvement in socialism activity was concealed, when Noah Karvelis began removing his social media posts that exposed his Marxist leanings.  Now, however, instead of concealing their involvement, it is on full display for us to see.  I called for anyone in the school system to denounce the ideology and activity of the RedForEd leadership, yet all but 3 refused, and many were quick to tell me how I am uneducated and I don’t understand why democratic socialism is so great.

Arizona, we are at a crossroads.  We either acknowledge that there is a problem in our schools where anti-American seeds are being planted, watered, nurtured, and harvested or we remain silent and watch as the United States transforms into a country we no longer recognize.  We value teachers, but we do not want them indoctrinating our youth with political ideas, liberal, conservative, or otherwise.  That is the responsibility of the parents, alone.

Finally, I support teachers and proper funding for education, and I always have.  I’ve supported billions of dollars in K-12 funding and have voted to increase education funding on a regular basis.  What I don’t support is a movement organized by self-avowed socialists, who took a legitimate issue like teacher pay, and turned it into a recruiting mechanism for socialist organizations and election efforts.  Arizona parents are waking up to what is truly going on behind this movement.  We continue to cherish our teachers, but we will never stand for this.