The Cleveland Collapse: Fascist Palingenesis of Urban Education and the End of Democratic Schooling

Randi, The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) exists to resist authoritarianism in education, protect democratic education institutions, and amplify the voices of teachers, families, and students , especially those historically marginalized by systems of power. But in practice, under your leadership, AFT has become something else entirely. When you align with corrupt governance, silence dissent, and enforce narrative conformity on vulnerable communities, you cease to be a protector of public education and become instead a facilitator of proto-fascist consolidation. You stand by Shari Obrenski, not as an act of solidarity, but as an act of allegiance to institutional power. You chose to protect her abusive influence in our community rather than listen to the parents and children harmed by the decisions she supports. You would not give me time, not because I was unclear, but because I would not meet you on your terms. This is gatekeeping disguised as leadership. It is the very mechani...

  As both the President of the Cleveland Teachers Union and a member of CMSD's Equity Task Force, Shari Obrenski had a dual responsibility to protect the well-being of educators and to fight for real equity for students. But instead of using her position to prioritize what matters most,  safe, functional school buildings and equal access to basic resources,  she chose to champion equity training for professionals while ignoring the total absence of equity in the day-to-day lives of CMSD's children. Let's be clear: equity doesn't begin with a seminar. It begins with a safe classroom. It begins with clean air, drinkable water, heat in the winter, and full, nutritious meals served with dignity in a cafeteria,  not cold food eaten from a Styrofoam tray on a kid's lap in a hallway. It begins with ensuring that every school,  not just a lucky few, has what students need to feel valued and supported. Infrastructure is not secondary to equity, it is equity. But while sc...