Watchdog group says Education Dept. official has had ‘substantial’ coordination with teacher’s union
- December 2, 2022
Staff, Just the News
A government watchdog group claims that a high-raking U.S. Department of Education official has engaged in substantial coordination and collaboration with members of the largest teacher’s union in the country.
The group Protect the Public Trust said in a Thursday filing addressed to Education Department Inspector General Sandra Bruce that ED Deputy Chief of Staff Donna Harris-Aiken may have been “providing privileged access and undue influence in ED’s policymaking process to her former employer, the National Education Association.”
The NEA is the largest teacher’s union in the country and a significant force in much of American education policy. Protect the Public Trust said in its filing that Harris-Aikens appears to have “systematically violated the ethical obligations” incumbent upon her in her position by collaborating with the NEA.