Ahead of congressional testimony from teachers’ union boss Randi Weingarten, a new report suggested her “anti-kid” sway over school lockdowns was greater than originally suspected, sparking a call for parents to wage “political warfare, state by state.”
Throughout the COVID pandemic, local, state and federal entities routinely considered themselves blameless for the consequences of their draconian policies as they pointed blame up or down the hierarchical ladder as needed.
Wednesday, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Weingarten will testify before the House Oversight Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic but, according to findings of the New York Post, she won’t readily avoid shouldering responsibility.
On Feb. 12, 2021, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky unveiled guidance that halted the full return to in-person instruction for students after no fewer than two phone calls from Weingarten, including one the day prior, as set forth by records collected by watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT).
“AFT and its fellow union, the National Education Association, also asked the White House and CDC for help shaping its press strategy to show the rank-and-file they and the Biden administration were on the same page, emails reveal,” the Post reported.
“They’d like to tweet ahead of the meeting to say something to the gist of ‘The CDC has invited a group of AFT/NEA teachers to meet with the Director on safe school reopening this Monday,” then-White House associate director of public engagement William McIntee wrote to CDC’s Sherri Berger on Feb. 7, 2021. “What information would you like our members to relay to the CDC Director in the meeting?”
Image: New York Post
That email was sent the same day that Walensky and Weingarten had spoken on the phone, five days before the release of “Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools Through Phased Mitigation.”
Days later, on Feb. 11, CDC official Christopher Jones followed up a call that day from Walensky to Weingarten and NEA President Becky Pringle wherein he wrote, “we would like to schedule time tomorrow late morning for a follow up discussion with CDC’s technical experts…”
Image: New York Post
“Randi Weingarten colluded with the Biden administration to put politics over science,” APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland said, “threatening the wellbeing of children.”
“Her multiple calls, emails, and non-scientific recommendations to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and her team illustrate the level of dark money influence that was allowed to shape school reopening policies,” Sutherland continued.
An op-ed by former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey went into specifics on that as she addressed the dangers posed by “anti-kid thuggery” conducted by the teachers’ unions.
“A staggering 37% of high-school students reported suffering mental-health struggles during the lockdowns in a CDC survey,” she detailed before addressing parents directly, “Protecting your kids from the unions requires waging political warfare, state by state.”
“Laws in 38 states guarantee collective bargaining, not just over pay but often over every aspect of the school day, even curriculum,” McCaughey explained, further outlining union reach. “Unions use these powers to block school reform, opposing standardized testing, merit pay and teacher accountability. And to stuff the curriculum with political indoctrination — what the AFT calls ‘social justice.'”
On a positive note, and in support of her argument to back legislators in favor of reform, she reported, “Five states are banning unions from deducting dues from teachers’ paycheck, making it harder to raise millions for political clout. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders are also moving to curb unions from dictating curriculum, such as teaching elementary-school kids gender theory instead of arithmetic and reading.”
Meanwhile, Weingarten has maintained her own innocence regarding union pressure and prepared testimony for the subcommittee hearing contended, “Any claim that the contact the AFT had with the CDC was unusual or inappropriate, particularly in reviewing its February 2021 Operational Strategy, is simply wrong.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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