Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said on Sunday that she had to “ debunk ” the myth that teacher unions do not want to reopen schools and swept California Governor Gavin Newsom for not prioritizing vaccines in Los Angeles – but dodged the question of whether students could fully resume personal education this school year.
“I want to debunk this myth that teacher unions, at least our union, don’t want to reopen schools,” Weingarten told NBC News “Meet the Press.” “Teachers know that personal education is really important and we would have said that pre-pandemic. We knew that distance education is not a good substitute.”
“Probably won’t have full school openings this school year?” Chuck Todd of NBC News asked.
“What does a full school opening mean? If you physically move two meters away, you’re basically saying there will be about 50 or 60% of the people at a school at the same time. Not 100%,” Weingarten responded. “The problem gets real: do we have 30% more space, do we have 30% more teachers. What I think we need to do is we really need to get as much personal as possible now. Have the limiting strategies, have a really great summer semester to voluntarily regaining children’s mojo and then really planning for next year.
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President Biden has repeatedly vowed to open the majority of K-8 schools by his 100th day in office, April 30. But new guidelines on school reopening released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday could delay the return to personal education. even further. Using the latest science and data available on COVID-19, the phased mitigation operational strategy includes guidelines on masking, physical distance, hand washing and respiratory etiquette, ventilation and building cleaning, and contact tracking.
Critics have accused the White House of giving in to pressure from teacher unions and pushing the CDC to manipulate its advice.
“You can see that since the unions have stepped up and said they don’t want to learn in the classroom, you’ve seen the White House put pressure on the CDC to undo the guidance that was very clear,” said Representative Steve Scalise, R -La. , said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday “This Week.”
“Our children can’t wait,” said Scalise. ‘They have to be in class today. Science says they can be in class today. The question is, is there the will for some of the politicians in Washington who are now bowing to the teachers ‘unions?’
Weingarten said the latest CDC guidelines and resources Biden is trying to bring into the $ 1.9 trillion package creates a “roadmap” for defining risks that boil down to three factors: layered mitigation strategies, testing for asymptomatic spread. detect and prioritize vaccines.
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“There is a roadmap now, and so you can follow that roadmap in terms of defining those risks,” Weingarten said in an interview with NBC anchor Chuck Todd. “Not that every teacher should be vaccinated before you open schools, but you have to align vaccine prioritization with the reopening of schools.”
The leader of one of America’s largest teacher unions, Weingarten, said New York City, home to the country’s largest public school system, has set a positive example for the rest of America to follow.
“There’s no perfect solution, but honestly I think New York City has done a pretty good job of showing the way. Great school district. Lots of old building problems and we’ve learned a lot from what New York City has to say. did in September and October, ”Weingarten said.
Weingarten said a recent survey found that 85% of its members would feel comfortable in school if they were given the kind of testing, tiered mitigation, and vaccine prioritization that New York City does.
She also praised Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, who “really made sure that every teacher and school worker who wanted the vaccine had been vaccinated for the past few weeks.” Reopening plans conducted by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, a Republican, and Oregon Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, were also praised by Weingarten, who then focused on how Newsom handled with pandemic reactions in California.
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“When I hear politicians, when I hear Governor Newsom say that you will always find a way out, why doesn’t he prioritize the teachers in LA where they were in the purple, purple zone – not the red zone?” Weingarten said.
“I think the problem is if the NFL could figure out how to do this, in terms of testing and the protocols, if schools are that important, let’s do it. And my members want it, they just want to be safe. . “
“You find what you’re looking for, so if we want to find reasons not to reopen, we’ll find lots of reasons. But if we want to start developing strategies to get where we all want to go, I’ll get it right. Newsom said in a recent interview.
When asked if she supported local teacher unions, including those in Fairfax, Virginia, who do not want to return to personal education until all children have been vaccinated, Weingarten said, “Teacher unions are not monolithic.”
“What you hear when you hear that is that people are scared. We have to face fear with facts, and that’s what we’re trying to do. So, for example, we’ve had Dr. Fauci in two town halls,” he says. Weingarten said. “We’ve had a vaccine town hall with experts on that, and so just as we meet the hesitation about vaccines with facts and evidence and the data, we need to do the same in terms of educators. What we’ve learned in our poll and also in our experience is that when people are actually in school with the protocols drawn up, they trust it more and you just had to teach people this way. “
Weingarten said 71% of its members are afraid they will take COVID-19 home.
“See, we’ve had 500,000 deaths and had such grim realities here, but the teachers of this country understand that personal education is really important, so in the end, let’s do the strategies we need.”
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Fox News’ Evie Fordham contributed to this report.