The ever-heated debate over the reopening of the school is forcing President Joe Biden to balance two priorities: getting children back into the classroom and retaining the support of powerful working-class groups that helped him get elected.
After weeks of deadlock in some cities and states where teacher unions are demanding vaccines as a condition of reopening, the issue came to a head on Wednesday when Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that vaccination of teachers “is not a prerequisite for the safe reopening of schools.” “
But in a juggling position, the White House refused to support Walensky, saying she was speaking “in her personal capacity.” When asked about her earlier comments on Friday, Walensky kicked.
So far, the issue does not seem to drive a wedge between Biden and the unions. Even those demanding vaccines say that shots wouldn’t be necessary if schools took other measures to make buildings safe.
Walensky on Wednesday cited CDC data showing that social distance and wearing a mask significantly reduce the spread of the virus in school. Just a week earlier, the agency published a study that found that, with wearing a mask and other precautions, it is generally safe to conduct personal schooling.
To many Republicans and some on the left, Walensky’s comment was seen as an endorsement to immediately reopen schools. Some believed it discredited teachers’ unions that demanded vaccines before returning to personal education.
However, unions largely shrugged it off. With the right mix of safety precautions in places, teacher unions generally agree that the vaccines are not a prerequisite for reopening. The problem is, many schools are far behind on ventilation updates and other important measures recommended by health officials, said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
“Vaccinations go from a priority to essential if you can’t do some of these basic mitigation strategies,” Weingarten said. “Instead of keeping these schools closed for months, why shouldn’t teachers vaccinate more quickly?”
Even among state and local unions that have taken a tougher stance on vaccinations, Walensky’s comment provoked little fire. The California Teachers Association is pushing for all teachers to be vaccinated, but that’s largely because many schools are “nowhere close” to making buildings safe using other methods, said Claudia Briggs, a union spokesman.
Briggs applauded the Biden administration’s response, saying the president has made it clear that teacher safety is of the utmost importance. She cited his proposal of $ 130 billion in additional pandemic aid to help reopen schools.
In ChicagoVaccinations have been a major sticking point between the city and the teachers’ union in negotiating return to class. At a news conference held by the Chicago Teachers Union on Friday, special education teacher Dawn Kelly said teachers want to return but feel they are not protected.
“We want to come back to school. I miss my babies, I want to cuddle my students, I want to sit on the carpet and get carried away, but at the moment it’s just not safe, ”she said.
Despite the CDC’s seemingly final statement, the White House has refused to take a firm stand on teacher vaccinations. When asked on Thursday, Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, said that Walensky was speaking “in her personal capacity” and that the White House would await updated school counseling that Biden has requested from the CDC.
“She is clearly the head of the CDC, but we will wait for the latest guidelines to be released so we can use them as a guide for schools across the country,” Psaki said.
Biden has pledged to reopen most of the country’s K-8 schools within its first 100 days in office, a goal he says will be possible if Congress approves its pandemic rescue plan. and when states prioritize teachers in rolling out vaccines. In many states, teachers are involved in a second series of recordings early on.
But the plan has drawn fire from critics who say Biden cherishes the teachers’ unions that see him as an ally.
Both of the major teacher unions in the country supported Biden as president, including the National Education Association, whose 3 million members include First Lady Jill Biden, who has been a community college professor for many years.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said efforts to get students back into the classroom are being blocked by “rich, powerful unions donating huge sums of money to Democrats and strangling education in many communities.”
“A government that puts facts and science first should lead a full-fledged press to open schools,” he said on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
Some on the left have issued similar reprimands, including former New York City mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, who said on MSNBC that Biden should “stand up” to teacher unions and force a return to the classroom.
In California, the Democratic government Gavin Newsom cited Walensky’s comment as proof that it is safe to reopen schools before all teachers receive vaccines. He’s been pushing for schools to reopen for weeks, but so far it seems the CDC’s findings have done little to persuade teachers to return.
Vaccine shortages and slow rollout have jeopardized Biden’s reopening plan as more schools delay personal instruction. Leaders in some districts have expressed doubts whether they will return all students for personal instruction until next school year.
The Biden government says it wants to speed up the number of openings by increasing funding and helping schools run virus tests. Miguel Cardona, Biden’s choice of education secretary, has said he is willing to help schools reopen safely, even if teachers have not all been vaccinated.
Weingarten, of the AFT, said Biden’s proposed pandemic relief would go a long way in opening schools. But even if Congress approves it, she said, it could take months for schools to receive it and make the necessary adjustments. Rather than scapegoating teachers, she said the blame should be on the Trump administration for not delivering vaccines before and districts that haven’t updated buildings in years.
“There isn’t much confidence for districts because we’ve had austerity budgets for years and we know the facilities aren’t what they should be,” she said. “There shouldn’t be a pandemic to fix ventilation systems.”
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Don Babwin, Associated Press author, contributed to this report.