Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said on Sunday that she wanted to “dismantle” the myth that teachers’ unions do not want to reopen schools, and attacked the California government, Gavin Newsom, for not prescribing the vaccines in Los Angeles. do not have. Angeles – but struggled to see if students could start again in person this school year.
“I want to dispel this myth that teachers ‘unions, at least our union, do not want to reopen schools,” Weingarten told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “Teachers know that education is really important, and we would have said the pre-pandemic. We knew that distance education is not a good substitute.”
“Probably not going to have full school openings this school year?” Asked Chuck Todd, NBC News.
“What does full school opening mean? If you take physical distance, you are actually saying in a school that you will have about 50 or 60% of people there at the same time. Not 100%,” Weingarten replied. 30% more space, do we have 30% more teachers? What I think we should do, we should now get as much personal as possible. Take the mitigation strategies, have a wonderful summer semester to get the kids mojo back in a voluntary way and then really plan for next year. ‘
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President Biden has repeatedly promised to open the majority of the K-8 schools on his 100th day on April 30th. But new guidelines on reopening schools issued 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 provides guidance on masking, physical distance, hand washing and breathing labels, building ventilation and cleaning, and contact tracing.
Critics have accused the White House of giving in to pressure from teachers’ unions and pressuring the CDC to manipulate its advice.
“You can see, since the unions acted and said they did not want to teach in the classroom, you saw the White House put the CDC under pressure to reverse the leadership that was very clear,” says Steve Scalise, R-La. , said in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.
“Our kids can’t wait,” Scalise said. “They need to be in the classroom today. Science says they can be in the classroom today. The question is, is the will there for some politicians in Washington who are now bowing to the teachers’ unions?”
Weingarten said the latest guidance from the CDC and resources that Biden is trying to get in the $ 1.9 billion package creates a ‘roadmap’ for defining risks that amount to three factors: low mitigation strategies, testing for asymptomatic distribution on to detect and prioritize vaccines.
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“There’s a road map now, and you can actually follow that road map to define the risks,” Weingarten said in an interview with NBC anchor Chuck Todd. “Not that every teacher should be vaccinated before you open schools, but you should prioritize the vaccination of the vaccine with the reopening of schools.”
The leader of one of America’s largest teachers’ unions, Weingarten, said New York, home to the country’s largest public school system, set a positive example for the rest of America to follow.
“There is no perfect solution, but honestly, I think New York City has done a pretty good job of showing the way. Large school district. Lots of issues regarding old buildings, and we learned a lot from what New York is. City did “in September and October,” Weingarten said.
Weingarten said a recent survey showed that 85% of its members would be comfortable at school if they had the kind of tests, low mitigation and vaccination like in New York.
She also praised Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, who “made sure every teacher and school employee who wanted the vaccine had been vaccinated over the past few weeks.” Reopening of plans by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, was also praised by Weingarten, who then targeted was how Newsom handled the pandemic response. in California.
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“If I hear politicians, if I hear director Newsom say you’re always going to find a way out, why does he not actually prioritize the teachers in LA where they were in purple, purple zone – no in the red zone?” Weingarten said. .
“I think the problem is that if the NFL could figure out how to do it, in terms of testing and protocols, if schools are that important, let’s do it. And my members want it, they just want to be safe. “
“You will find everything you are looking for, so if we want to find reasons not to reopen, we will find many reasons. But if we want to start developing our strategies and strategies where we all want to go, then we will will also notice, ‘Newsom said in a recent interview.
Asked if she supports local unions for teachers, including those in Fairfax, Va., Who do not want to return to personal education before all children have been vaccinated, Weingarten said: “teachers’ unions are not monolithic.”
“What you hear when you hear it is that people are scared. We have to face fear with facts, that’s what we’re trying to do. We had Dr. Fauci in two town halls, for example,” Weingarten said. “We had a vaccination town hall with experts on it, and so, just as we are dealing with the facts and evidence and the data against the vaccine, we need to do the same in terms of educators. What we learned in our mood and we experience also shows that when people are actually in school with the protocols in place, they trust it more and that you then only had to educate people in terms of this way. ‘
Weingarten said 71% of its members are afraid they will bring COVID-19 home.
“Look, we’ve had 500,000 deaths and had such grim realities here, but the teachers of this country understand that personal training is really important. Let’s finally do the kind of strategies we need.”
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Fox News’ Evie Fordham contributed to this report.