蜜桃影视

Mike Antonucci鈥檚 Union Report appears most Wednesdays; see the full archive.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, raised some eyebrows March 19 during . While discussing her union鈥檚 response to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention distancing guidelines for students, she said, 鈥淲e鈥檝e been trying to reopen schools since last April.鈥�

Her choice of month was timed to the release last year of AFT鈥檚 鈥溾�� on April 29, 2020. With the union having jumped on the school reopening movement so early, according to Weingarten, surely there are many cases of AFT local affiliates at the forefront of the effort.

The teachers in almost all of America鈥檚 largest urban school districts are represented by AFT affiliates. After 11 months of school closures, we have a treasure trove of evidence of how they reacted to many and varied reopening plans. Even among the districts where schools eventually reopened, AFT unions offered more resistance than cooperation.

Let鈥檚 start with the largest: New York City and the United Federation of Teachers. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo shuttered schools in May 2020 for the remainder of the school year, .

By August, UFT sought to further delay reopening, , 鈥淲ill any parents be willing to put their children in a school whose principal believes the building is not ready to open because it is not safe?鈥�

At the end of that month, the UFT executive board if a satisfactory reopening deal wasn鈥檛 reached with Mayor Bill de Blasio. Both parties soon settled, and the agreement led to a partial reopening.

On the opposite coast, United Teachers Los Angeles has been staunchly opposed to reopening all along. Even this month, as the state released its plan with the blessing of the state teachers unions, UTLA called it 鈥�.鈥�

That tone was echoed by the Chicago Teachers Union, which in December that stated, 鈥淭he push to reopen schools is rooted in sexism, racism and misogyny.鈥�

Heading south to Miami, we find the United Teachers of Dade to stop the 鈥渞eckless and unsafe reopening of schools鈥� in the fall.

鈥淟ives are going to be lost,鈥� said in September. She was joined by Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union, who asked, 鈥淲hat will you do when the deaths start happening?鈥� showed their fears to be baseless.

The Houston Federation of Teachers called state and district reopening guidelines “” in July and charged the district was 鈥渋n no way, shape or form prepared” to reopen in the fall. In November, the union petitioned the school board to .

Consistent opposition has been the hallmark of Virginia’s Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, which opposed reopening plans in , , and .

鈥淲e all want nothing more than for students and staff to return to school for face-to-face instruction, but right now, it just is not safe,鈥� said union President Tina Williams.

The Baltimore Teachers Union has been equally adamant. It protested school reopening plans in , , and . Union President Diamont茅 Brown urged Baltimore parents to boycott in-person school.

鈥淲e sit endless hours, helping your children, and the community, every day, all day. We give up everything. And now you鈥檙e asking us to risk our lives? That鈥檚 too much.鈥� .

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers has opposed three plans, culminating in a message to members in February .

鈥淨uite frankly I am disgusted that the district would continue forward with a path towards reopening buildings that again puts my dedicated members in harm鈥檚 way, and in just a few short weeks, will put Philadelphia鈥檚 children in harm鈥檚 way,鈥� .

We鈥檒l wrap it up with , where the union organized a protest in February to keep schools closed until all staff members who want a vaccine can get one, and , where the union filed an injunction in October to keep schools closed.

So it appears Weingarten鈥檚 claim is the exact opposite of reality. But she has to make it, because the alternative is to admit that teachers are receiving the same pay, reduced hours, less oversight and, in many cases, protection from layoffs despite reduced enrollment 鈥� all with zero risk of contracting COVID at work. They have little incentive to return to classrooms.

As a long-time observer of teachers unions, I鈥檓 stunned at how many people are only now discovering that this is the public education world we鈥檝e created. I鈥檓 a realist, and you should be, too. We won鈥檛 have five-day-a-week, in-person instruction for all K-12 students until the teachers unions say so.

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