It’s a January op-ed, but sadly one that’s still relevant because teachers’ unions refuse to listen to the science and reopen schools. It’s time. It’s safe. There’s literally no one that agrees with their position of perpetual closure right now. Even Joe Biden torched their entire narrative regarding why they should remain home. To put it simply: kids don’t get it and they seldom spread it. Are there some cases, sure — but it’s rare. How rare? Well, in Irvine, its schools reopened in September. How many kids contracted COVID? As of March 3, 2021,17…out of 23,000. How many staffers in the school district got infected? Three…out of 3,000. Rory Cooper, who penned the opinion piece, was blunt — reopen the schools or stop vaccinating teachers.
Now, he was referring to Fairfax County, Virginia, which has begun vaccinating teachers who still don’t want to work. Teachers jumped the line of the most vulnerable, people who are at higher risk of dying from the virus if infected — and they still want to stay at home. Some teachers have decided to fight back by mostly throwing an anti-science tantrum. They hurl all the idiocy against the wall — the community spread panic, wanting kids to also be vaccinated, accusing parents of being selfish, and wanting their babysitters back. It’s truly eye-opening. If there is a selfish party, it’s those teachers who don’t want to admit that summer vacation is long over, that kids have committed suicide under lockdown, and anxiety and depression have skyrocketed for kids. And yet, parents are evil for…wanting their kids to back to school when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it’s safe.
President Biden shreds teachers unions' entire argument:
— Mark Bednar (@MarkBednar) February 17, 2021
"Children aren't the people most likely to get COVID"
"You're the safest group of people in the whole world, number one. Number two, you're not likely be able to be exposed to something and spread it to Mommy or Daddy." pic.twitter.com/h8AxLCac1m
This whole fiasco is another reason why teachers’ unions, any public-sector union actually, are terrible. It’s not about the kids or education. It’s about them being lazy and wielding vast amounts of political power. Look at what they’re doing to the Biden White House. The administration is kowtowing to these mobsters. Also, the "wait until kids are vaccinated" line is rich. There is no vaccine approved for children under the age of 14. They truly don’t want to work (via WaPo):
The Fairfax County school system demanded and then received high-priority placement for teachers and administrators to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Those vaccines began a week ago, and, according to the Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand, 5,000 teachers have received their first dose and an additional 22,000 teachers are registered to receive their first dose soon.
And yet, having jumped to the front of the vaccine line, Brabrand, the FCPS School Board and the teachers union are delaying opening schools.
[…]
The union says that all students must also be vaccinated. Never mind that no current vaccine has been approved for use on children under the age of 14. Adams also wants 14 days of zero community spread. Neither of these goals is likely to occur this calendar year. The excuses pile up faster than the half-inch of snow that typically shuts down school operations.
[…]
Students are struggling. They have been locked out of schools for nearly a year now. Children with learning disabilities have had little to no support. Special-needs children were turned away from a hybrid return by the union. Kindergartners have never seen their schools. Return dates have been continually pushed back, usually the night before a return was scheduled, resulting in a few tears shed in our home (by the kids, too).
Academically, students are struggling. The data shows that decisively. Emotionally, they’re struggling. Sadly, the data also shows that decisively, and parents are seeing it. Real harm is being caused to them, and it’s by the people meant to look out for them. And they want that harm to continue for another year.
[…]
Schools are indeed open all across this country five days a week. Teachers without vaccines in public schools elsewhere, or private schools right here in Fairfax County, are working every day with reasonable mitigation efforts and with very little negative consequence. A valid question is whether these teachers who have been in-person for months or the entire year have also been skipped in the vaccination line by the Fairfax teachers union.
[…]
Countless people with serious health risks may not see a vaccine for months. They were told to wait for the teachers. And now school administrators simply don’t want to make good on the promise of their position in the vaccine line. It’s time to open the schools full time or get new administrators. Really, we should do both.
Yeah, torched these teachers’ unions well, folks. They deserve hate, scorn, and frankly, every one of these so-called board members deserves to be tarred and feathered over what they’re doing to kids. They’re peddling science fiction to stay at home while screwing other more vulnerable people in the NoVa area out of getting vaccinated. In this country, you have to work. I know that’s an odd concept for these folks, but it’s time.
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