Corey DeAngelis serves as the national director of research at the American Federation for Children. He’s been tracking the teachers’ union shenanigans on COVID and masks for months. The teachers’ unions want to flex their political muscles and they’re doing it at the expense of children’s educations. They’re sick puppies, always have been. They should all be smashed up, but I’m preaching to the choir here. For over a year, they’re kept kids out of the classroom to take their power trip for a spin. It also gave their members more vacation time. And don’t even think virtual learning worked. It didn’t. And of all things, these lefty teachers accused parents of being selfish…for wanting to send their kids to school to continue their educations. You people have to work, you know. And sorry, no—you’re no heroes. Doctors, health care workers, police, and first responders have dealt not just with COVID, but also non-stop riots. They’re the real heroes. They also work year-round.
So, as we approach back to school time, we’re back to this nonsense about in-person learning, mask-wearing, and vaccine mandates. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said she’s for a vaccine mandate. That opinion is not shared by all. New York State United Teachers, which has some 600,000 members, came out against a COVID vaccine mandate. But the mask fiasco has been renewed and DeAngelis zeroed in on the “catch-22 dilemma” these unions face about the policy. First, these masks kids wear won’t help curb the spread of COVID. I’ll bet serious money that almost all of them will be wearing the ones that Anthony Fauci admitted do nothing to stop the spread, the ones that are China-made and readily available at stores. They do nothing. Teachers’ unions want the mask mandate but also to keep students coming to schools they dominate. DeAngelis has more, but he’s been tracking governing bodies that have greenlit funding students instead of systems amid the pandemic. Teachers’ unions overreached, and it’s coming back to bite them (via NY Post):
The demands for mask mandates are unleashing renewed calls for school choice. Unions have put themselves into a Catch-22: They want to mandate masks but also want to keep students enrolled in schools they control.
Ten states have now required all public schools to force students to wear masks each day. All are run by Democratic governors, and most are controlled by some of the strongest teachers unions in the nation. Six — California, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and New Jersey — are ranked in the top 10, according to Fordham Institute’s ranking of teachers union strength.
Meanwhile, eight states — including Florida, Texas and Arizona — have prohibited school districts from forcing kids to wear masks this year, and about one in four public-school enrollees resides in one of these states. Teachers unions oppose letting families choose whether to mask their children, and a growing number of districts in these states have announced they will mandate masks anyway.
Four districts in Florida are keeping mask mandates in place with the support of the state’s teachers union, despite Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order to allow families to decide. This is where the teachers unions stepped in it: Last Friday, the Florida Board of Education unanimously approved allowing all families to take their children’s education dollars elsewhere if they disagree with their public school’s masking rules.
[…]
Other states are already considering similar proposals. Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon just called for a special session to allow families to take their children’s education dollars elsewhere if they disagree with their public school’s mask mandate. Last week, Tennessee’s speaker of the House supported the idea, and Arkansas legislators filed a bill that would empower families to choose.
This would be a win-win scenario for families. The main problem with the school-masking debate is that most families are stuck in a one-size-fits-all system. Funding students directly would empower families to choose education providers that fit with their own preferences, risk assessments and values. This is the only way forward without forcing one-size-fits-all mandates or bans on other people’s children.
Families should be able to take their children’s education funds elsewhere regardless of their school’s masking decision
DeAngelis warned that if teachers’ unions continue with their nonsensical ways, they could set fire to their own empire. I would be totally fine with that. Teachers shouldn’t even be in a union, to begin with, which is just an offshoot of the larger point that public-sector unions should be demolished. Good on local boards for allowing parents to yank their kids out of schools totally under the thumb of teachers’ unions and COVID hysteria.
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