Guest Op-Ed: AFT Massachusetts Calls for Full School Reopening This Fall – Everett Independent everettindependent.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from everettindependent.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Schools must open this fall. In person. Five days a week. With the space and health safeguards
to do so. And my union, the American Federation of Teachers, is committed to making it
happen.
School is where children learn best, where they play together, form relationships and learn
resilience. It’s where many children who otherwise might go hungry eat breakfast and lunch.
Parents rely on schools not only to educate their kids but so they can work. An astounding 3
million mothers dropped out of the workforce during the pandemic.
The United States will not be fully back until we are fully back in school. And my union is all-in. I
Print this article Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks at a convention in Detroit, Mich., July 28, 2012.
(Rebecca Cook/Reuters)
During a televised interview appearance on the
Washington Journal Tuesday, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten said that the CDC asked her organization to propose “language” to be used in its February school reopening guidance.
“The CDC in February and March basically asked all sorts of different organizations to sit down with them and give them comments about what they thought was important. They talked to parent organizations, they talked to the two unions, and one of the things that we didn’t see in the CDC draft is that there were variants that were right around the corner,” Weingarten said.
Social Distancing Requirements Will Be Pivotal In NYC Schools Reopening Next Fall
arrow Students at One World Middle School at Edenwald in The Bronx on October 1, 2020 NYC Mayor s Office
Mayor Bill de Blasio has said repeatedly that his goal is to get all students back into school buildings next fall. But some educators worry there won’t be enough physical space or staff to welcome back all their students if officials stick with current social distancing requirements.
In March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance for schools, saying students should be at least three feet apart in classrooms, and six feet apart when eating. The guidance also calls for six feet apart for older students in communities where transmission is high.
Bill McGurn and Leo Terrell react on The Story
Wall Street Journal editorial board member William McGurn pushed back Tuesday on American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten after she slammed an op-ed critical of her school reopening recommendations.
As the New York Post reported earlier this month, emails gleaned through a FOIA request showed that the AFT lobbied the CDC and further suggested language for [its] school-reopening guidance released in February.
The Post then reported Tuesday that Weingarten admitted the Biden White House asked the AFT for language to contribute to CDC school-reopening guidance.
McGurn told The Story he didn t personally write the op-ed – Randi Weingarten Sees The Light – published May 15 in the Wall Street Journal, but that he nonetheless defended it: