Biden adds former Obama labor official Seth Harris to White House
By Jennifer Epstein Bloomberg,Updated March 2, 2021, 8:41 p.m.
Email to a Friend
President Biden spoke in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.Doug Mills/Photographer: Doug Mills/The New
Former Obama Labor Department official Seth Harris has joined the White House as a top adviser to President Joe Biden on labor issues, an administration official said Tuesday.
A former acting and deputy labor secretary, Harris will coordinate the White Houseâs relationship with labor groups and efforts on workersâ rights. His title is deputy assistant to the president for labor and the economy.
Biden moves to get all teachers a vaccine shot by the end of March
Laura Meckler, The Washington Post
March 2, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he would use federal authority to offer coronavirus vaccinations to K-12 teachers and child care workers, with the aim of getting at least the first shot administered to all educators by the end of March.
The goal is to remove one of the major barriers to reopening schools - an urgent step for parents and children alike - but one that has been enormously controversial and complicated. Teachers, who have resisted going back in many communities, have said that they would be much more willing to return to school buildings if they are vaccinated first.
Union-sponsored deal announced in Philadelphia to reopen elementary schools on Monday
the network of Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees.
With the collaboration of the teachers unions, Philadelphia schools will begin in-person classes for about 3,000 kindergarten through second grade students Monday, despite the spread of new and more infectious coronavirus strains that are making their way into the population.
The move comes as the result of a ruling by an “independent” mediator appointed by the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) as part of a Memorandum of Agreement signed last fall. The mediator, Chicago doctor Peter Orris, reviewed the condition of buildings, in particular the ventilation systems, and issued a ruling determining whether they are currently “safe” to reopen or whether rudimentary changes should be made.