Updated Feb. 10 | Mike Antonucci’s Union Report column appears most Wednesdays; see the full archive. “Reopening America’s 98,000 public school buildings doesn’t happen with an all-caps tweet or an ultimatum from the president.” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, in a July 19, 2020, column for The New York Times. […]
Following Tuesday’s vote, union members and the American Federation of Teachers sent a letter to city officials that outlined six coronavirus-related requests.
Educators want the city to create a “situation room” to respond to emergency issues within 24 hours and to require a 24-hour immediate shut down for deep cleaning of any school where a coronavirus exposure has been confirmed, among other items.
The letter also mentioned Helen Marie White, a Ballou STAY Opportunity Academy teacher who died of the virus over the weekend.
“We must make sure schools are safe. What keeps me up at night is that the district is putting the health of our city’s educators and students at risk with in-school learning because of continuing exposures in schools, numerous reports of violations of agreed-upon safety protocols and, tragically, the death of a beloved teacher,” Elizabeth Davis, union president, said. “Our teachers are pleading with the mayor and chancellor to wake up to the
Teachers unions, Democratic lawmakers pressure Biden to waive student loan debt Follow Us
Question of the Day By Ryan Lovelace - The Washington Times - Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Leading teachers unions mounted a new pressure campaign on Wednesday to push the Biden administration to waive student loan debt and spend more to benefit college educators.
The same education activists who have organized to keep classrooms closed want President Biden to scrub away the debt they have incurred earning advanced degrees.
The American Federation of Teachers, one of the nation’s two largest teachers unions, and the American Association of University Professors partnered with a pair of Massachusetts Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, to help them get results now. The national campaign, titled “A New Deal for Higher Education,” wants the government to treat higher