The Texas state government is refusing to disburse $17.9 billion of $19 billion in federal money intended for public education under the recently-passed COVID-19 stimulus bill.
As districts press to fully reopen, American Federation of Teachers endorses three-foot distancing in schools
On Monday,
US News & World Report published an article titled, “Teachers Union Switches Stance, Now Endorses CDC Guidance on School Reopenings.” The article describes American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten’s collusion with the Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in reducing spacing recommendations for schools.
AFT President Randi Weingarten (left), First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and NEA President Becky Pringle at January 21 White House meeting
On March 19, the CDC unscientifically changed its guidelines saying that children in schools only need three feet of spacing between them instead of six feet. Just before the change, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky cynically told a House committee hearing, “As soon as our guidance came out [in mid-February], it became very clear that six feet was among the things
Rank-and-file teacher opposes Randi Weingarten’s fraud and capitulation
The following is a statement by Texas teacher Michael Hull, founder of the Facebook group Teachers Against Dying and a member of the Texas Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee. It is a response to American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten’s surrender to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over their unsafe three-foot distancing guidelines in schools.
On March 16, 2021, I spoke to AFT President Randi Weingarten at a Bad Ass Teachers town hall event, voicing safety concerns including the denial of medical accommodations, the impracticality of effectively implementing certain CDC guidelines, and the emergence of new strains of COVID-19. I explained that a doctor advised me not to return to in-person instruction and wrote a note to my district. Like thousands of others in this situation, I was still forced to choose between following medical advice and continued
LA and Oakland teachers: Vote No on the deadly deals to reopen schools! wsws.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wsws.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Elderly bear the brunt of Texas power outage catastrophe
The decision by ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) to initiate indefinite rolling blackouts across the state of Texas has taken its biggest toll on the elderly. Seniors particularly those dependent on Social Security benefits for housing, medicine, and essentials were in many cases trapped inside their homes, unable to leave and impossible to reach for days on end.
As of Wednesday, more than 1.3 million residents across 200 Texas counties remained without clean water in their homes, forcing them to boil water, wait in line for bottled water or purchase it at the store. At the peak last week, nearly 15 million Texans were under a boil-water advisory after widespread power outages knocked out water treatment and distribution across the state.