Even A $130 Billion Bribe Won’t Get Kids Back In The Classroom This School Year

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk,

Biden wants to reopen schools. He promised schools would reopen in his first 100 days. But what does that mean?

The Meaning of Reopen

“His goal that he set is to have the majority of schools, so more than 50 percent, open by day 100 of his presidency and that means some teaching in classrooms, at least one day a week,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

Teachers’ Unions Roll Over Biden

Please consider the Teachers’ Unions Roll Over Biden

One day out of five? We doubt that’s how working parents define open.

Ms. Psaki is trying to make a virtue out of a humiliating political embarrassment. Mr. Biden figured that his support for the teachers union agenda, along with more money, would get the unions to reopen the schools. Instead he’s discovering what America’s parents have learned in the last year: Unions run the schools, and no one—not parents, not school districts, not mayors, and not even a new Democratic President—will tell them what to do. So it’s one day a week, pal. Get used to it.

Chicago Strike 

Chicago elementary and middle schools were supposed to reopen at the beginning of February. 

They went on strike and are still not open. The strike has ended but they ratified an agreement to “reopen” in March.

There’s that word again. What’s it mean now? The WSJ article explains.

Teachers, who will be prioritized for vaccines, won’t have to return to classrooms if they have an underlying medical condition or live with someone who does.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40% of people in Cook County have a chronic condition. The agreement also requires in-person instruction to be “paused” for 14 days if a single child in a school tests positive for Covid. All of this means most kids will be stuck learning remotely for the rest of the school year.

 What About California?

Incredibly, San Francisco’s school board and union hadn’t even considered a plan to reopen schools for nearly 11 months. Last week the city finally sued the school board to force it to come up with a reopening plan.

Bully Pulpit

If president Biden really wanted to lead, he would stand up to the teacher’s unions. 

The WSJ asked Biden to “use his bully pulpit to tell school districts that don’t reopen classrooms that they won’t get the money.”

The Journal used the word “bribe” and so did I. Appeasement might be a better word, but Biden is attempting to buy off the progressive wing of the party.

Free Money

Instead, Democrats want to send public schools another $130 billion whether they open or not. 

And we also get a new definition of  “reopen”. 

Follow the Science?!

President Biden promised to follow the science. Instead, he is Following the Teachers’ Unions.

That Op-Ed is by Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey. 

Let’s tune into what Christie has to say.

Follow the science. That was Joe Biden’s promise to the American people—until Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers disagreed.

I spent much of my time as governor saying that we needed to put children and parents first in public education. The teachers union in New Jersey spent tens of millions of dollars to oppose my reform efforts and protect the status quo. As a result our per pupil costs were among the country’s highest, and families in many urban districts were held hostage by failure.

In an article published Jan. 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, three researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found “little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission” of the coronavirus. Data from reopened classrooms don’t show the rapid spread that has been observed in congregate living facilities and high-density work sites.

The CDC researchers looked at more than 90,000 students in 11 North Carolina districts and found that only 32 students and staff members were infected in school. In the same period, 773 got infected outside school.

CDC Bows to Teachers’ Unions

Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, made the following admission at a Feb. 12 press conference: The CDC wouldn’t “follow the science.” Direct changes in the CDC’s guidance had been made as a result of consultation with teachers groups. To show how far the CDC had moved, Ms. Walensky said that even after everyone had been vaccinated the CDC still might not recommend that schools reopen normally.

The unions pack a lot of financial muscle. I still have the bruises from my battles with them. But President Biden promised Americans an end to these games. This betrayal of our children and their families must end. The long-term mental-health effects and educational deficits created by continuing this policy will be devastating. It’s time to put our children’s interests first in this pandemic.

Is Anyone Else Fed Up With Dr. Fauci’s Forever Moving Goalposts?

On February 26, I wrote Is Anyone Else Fed Up With Dr. Fauci’s Forever Moving Goalposts?

I concluded …

I understand wearing masks. I understand avoiding groups and parties. But enough already. The teachers’ unions will pick up on this and play it for all it’s worth.

Numerous readers blasted my article. One reader commented: 

I am a bit perplexed by this statement; “The teacher’s unions will pick up on this and play it for all it’s worth.” 

I’m not even sure what that means. It sounds like a personal vendetta against teachers, or unions, and totally out of place in this discussion.

My comment clearly was not out of place, but admittedly I provided no explanation, which I should have. 

I had this follow-up post in mind and added this addendum to my original post.

Addendum

I was asked about my brief teachers’ union comment above. I will explain in detail in just a bit in another post. 

I have now explained, hopefully in enough detail, how the teachers’ unions play into this. 

Not For the Kids

I am sick of teachers’ unions and public unions in general. They do not do a damn thing for the kids. 

Notice I said “unions”. There are many excellent teachers, likely the vast majority, who do care about the kids. 

The unions don’t, and never will. 

FDR’s Take on Public Unions

I have commented on public unions and FDR’s take before. 

It’s not just teachers’ unions. All public unions are corrupt to the core. 

Yes, I have a “personal vendetta” against public unions. I am guilty as charged, and proudly so.

However, my “vendetta” is not out of place in regards to Covid and Fauci. And it does appear Fauci bent to the unions. 

Public unions are a corrupt force. They should be abolished.

Even FDR understood this important point. Indeed, FDR accurately predicted what would happen.

To understand FDR’s point, please see Democrats, Here’s Your Chance to Get Rid of Bad Police

I discuss problems with teachers’ unions as well as police and firefighters’ unions. 

I do not wish to condense that discussion down to a short synopsis here.

Please click on the above link for a complete explanation including direct quotes from FDR.