The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sided with teachers unions over science, and against the welfare of students and their families.
The New York Post reported over the weekend that the American Federation of Teachers successfully lobbied the CDC as it was drafting its February guidelines over reopening schools. The CDC was prepared to issue guidance that schools could fully reopen. But then, the union managed to get the agency to add the following line: “In the event of high community-transmission results from a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, a new update of these guidelines may be necessary.”
Science and study after study have shown that schools are safe, as children are in the low-risk category when it comes to this virus.
For the CDC to choose teachers unions over science is inexplicable. It runs absolutely contrary to the CDC’s most obvious mission imperative. Put simply, science and health are never supposed to be politicized. Coronavirus guidelines should not be an exception to the rule. But the fact that the CDC’s guidance was successfully influenced by a powerful special interest group is especially concerning. It feeds the distrust many have in our institutions. Coming so soon after the Biden administration’s taking office, we have reason to fear that the CDC’s actions here will ultimately come to represent only the tip of the iceberg.
It is high time to reopen schools for full-time, five-day, in-person learning. The CDC is duty-bound to provide updated guidance that reflects the scientific, not political, reality.
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
