As teachers unions again agitate to shut down schools, the response of state and local governments must be clear: There will be no compromises or concessions, and if you don’t like it, you can quit.
Against all science and data, Chicago Public Schools have been forced to cancel classes after the Chicago Teachers Union voted overwhelmingly in favor of “remote-work only job action.” Teachers unions have delayed and disrupted in-person schooling for two years now over “safety” demands, as they search for any reason to keep children out of schools so teachers can feel “safe” in the classroom.
It’s all a scam. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from Sep. 19 to Oct. 30 of 2021, the death rate for people who were vaccinated from COVID was around 0.53 per 100,000. For those that elected to get the booster, it was closer to 0.14 per 100,000. The vaccines are effective at preventing COVID deaths and severe COVID cases. That is all the safety you need.
Just to be clear on who the CTU strike is harming:
82.9% of Chicago Public School students are Black or Hispanic.
Meanwhile, 52% of the CPS teachers are white.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) January 6, 2022
Air filtration systems aren’t necessary and will make a negligible difference for those who already got vaccinated. Masks should be voluntary because children and vaccinated teachers are not threats to each other and because schools with mask mandates still haven’t shown to be better at stopping the spread of COVID than schools without them.
Children should not be sent home for positive tests, should not be masked, should not be forced to eat lunch outside, should not have their extracurricular activities limited or canceled, and should be back, in-person, on a regular school schedule. If teachers are worried about their safety, they should get vaccinated and get a booster shot. Any teacher that is vaccinated is already as safe as they can possibly be. If they don’t think the vaccine works (or pretend that they don’t think it works) and want more concessions, they should be shown the door, or at least have the dignity to quit on their own.
“If you don’t want to teach, don’t teach. Quit. Just stay at home and stop teaching children, okay? … You are either ignorant when it come to science or you just don’t want to be in classes.”
— @JoeNBC on Chicago teachers voting for switch to remote learning amid Omicron surge pic.twitter.com/2FOXVcddLd
— The Recount (@therecount) January 5, 2022
Remote “learning” is not learning at all. It is a catastrophe that has set children back educationally, emotionally, and physically. School is essential, and there should be no restrictions whatsoever. The people who are safest from COVID are children (regardless of vaccination status) and vaccinated adults. There are no excuses for shutting children out of in-person learning once again.
State and local governments must make this clear. Students and teachers must be back in the classroom. There should be no concessions or compromises or restrictions or mandates. Contracting COVID while being vaccinated is, statistically, not dangerous, and it absolutely does not compare to the damage being done to children by school closures and remote “learning.”
