The American Federation of Teachers has reversed course and now supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent decision to change its social distancing guidelines for schools from 6 feet to 3 feet.
When the CDC revised the guideline in mid-March, the AFT, the second-largest teachers union in the United States, initially opposed it. At the time, AFT President Randi Weingarten raised concerns that the CDC’s recommendation was not based on the realities of urban schools.
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“Our concern is that the cited studies … were not conducted in our nation’s highest-density and least-resourced schools, which have poor ventilation, crowding, and other structural challenges,” Weingarten said.
But Weingarten changed her mind when CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona sent a letter addressing her concerns last week. The letter made clear that the reduced social distancing must be accompanied by other mitigation strategies such as mask-wearing, handwashing, and proper cleaning and ventilation.
“They responded forthrightly to every question we posed, making clear that reduced distancing in classrooms for kids must be accompanied by the layered mitigation strategies,” Weingarten said.
Teachers unions have wielded considerable influence on the reopening of schools, often refusing to return to in-person instruction until all teachers are vaccinated. Recent research from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, found that the power of teachers unions, and not the rate of community transmission, is what drove a school district’s decision to have remote learning versus in-person during the fall 2020 semester.
That influence has extended to the Biden administration.
In early February, Walensky said, “I want to be clear. There is increasing data to support that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest teachers need to be vaccinated.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki tried to walk back that comment later that same day.
In mid-February, the CDC released its reopening guidelines for schools, which said that schools could reopen safely even without teachers being vaccinated as long as other stringent guidelines were observed, such as mask-wearing and social distancing.
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At the time, Weingarten praised the CDC guidelines, saying, “For the first time since the start of this pandemic, we have a rigorous road map, based on science, that our members can use to fight for a safe reopening.”
Critics noted that the CDC guidelines would keep more than 90% of schools from fully opening.
