further health and safety precautions. Numerous unions have also sued school districts rather than return to work. In Cincinnati, the teachers union sued the school district so they wouldn’t have to return to teaching, and a judge ruled against them. The New York City teachers unions issued several threats throughout the summer of 2020 to strike over plans to require in-person teaching. And in Washington, D.C., amid negotiations about reopening schools, the teachers union staged weeks of protests, including piling dozens of fake body bags in front of the Mayor’s office, to demand that schools remain closed... The mayor caved to their demands and did not reopen schools. STUDENTS ARE SUFFERING Now that it’s safe to return to the classroom, teachers who refuse to do so have contributed to the creation of a serious educational crisis,
clear scientific evidence that in-person learning can resume safely. In Fairfax County, Virginia, teachers unions demanded – and received – priority for vaccination, claiming it was essential they be vaccinated before returning to the classroom. After receiving the vaccine, however, the union moved the goalposts again, insisting that it wouldn’t be safe to return to in-person teaching until all children were vaccinated (but none of the current vaccines have yet been approved for use on children). “Concern remains that students will not be vaccinated before they return to school,” the Fairfax County teachers union spokesperson said. In Cleveland, Ohio, the teachers union recently voted to refuse to return to classrooms for in-person teaching, despite the school district’s plans to reopen on March 8. Like teachers in Fairfax County, they had been given priority for vaccination, but still refuse to return to the classroom, claiming they need
American Consequences
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