On Wednesday, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten appeared at a House hearing hosted by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to discuss the impact of school closures due to Covid-19. During the hearing, Weingarten was pressed about the union’s influence on the federal government during decision-making throughout the pandemic.
In opening remarks at the hearing, Weingarten said in-person learning was the driving force behind decisions made during the pandemic to close and reopen schools.
As the hearings began, the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), who is a physician, asked Weingarten whether the AFT had ever provided suggestions to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on closing and reopening schools. Weingarten claimed the union suggested “ideas” but did not specify what they were. She claimed that due to her age, she did not remember when the union first met with the CDC. She noted that the Biden administration’s transition team was the first to contact the union.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup: “Has AFT ever made suggestions for changes to CDC’s operational strategy for closing or reopening schools?”
Randi Weingarten: “We proposed ideas, sir…we proposed several different ideas.” pic.twitter.com/RUsHi17urb
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) April 26, 2023
QUESTION: “When did you first start working with the CDC?”
Randi Weingarten: “Listen, I’m 65 years ancient. I don’t remember everything anymore.” pic.twitter.com/qsnOaFmN2z
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 26, 2023
Weingarten told Kentucky Rep. James Comer (R-KY) that the union had suggested “concepts” to the CDC for “reasonable accommodations” for teachers and that policy should be reviewed if a new variant is discovered.
“It is unusual for a political union to play such a role in the scientific advice process,” Comer said.
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.) reported that some schools in her district have been closed for two years and that families believe the closure has caused “harm” to the family.
“As we found through the committee’s investigation, your union undoubtedly played a role in ensuring that these plants remained closed much longer than they should have been,” she said.
“But after lobbying for and securing $122 billion in the American Rescue Plan to safely reopen schools, after $60 billion had already been allocated under the CARES Act, the AFT continued to push for school closures. Private schools opened a year earlier than public schools in New York. You have $190 billion to reopen schools safely, but as of November, guess what, do you know how much and what percentage of that funding has actually been used?” – the congresswoman asked. She then said that only 15 percent of the funds had been spent in November.
🚨@RepMalliotakis pressed Randi Weingarten on why more than $100 billion in funding is necessary to safely reopen schools in early 2021 if most of the money isn’t spent by today.
Children Were Held Hostage While Teachers Unions and the Biden Administration Attacked Taxpayers! pic.twitter.com/Z1JNhLIXk2
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) April 26, 2023
“Fifty percent [of students in New York] they don’t pass reading tests. Seventy percent fail math exams. One in three children cannot read at their grade level. As a result, New York is currently lowering test scores,” Malliotakis added. “The school closures had a big impact on that.”
Rep. Debbie Lesko (AZ) questioned Weingarten about school closures, pointing out that nonessential businesses were opening earlier than some schools. During the investigation, it was revealed that Weingarten had a phone number where CDC Director Rochelle Walensky could be contacted directly.
– I don’t have a direct number for Mrs. Walensky, do you? Lesko pressed on.
“I don’t talk to government officials,” Weingarten replied.
– Do you have a direct number for Director Walensky? Lesko interjected.
“Do I have Principal Walenski’s direct number?” Weingarten countered.
“Yes.”
“Yes, I have Director Walenski’s direct number,” she replied.
“I hope she gives it to me too.” Thank you,” Lesko said.
Randi Weingarten admits she has a DIRECT PHONE NUMBER to reach CDC Director Walensky! pic.twitter.com/oOwX0yIAMy
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 26, 2023
Since lockdown, Townhall describes how poor academic performance, chronic absenteeism and mental health problems have become common among students across the country. A 2022 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 40 percent of teens felt “melancholy” or “hopeless” during the pandemic.
“I can’t believe you still have a job after the role you and your organization have played in the destruction of our children over the last few years,” Republican Ronny Jackson (Texas) told Weingarten during the hearing. “I think it’s disgraceful and I think you should be ashamed of what has happened over the last few years and take some responsibility for it.”
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) noted that “none of your advice had any impact on stopping the spread of COVID-19, it was only about teachers staying home.” Greene was previously suspended from Twitter for sharing “misinformation” about the pandemic.
“As a political activist and president of the teachers’ union, you have not stood for anything good for our children. And our children have suffered greatly,” Greene added. “The number of suicides has increased. Their learning rate has slowed down… Anxiety, depression.
“You know what else happened? While children were being forced to stay at home, and you approve of this, diagnoses of young people suffering from gender dysphoria have increased,” Greene continued. “So kids were forced to stay at home for so-called virtual learning, where they spent a lot of time on social media, and suddenly we’re seeing the direct effects of that. And this is a stern problem… now we have a nation of children who have suffered because of this [Weingarten’s guidance to the CDC]. People like you need to admit that they are simply political activists. Not a teacher. Neither mother nor doctor.
In September, Townhall reported that teachers were refusing to work and going on strike despite defrauding taxpayers throughout the pandemic. Teachers’ unions have staged strikes in Ohio, Washington and other areas over issues such as wages, class sizes and building conditions. Funds given to school districts during the Covid-19 pandemic, however, were intended to be spent on increasing teacher pay and retirement so that students could get back on track after schools closed. Additionally, the funds were to be used to update school HVAC systems to provide better ventilation after the pandemic. However, reports in the following months indicated that most of the funds were never spent and teachers went on strike over issues that were supposed to be resolved.
In 2020 Wall Street Journal She pointed out that teachers’ unions used Covid-19 as a “political weapon” and prepared an “ideological wish list” for returning to school.
“Americans are taking a closer look at the true, self-serving nature of today’s teachers unions. They are allies of the political left,” the WSJ Editorial Board wrote in August 2020, “and they wield monopoly power, which they now use to force parents and taxpayers to dance to their agenda if they want their children to learn.”
