Union president grilled by GOP over ‘unconscionable’ school lockdowns

The head of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Randi Weingarten, testified in front of Republican lawmakers over school lockdowns pushed by her teachers’ union.

Appearing before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Weingarten was repeatedly accused of using political judgment rather than scientific facts to push for school closures over COVID-19.

“The effect on children has been vast and to have no remorse on closing schools and keeping them closed for the length of time is unconscionable,” said Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a medical doctor and the former head of Iowa’s Department of Public Health, during the hearings.

“Randi Weingarten should be held accountable,” Miller-Meeks wrote on Twitter about the hearing.

Weingarten testified that the Biden transition team reached out to the AFT prior to Biden’s inauguration about guidance on school closures.

When pressed by chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a Republican from Ohio, Weingarten admitted the AFT submitted to the CDC “a handful” of proposals about school closures.

Miller-Meeks accused the AFT and Weingarten of ignoring a substantial body of data that showed schools were safe places and that children were adversely affected by COVID-19 at much lower rates than adults were. 

“These facts are non-negotiable, ma’am. The fact is schools were relatively safe places for both students and educators,” Miller-Meeks admonished the union president. “These are scientific questions that a scientific organization should be able to study and answer. The AFT is not a scientific organization.” 

Miller-Meeks had previously scolded the AFT and Weingarten over the unnecessary lockdowns involving children, accusing the union of having too much influence over guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  

“We are concerned about the overt politicization of the process of developing and releasing what should be fact-based guidance focused on reopening schools,” Miller-Meeks wrote to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the CDC, after reports surfaced that Weingarten and the AFT we’re given special access to the CDC.

A panel of parents appearing on Fox News also expressed concern that the decisions made over school closures were political and not scientific, after watching Weingarten’s testimony before the House Select Subcommittee.

“Well this just really feels like a heartbreaking session of I-told-you-so,” parent Sharon McKeeman, who has four children, told Fox about Weingarten’s testimony. “Because as parents we knew during this time frame, that our kids were being just absolutely devastated by the school closures.”

Parent Harry Jackson called the advice the AFT gave the CDC a case of “confirmation bias,” and noted that private schools opened a year earlier than most public schools.

Erick Mauro, a parent in New York, said the decision to keep the schools closed was “obviously politically motivated.”

“There needs to be accountability, because this can never happen to our nation’s children again,” concluded McKeeman.