The recent controversy surrounding the reopening of U.S. schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has placed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Republicans on the same team against teacher unions. Bloomberg and Republicans have spewed rhetoric that exposes the anti-educator beliefs inherent to the oligarch and the GOP.
“It’s time for Joe Biden to stand up and to say, the kids are the most important things, important players here,” Bloomberg said during an interview on MSNBC. “And the teachers just are going to have to suck it up and stand up and provide an education.” This is not the first time Bloomberg has made an enemy of himself against teachers’ unions. In 2013, Bloomberg compared teacher unions to the National Rifle Association.
Bloomberg’s unwarranted advice to President Biden does not have much basis in the political reality of the moment. Presidents should never have to “stand up” to teacher unions. Instead, whoever the president is, regardless of party, must always be doubtfully allied with teacher unions.
There is nothing that the unions want more than to be included at the negotiating table. American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten published an article that laid out a plan for reopening schools. Teachers are yearning for the classroom, the only problem is lawmakers are not willing to make the investment to do so safely.
Carefully reopening all public schools is a massive task mainly because marginalized schools lack funding for resources required to follow health protocols. It is no surprise that the ninth richest person on the planet — who also made $6.8 billion since the COVID-19 pandemic started — is out of touch with the economic challenges that ill-funded schools face.
AFT has estimated that reopening schools would require $116.5 billion in federal funding. The price tag seems high, but dissecting the figure reveals essential costs such CONTINUE READING: Attacks against teacher unions uncovers anti-educator nature of Bloomberg and Republicans – North Texas Daily