New York teachers demand schools reopen, launch new national organization to fight unions, politicians

 Teachers unions across the country don't want schools to open. They claim that it's too dangerous for them to be in contact those that have the lowest vector of COVID transmission—children. Yet they refuse to grapple with the cost of not educating America's youth.

Teachers have been misrepresented. Many of them want to go back to school, but unions and elected leaders are keeping schools closed.

 Teachers for Open Schools knows that school closures are harming kids. They are a new group founded by elementary school teacher Eleni Filippatos and Stephanie Edmonds which counters the claims of the fearmongers and demands that schools should reopen.

When asked who is keeping the schools closed, Filippatos said "Teachers unions."

"I think there's been alot of fearmongering," she said. "When we were discussing the reopening plans this summer in New York City, there were threats to go on strike." Filippatos said she "got on a call with our district union rep, and she said 'you have to be prepared to go on a strike, this is life or death.' And many of us said 'we don't want to strike."

"So this narrative that we hear from unions who are supposed to be representing us, as teachers, they're representing a very specific voice that's not representative of all of us. And that's why we started Teachers for Open Schools, because there are plenty of us."

Filippatos said that "...we take the virus seriously, we want our children to be safe, we want our teachers to be safe, but we're seeing that we are safe in schools. To say that this is 'life or death,' or that if we go back 'there's going to be lots more funerals for kids,' these types of messages are fearmongering and they're not based on evidence or fact."

Pediatricians have spoken out saying that kids should be back in school, as have the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. The National Education Association and the United Federation of Teachers have made demands as to what needs to happen before schools can reopen, including massive building retrofits and HVAC system overhauls.

The Great Barrington Declaration, penned by epidemiologists, stated unequivocally that "Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching. Extracurricular activities, such as sports, should be resumed. Young low-risk adults should work normally, rather than from home. Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sport and other cultural activities should resume. People who are more at risk may participate if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd immunity."

The National Education Association is the largest union in the country, representing nearly 3 million educators and education administrators across the country. The United Federation of Teachers is also in the top five, and reps the teachers in New York City, the nation's largest school district. Teachers unions have the power. If they say schools can't open, then schools can open, but they might not have any teachers.

Biden's 100 days to reopen schools is a farce

 President-elect Joe Biden has announced his plan to get K-8 schools open by the end of his first 100 days in office. "Another 100 day challenge is opening most of our K-8 schools by the end of the first 100 days in the spring," Biden said. "Look, we can only do that if Congress provides the necessary funding so we get schools, districts, communities, states, the resources they need for so many things that aren't there already in a tight budget."

 

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