Teachers unions celebrated this week when Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris He named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as his vice-presidential candidate and called the left-wing ticket a major victory for public educators.
But critics are warning that Harris’ selection of Walz, a former teachers union member who opposes what she describes as a school choice “agenda,” over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a school-choice supporter, should ring alarm bells for parents and children across the public education system. The teachers union worked hard to keep schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic — many districts remained closed for more than a year.
“Anyone who gets Randy so excited is a 5-alarm fire for parents and students,” former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Tuesday. Teachers union head Randi Weingarten He posted a video expressing his joy at Walz’s selection.
“We’re very excited,” Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said of Walz. “We’ve known him over the years as a social studies teacher, veterinarian, union member, congressman, governor, he cares about working people. We’ve seen that.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz welcomes Vice President Kamala Harris before she delivers a speech at a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
“A teacher and a unionist. That’s all she said,” wrote the Chicago Teachers Union, which is currently being sued by parents over its handling of the pandemic.
National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle also praised Walz, calling him an “extraordinary choice”.
The AFT was the first labor union to formally endorse Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination after President Biden was pulled out of the race by his own party. The United Federation of Teachers in New York City and the Washington Teachers Union also said they were “proud” to endorse Harris.
After Biden withdrew last month, Harris, in a speech to the AFT, accused Republicans of seeking to “ban books.”
The support from teachers unions has prompted renewed scrutiny of their vast influence on public school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several unions supporting the Harris-Walz ticket lobbied school districts to keep kids and teachers out of the classroom until 2022.
When schools in red states like Florida began reopening in the fall of 2020, Weingarden called those efforts “reckless, heartless, cruel.” The Chicago Teachers Union at the time echoed that sentiment, claiming the effort was “rooted in sexism, racism, and misogyny.”
When President Biden entered the White House in January 2021, AFT and NEA worked closely with then-White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to consider past analyses. Fox News Digital Revealed Both unions played an important role in drafting the national guidelines.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is sworn in prior to testifying before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, on June 3. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Schools are making very real logical decisions. We know kids do better in person, but this surge is real. We need adequate staffing and safety measures that include testing, masking, ventilation. There is a lot of stress,” Weingarden wrote, hinting at the possibility of future school closures until January 2022.
That same month, the AFT-affiliated Chicago Teachers Union led a five-day strike against COVID-19-related measures that kept children out of school even longer, leading to a mass lawsuit claiming $213.4 million worth of instructional time was taken away from students.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarden speaks before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on April 26. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)
The power of teachers unions in state and local politics is undeniable. The NEA has donated more than $21.7 million in the 2024 election cycle, almost exclusively to Democratic candidates and liberal groups, and the AFT has donated more than $3.8 million to Democratic candidates and liberal groups this cycle, According to OpenSecrets.org,
A Working paper issued for the first time in October 2020, which examined more than 10,000 school districts across the country and their COVID-19 reopening plans, found that partisan politics and the strength of the teachers union in a particular area had a greater influence on the reopening of schools than local health guidelines.
Similarly, A study released in March 2021 The study by Corey A. DeAngelis and Christos Makridis examined 835 public school districts across the country and found that school districts in places with strong teacher unions were less likely to reopen in-person, and showed no evidence that COVID-19 risk was related to those school reopening decisions.
more recently, The New York Times acknowledged A March report stated that “remote learning was a major cause of academic decline during the pandemic.”
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Fox News Digital asked the AFT to explain its role in closing public schools and asked if the lockdown was a mistake.
An AFT spokesperson responded, “Only weirdos like Fox News think this way — mainstream outlets know the AFT fought to safely reopen schools since April 2020.”
The state perhaps most affected by the power of teachers unions was California, which last in the country Reopening schools for in-person learning. Throughout the pandemic, Governor Gavin Newsom refused to use his emergency powers to reopen schools amid intense pressure from teachers unions. Even when restaurants and bars were allowed to reopen, many school districts in the state remained closed, especially those with powerful teachers unions like San Francisco and Los Angeles, which are both affiliated with the AFT.
California Governor Gavin Newsom campaigns for President Biden at a Democratic Party event in South Haven, Michigan, on July 4. (Chris Dumond/Shutterstock)
Republicans and parents’ groups angered by the lockdowns launched a recall effort against Newsom that failed in September 2021. The NEA-affiliated California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, Donated $1.8 million to prevent recall.
Data over the past few years has shown that school closures in the US have had a devastating impact on children’s mental health, development, and future earning potential.
A study released by the National Center for Education Statistics in June 2022 showed that 70% US public schools report The number of students seeking mental health services has increased since the start of the pandemic. A study released around the same time by the American Enterprise Institute also found that approximately 1.3 million students More than 100 students have dropped out of public schools since the pandemic began, and even more have dropped out at schools that have remained remote for longer.
In December 2023, the Programme for International Student Assessment released a report It found that test scores for 15-year-olds in the US were 13 points lower than they were in 2018.
According to one study, school closures could cause this generation of students to lose $21 trillion in earnings over their lifetime. June 2022 Joint Publication By the World Bank, UNICEF, FCDO, USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNESCO.
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Fox News Digital asks Harris-Walz campaign for official explanation position on school selection, There was no response when asked if the candidates supported closing schools and if school closures could be declared a thing of the past.
The NEA did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment for this story.
