Um, this is the Federalist. In your world, every day is the day that it's time to break up the teachers' unions. What's the particular reason now?
In an abject show of selfishness and political bias, teachers unions are trying to hold the country hostage over baseless COVID-19 fears.
Oh, those bastards are selfishly refusing to expose themselves to a deadly disease? And they selfishly are refusing to send your children home to you with that virus? Oh, yeah. Let's fire them all!
It’s not enough that public school teachers and the college professors who train them are increasingly prone to teaching leftist absurdities like “2+2=5” or . . .
Hold on. Who's teaching that 2+2=5?
I have a couple of friends who are teachers, one in Indiana, one in California, so I called them and asked them about this and they both said "Of course, comrade! How can we destroy capitalism if we do not destroy the foundations of arithmetic that the capital owning classes use to calculate their profits?" Then they said a bunch of stuff about "praxis" and "dialectical materialism," you know, regular teacher stuff.
Anyway, where were we?
. . . or presenting the mendacious 1619 Project as legitimate American history.
Oh, the 1619 Project. You know I have heard a lot of people complaining about the 1619 project, I have heard people call it "propoganda," "misleading," "anti-American," and now "mendacious." But I have never heard anyone point out one thing in it that is factually incorrect. Just an oversight, I'm sure. Obviously, the material must be chock-full of factual errors. It's not as if the intellectually honest brokers of America's right would object to a curriculum solely on the basis that it mentions unpleasant truths about the United States.
Teachers unions are now trying to blackmail the entire country into meeting a set of leftist political demands for reopening the schools this fall, using COVID-19 as their excuse.
Well, that doesn't sound fair. What demands are they making?
Of course, the pandemic certainly presents challenges for re-opening schools, but other sectors of society have managed to rise to the occasion over the past several months to keep the country running. Grocery stores clerks, truck drivers, warehouse workers, and of course police, firefighters, doctors, and nurses—all have kept working, sometimes under tough conditions and sometimes at great personal risk.
And it's just a coincidence that Covid cases have been spiking again.
For instance, here in Georgia, back in April, when we had a "shelter in place" order in effect, we were averaging around 300-400 new cases per week. Currently, we are reporting, oh let me check the latest figures. . . about 3500. So obviously, everything is fine now!
Also, if Police, firefighters and hospital personnel are going to be made to put their lives and health at risk, why shouldn't schoolchildren? I say these kids have been coddled long enough!
Look at 'em! Soft, weak little freeloaders! In my day, half of these kids would have already succumbed to polio!
Then there are teachers unions. More than any other group during this pandemic, teachers unions have shown themselves to be abjectly selfish, hyper-political, and totally intransigent about teaching during the pandemic. They are willing to lie about the science behind COVID-19 transmission and shamelessly stoke fear to advance their partisan agenda. Just about the last thing these unions seem to care about is educating children or helping the country get back on its feet.
It's like all they care about is "keeping children safe" and "not dying."
It's like they don't even care about the economy!
On Monday, an alliance of teachers unions and leftist groups in dozens of states staged a “National Day of Resistance,” issuing a series of demands that they say must be met before their members will return to the classroom. What do they want? Rents and mortgages canceled, a “massive infusion of federal money” from “taxing billionaires and Wall Street,” moratoriums on new charter schools and voucher programs and standardized tests, and of course “police-free schools,” among other things.
Oh no. Not those things. How horrible.
Okay, I clicked on your link to see the list of demands. Here is the first demand:
- No reopening until the scientific data supports it
Oh my God, how unreasonable! Who could ever meet such an impossible standard? If we wait until the scientific data shows that it is safe, I mean, that could prove inconvenient to parents!
- Police-free schools
Why would anyone want to remove cops from the schools? If there are no cops in the schools, who would do this?
And just think of the tragedy that might have unfolded at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School had there not been an armed Sheriff's deputy on site to boldly. . . panic and do nothing. Okay, bad example.
What other outrageous demands are these union goons making?
- Safe conditions including lower class sizes, PPE, cleaning, testing, and other key protocols Equitable access to online learning
Oh my God, it's as if they actually don't want to allow any of these children the opportunity to die from a preventable illness! You know, the last time I checked, I thought this was still America!
Some teachers unions have gone a step further. In New York City, one group is demanding teachers not be required to return to school until a minimum of 14 days have passed after any new COVID-19 cases, claiming their lives are at risk if schools open (despite evidence to the contrary in Europe and Asia).
Yeah, I mean if they can re-open schools in Europe and Asia, they can do it here. The only difference between the US and European or Asian countries is that they shut everything down for a while until they got the pandemic under control before they re-opened their schools. All we're sayinbg is why not skip that one little step and just start packing children and teachers back into overcrowded classrooms before we actually do anything to slow the spread? I fail to see how that one tiny difference could cause any. . .wait, what?
Students at school touted by Pence for reopening must quarantine due to COVID-19
Well, okay ONE school might have had a little. . . wait, what?
All These Schools Reopened and Then Had COVID-19 Outbreaks
School Name: Corinth High School
State: Mississippi
Date: 8/3
COVID-19 Cases: 3
Details: 3 students tested positive within a week or so of school reopening despite extensive precautions.
School Name: Gwinnett County Public Schools
State: Georgia
Date: 8/2
COVID-19 Cases: 260 teachers positive or potentially exposed
Details: The teachers were preparing for the start of the school year.
School Response: Two days later, the school district announced it would start classes online and phase into in-person instruction
School Name: Alcoa City Schools
State: Tennessee
Date: 8/1/2020
COVID-19 Cases: 5
Details: 3 people tested positive at Alcoa High School, 1 at Alcoa Middle School, and 1 at Alcoa Elementary School.
All this amounts to political blackmail. The teachers unions know that millions of parents can’t afford to stay home from work to educate their kids, nor can many afford private school or private tutors. They think they have leverage—and in many places they do, if only because city and state elected officials are unwilling to stand up to them.
Gawd, I can't believe these wimpy elected officials won't just force these teachers back into thc classrooms so that parents can finally send their little ones into the petri dish atmosphere of a normal school day, then come home to expose their loving parents and grandparents and babysitters to a deadly disease.
I mean,.look we're doing it in Georgia and I fail to see any problems with this plan.
I mean, do these kids look sick to you? Do you see any of them dropping dead in the hallways? No you don't. And do you know why? Because as long as we refuse to acknowledge that the virus is a threat, everything is fine!
It's just basic science.