The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are expected to issue guidelines on how to safely reopen schools across the country next week, but some Republican lawmakers are frustrated because the Biden government has not taken more decisive action.
President Biden promised to reopen schools in his first 100 days in office, telling Americans that he “will listen to scientists”.
But New York Republican Republic Nicole Malliotakis wants the White House to tell teachers that, due to low transmission rates among young students, teachers should feel safe coming back to the classroom.
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“It would be very helpful if the president and the first lady were willing to intervene here and try to encourage America’s teachers to return to classrooms,” Malliotakis told Jon Scott of Fox News on Saturday. “I could tell you, the teachers I speak to in New York City and many of those who work at our schools, they want to go back to work and parents certainly want to have their kids back in the classroom.”
But the congresswoman’s confidence in the teacher’s determination to return to face-to-face training runs counter to the struggle that is taking place in the Chicago public school system.
The Chicago Teachers’ Union posted on Twitter on Friday to say that their demands for teachers to return safely to the classroom have not been met by city officials – which has led some teachers to threaten to refuse to attend in person.
Concerns about access to vaccines and exposure of teachers to groups of students in the country’s third largest school district, have worried many who could transmit the deadly coronavirus to vulnerable loved ones at home.
But Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued an ultimatum, telling the teachers’ union that if teachers refuse to appear on Monday to teach face-to-face classes, they will be considered absent without a license and will be fired – causing some to fear. may the city strike on your hands.
Lightfoot did not say whether or not he would carry out his threat, instead, she said negotiations were underway in a statement on Saturday.
“The parties have been in discussions throughout the day to determine whether there is a way to a comprehensive final settlement,” she said. “These discussions continue.”
But while the Biden government has remained silent so far on how to get schools reopened, taking over the leadership of the CDC, some Republicans believe it is a political ploy to prolong the coronavirus pandemic.
“What we are seeing from our elected leaders is that they want to follow silence only when it fits their narrative and what is politically, politically convenient for them,” said Malliotakis on Saturday. “You are seeing this in front of education with President Biden and you are also seeing, by the way, the reopening of our restaurants here in New York City.”
CDC principal Rochelle Walensky told reporters earlier this week that the vaccine is not a requirement to put teachers back in the classroom.
“There is growing data to suggest that schools can reopen safely and that the safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated to reopen safely,” Walensky said at a news conference on Wednesday. “Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for the safe reopening of schools.”
But even if teachers agree to return to face-to-face training without having received the vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned in January that achieving this goal “may not happen” due to circumstances unforeseen events.
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Access to vaccines is ultimately the crutch of the debate over the reopening of schools, forcing lawmakers to realize that the public may not want to return to normal until widespread vaccination is a reality.
“We must focus on increasing the supply, bringing the vaccine to everyone who wants to take it. And we need to reopen that economy,” Malliotakis told Fox News. “And I don’t see this balanced approach and I continue to defend it.”