Randi, Stop Lying
Union boss continues to lie as published emails reveal that the CDC let unions drive their reopening guidance
“But it’s science!”
Are you as tired of hearing that increasingly meaningless phrase as I am?
I suspect that all readers know by now that science has become a highly malleable concept depending upon one’s political preferences and nowhere has that been more on display than the school re-opening debate. Some of you reading this live where schools have been open all year; others have children who have not stepped foot in a classroom since March of 2020. That fact is, in and of itself, hard to comprehend.
Many of us have been sounding the alarm over how closely connected the Biden administration has been to the teachers’ unions because it has been so brazen—Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, keeps showing up in photos at the White House and on school visits. Becky Pringle of the National Education Association has also been spotted but has not been nearly as ubiquitous as her AFT counterpart.
But now we now have confirmation that the union was in direct contact with the CDC, thanks to a freedom of information act request.
From the New York Post:
The documents show a flurry of activity between CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, her top advisors and union officials — with Biden brass being looped in at the White House — in the days before the highly-anticipated Feb. 12 announcement on school-reopening guidelines.
From the actual emails:
More from the New York Post:
The lobbying paid off. In at least two instances, language “suggestions” offered by the union were adopted nearly verbatim into the final text of the CDC document.
The close communication between the union and the feds came despite repeated assurances from CDC and Biden officials that the medical guidelines would “follow the science” and be free of political interference.
This is all a bit confusing since CDC Director Rachelle Walensky “assured us” that the reopening guidance released in February was “free from political meddling.” said the following when the reopening guidance was released: “I can assure you that this is free from political meddling.”
Now for some serious whiplash. After taking deliberate action to ensure that many schools would not open but feeling a bit on her heels with the the release of the emails, Randi Weingarten tweeted this:
Those of us who are highly attuned to this world know it is a bold-faced lie but for those who might be more amenable to giving her the benefit of the doubt, allow me to save you the trouble. Since this is not the first time Randi has made this claim about how she and her organization have been “trying to reopen schools”, it has already been fact checked. And debunked.
I recommend reading the entire piece but the crux of it is this:
So it appears Weingarten’s claim is the exact opposite of reality. — Mike Antonucci
The emails between the CDC and union officials became public May 2nd. It is difficult to understand, let alone explain, why major networks, news outlets and even education focused publications have decided not to cover this story. If not for the New York Post, we would never know.
I figured I would do my small part in getting the information out there by sharing it with all of you.
Update: Since I wrote this, a few more outlets have published stories about this: