Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten testifies before Congress on Covid-19 school closures
Amid a national reckoning of pandemic learning loss, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Wednesday on the impact of school closures during the height of the public health crisis.
The subcommittee’s Republican chairman, U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, hailed the work of teachers but grilled Weingarten on the consultations between the teachers union and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, questioning why the AFT pushed for “closure triggers” for schools given the low risk of school vs. community transmission. He stressed the need for clarifying the process that led to prolonged school closures given their grim impact on youth mental health and academic outcomes.
“We’re investigating the decision-making process behind school closures and the effects it had so that we can do better in the future,” said Wenstrup during a contentious hearing that veered from issues of Covid lockdowns to school shootings and book banning.
Weingarten testified that the teachers union provided the CDC with some “draft language” regarding allowing work-from-home status for educators who were deemed to be at “high risk” as well as suggesting that schools in communities with high levels of viral transmission retain the option to return to virtual learning as variants emerged.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, a medical doctor and a former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, questioned whether the AFT had the right to make scientific recommendations.
“The fact is schools were relatively safe places for both students and educators. These are scientific questions that a scientific organization should be able to study and answer. The AFT is not a scientific organization,” Miller-Meeks asserted.
Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., also a doctor, defended the use of social distancing during the pandemic and also suggested that lawmakers focus on taking measures to mitigate learning loss and mental health crises going forward.
During the hearing, Weingarten suggested it was appropriate for public health authorities to consult with education groups.
“Ultimately, our goal was to have clear guidance, so that teachers in classrooms, bus drivers, the school nurses knew, but most of us did not know what this meant. And we needed clear guidance from the scientists that we could follow,” Weingarten said.
She also maintained that her focus had always been on how to reopen schools, citing attempts at layered mitigation strategies.
“From the earliest days of COVID, the AFT knew that safety was the pathway to opening schools and keeping them open,” Weingarten told the committee. “We know that kids learn best in person, so opening schools safely — even as the pandemic surged — guided the AFT’s every action.”
She also agreed with lawmakers that remote instruction was no substitute for in-person instruction.
“I regret Covid. I regret what happened here. I regret the fear that was there.”