When summer began, there was a sense of hope among parents, students, and teachers that the new school year would be far different than the previous one. However, the Delta variant of COVID-19 has replaced that sense of hope with a sense of foreboding.
Despite her apprehension, Weingarten assured parents that children would be in the classroom this year.“We are preparing to be fully in school all across the country. I want to assure parents of that. Teachers are ... rolling up their sleeves, they’re calling parents and they’re preparing.”
One reason for Weingarten’s optimism is a high vaccination rate among teachers. She stopped short of saying that she supports vaccine mandates for teachers but says that she is strongly in favor of vaccinations.
“We see it as an issue of what is the most efficacious way to create trust and agency in the entire school community, and teachers have been out there. I’m 1000% in favor of vaccines. When I was kid, we took a lot of vaccines before we could go to school. And it is a part of what you do, particularly when you have transmissible diseases, how you keep yourself, your family and everybody else safe.”
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of COVID-19 cases among children increased by 84% last week. Weingarten tells Yahoo Finance that there needs to be more of an effort for children over 12 to be vaccinated.
“So the issue has been what is the most effective way to help get, keep everybody safe. Now that the Delta variant is raging so much, there are some districts, and there are some other employers that are saying, you know, is it time for us to do something for 100%, not 90%,” Weingarten added.
The AFT president has been taking part its “Back to School for All” initiative. The $5 million campaign has AFT officials going door-to-door to engage families, students, educators, and school staff to promote vaccines, return to full-time, in-person learning, and support students’ social, emotional, and academic needs.
“I represent teachers and nurses. You’re seeing a huge number of people who are just at their wits ends. ... They are spent and they are burnt out and they now have yet another surge of the virus to contend with. So people want to be back in school,” Weingarten said.
“Teachers want to be with their kids. They want to do the right thing. They want to teach. We've got to give them the tools and the conditions, and a little bit of love for this.”
Reggie Wade is a writer for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ReggieWade.
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