Nikki Haley is sick of it, so she is ripping right into it, and with some good reasoning too. Just take a look at why she is so upset…
Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is very irate due to the fact that many teachers unions have decided to close schools after winter break due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
“It is unthinkable that unions are dictating the future of our children,” the former South Carolina governor told Fox News Digital. “We have an entire COVID generation that will struggle to graduate high school because labor bosses put themselves over the welfare of our students. As parents, we have one job – the success of our children. It’s time to take on the teachers unions and fight back.”
Her comments are coming after the Chicago Teachers Union voted to return their students to remote learning until further notice. The school district will revise this policy when the COVID-19 cases “substantially subside” or when they can reach an agreement with the district regarding safety protocols.
Chicago Public Schools is the nation’s third-largest school district, and they said last Tuesday that they were going to be canceling classes the following Wednesday provided that the union held the vote.
The students will not only return to remote classes, but they will also miss a full day of school while the union leaders negotiate!
This comes on the heels of school systems in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and other states having delayed reopening their classes after the winter break due to COVID-19 concerns and the relating shortages of their staff. Across the country, more than 3,200 schools are closed this week, according to the public school opening tracking from the community event website Burbio.
Even though Biden’s American Rescue Plan contained a COVID-19 relief package that allocated $122 billion toward helping these K-12 public schools, it hasn’t helped much because the teacher’s unions remain concerned about a lack of COVID-19 test and outdated ventilation in their buildings.
Interestingly enough, Haley has a bit of an unusual ally in that of President Biden. Yes, President Joe Biden, who said in a speech last Tuesday that it was safe for children to begin attending in-person school once again due to the funding from his rescue plan.
“We know that our kids can be safe when in school, by the way. That’s why I believe schools should remain open. You know, they have what they need because of the American Rescue Plan or the first month we were in office or second month that I signed in March. We provided the states with $130 billion, with a billion dollars to specifically keep our students safe and schools open.”
These delays come as U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murphy and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry declared that the mental health of children and adolescents was at the “crisis” or “national emergency” status.
For example, emergency room visits for adolescent girls rose 51% during this pandemic and for boys it rose at least 45%.
These findings would definitely appear to indicate that children, especially adolescents, are not well-equipped for an online learning environment that is devoid of social interaction.
