EMAILS REVEAL THE CDC CHANGED ITS SCHOOL REOPENING GUIDANCE AFTER LOBBYING BY TEACHERS UNIONS

by Kevin Ryan

The CDC was ready to advise that it was safe to reopen schools in February, when instead America’s second-largest teachers union intervened and the guidance was changed.

That according to emails between the CDC, the White House, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) that were uncovered by a Freedom of Information Act request.

• Jan. 29th - A “discussion” took place between the union and Biden administration officials during which time a draft of the upcoming CDC guidance on school reopenings was apparently given to the union.

• Feb. 1st - An email by the union’s senior director Kelly Trautner: “Thank you again for Friday’s rich discussion about forthcoming CDC guidance and for your openness to the suggestions made by our president, Randi Weingarten, and the AFT. We were able to review a copy of the draft guidance document over the weekend and were able to provide some initial feedback to several staff this morning about possible ways to strengthen the document,” Trautner wrote. She describes the union as the CDC’s “thought partner.”

The email was forwarded by Carole Johnson, the White House coronavirus testing coordinator, to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the CDC.

• Feb. 3rd - An email from union director Trautner to CDC Director Walensky: “We are immensely grateful for your genuine desire to earn our confidence and your commitment to partnership,” Trautner wrote.

• Feb. 7th - Emails show a call took place between the union’s president Randi Weingarten and CDC Director Walensky.

• Feb. 12th - The lobbying paid off. “Suggestions” offered by the union were adopted in the guidance, including two sections that were inserted nearly verbatim. The guidance also including a lengthy provision demanded by the union allowing remote work by certain teachers.

The CDC also stopped short of saying it was safe for all schools to reopen for in-person instruction. Instead, color-coded charts recommended that districts in “red” areas with “high” community spread (which it defined as 100 cases per 100,000) keep their middle and high schools closed to in-person learning. 99% of students lived in areas that fell within this definition of “high” community spread, and many of their schools had already been opened safely for months. It’s unclear whether the union lobbying influenced the charts, though it’s consistent with what the union was asking for.

“For politicians, parents and school leaders looking for a clear green light to reopen schools, this is not it,” NPR wrote after the guidance was released.

"CDC is not mandating that schools reopen," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters.

The final CDC guidance won high praise from the union. “Today, the CDC met fear of the pandemic with facts and evidence,” the union said in a Feb 12 press release.

At the time, the guidance gave unions coverage to continue their fight to keep schools closed in many large, Democratic-run cities.

And even today, 4% of U.S. school districts still remain completely closed to in-person learning, with another 48% still operating on a hybrid schedule.

NYC school administrator calls for end to elite high school exam after Asians dominate test scores

A New York City education administrator is calling for an end to a specialized high school entrance exam and lamenting new data that shows Asians dominating test scores.

Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross-Porter called the test’s results, which showed that Asians made up 53.7% of the students admitted to specialized high schools in the city, “unacceptable,” according to the New York Post.“

I know from my 21 years as an educator that far more students could thrive in our Specialized High Schools, if only given the chance,” Ross-Porter said in a statement along with the results. “Instead, the continued use of the Specialized High School Admissions Test will produce the same unacceptable results over and over again, and it’s far past the time for our students to be fairly represented in these schools.”

White students made up 27.9% of the students admitted compared to 5.4% Hispanic and 3.6% black.

Supporters of the test have taken issue with Ross-Porter’s comments, including activists who represent Asian groups in the city.

“What is unacceptable is the targeting of one particular group,” Activist Wai Wah Chin said. “Especially with what we see happening on the streets of this city. What is unacceptable is telling Asians that they don’t belong in these schools despite their hard work.”
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