Dozens of New Jersey school districts are “remote” this week, Save Jerseyans, including seven of our state’s largest: Camden, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson, and Trenton.
Just like the last time around, children living in economically challenged (read: “poor”) school districts will suffer the most. Also just like the last time, the NJEA is driving the decision to put Omicron politics ahead of your children’s well-being.
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You remember the basics: back in August 2020, Phil Murphy reversed his decision to force schools to open for in-person instruction at the last minute immediately after the NJEA (which ultimately helped bankroll his reelection bid and even influenced one of the gubernatorial debates) publicly demanded it.
Now it’s January 2022, and the current variant isn’t causing a surge of serious illness in part because this new virus doesn’t appear to attack the lungs like the earlier variants did. Our hospitals are NOT in danger of buckling. Your kids do NOT face a significant risk. Moreover, as we all found out over the holidays, Omicron doesn’t care how many masks you wear, how often you sanitize your hands or how many boosters your get; even the Queen of Karens – Tammy Murphy – recently tested positive. The latest strain is so infectious that, like the common cold, there’s no escaping it.
They can’t lie to us anymore. Yes, the original variant was a nasty little shit. Yes, those at elevated risk (high blood pressure, overweight, suffering from severe immune system issues, etc.) should absolutely get vaccinated and probably boosted, too. But now that the vast majority of us have either had covid or seen family members contract it? We know that it’s a bad cold (or less) for the vast majority of Americans. We’re not longer in a health emergency. We haven’t been since last summer or, at the very least, since vaccines became widely available.
So with all of that in mind, what’s the point of closing schools over Omicron cases? When the risk to our kids (and our society) is unimpressive at this juncture of the pandemic relative to the clear harm facing thousands of children receiving a substandard “remote” education?
Don’t ask me. Ask the teachers’ unions. From coast-to-coast, they’re mobilizing to demand an indefinite return to remote. One teachers’ “advocacy” organization is claiming that in-person instruction is “needlessly putting millions of lives at risk.” Randi Weingarten, who heads the American Federation of Teachers, is explaining away closures by citing staffing shortages (a familiar refrain in recent months):
We had heard earlier that 1000 of the 13.000 educators in Philly tested positive for covid. We assume that is why 77 Philadelphia schools going temporarily virtual due to staffing challenges related to pandemic https://t.co/DfYiH2ppUi via @6abc
— Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩🎓🟣 (@rweingarten) January 4, 2022
Meanwhile, Chicago’s teachers’ union is reportedly planning a Wednesday walkout. Don’t kid yourselves into believing the NJEA isn’t watching to see how it goes.
Both Joe Biden (although I’m sure he’s forgotten) and Phil Murphy pledged support for keeping schools open.
What happened?
They know who funds their candidates in the midterms and beyond! This is an elaborate and sinister game of good cop/bad cop and our kids are caught in the middle, folks, while plenty of other stuff happens behjind the scenes. Democrat politicians – who love centralized everything – are suddenly cool with local control. The unions are using the virus to assert their control of both the education system AND the Democrat coalition; I told you all about it in this post from last February.
If you’re sick and tired of random, disruptive school closures for something that clearly isn’t a clear and present danger to our kids?
It’s time to recognize that the teachers’ unions – not the individual teachers, but the establishment figures behind these uber-powerful political machines – are the real virus. We need to crush their power before they crush our kids’ futures, especially our most vulnerable children who don’t have parents to stand up for them.
Run for school board in 2022 or get behind a solid candidate in your community who’s willing to take it on. The next generation may thrive or fail depending upon what you do now.
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