The Issue: City Hall’s lack of information on how many public-school teachers have been vaccinated.
Countless teachers and their unions are screaming from the rooftops: “We are not essential” (“Blas Drops Another Ball,” Editorial, Jan. 27).
The latest reason to keep the schools closed is the lack of vaccines to inoculate all teachers. The “party of science” ignores the statistics that show minimal transmission of COVID in schools in the United States and abroad.
Chicago reportedly spent $100 million to make the schools safe, but of course this was not good enough for the teachers’ union there. Sadly, the White House seems to agree.
In New York City, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew has said he wants schools to open in September. Of course, this would only be if all the teachers get their shots and the union is unable to fabricate another excuse. How ambitious — September!
By then, students’ education will have been stunted for a year and a half. The educators’ lack of dedication to education is obvious in spite of their mendacious statements to the contrary.
Arthur Copeland
Stamford, Conn.
Once again, The Post does not have a clue as to what is happening in city public schools.
You seem to believe that once the majority of teachers get vaccinated that all schools will magically be able to open. What you fail to understand is that New York City has the highest class size of any school district on the East Coast.
Couple that with the fact that Mayor Michael Bloomberg packed three to four different schools in one building, and thus social distancing will be impossible even after a vaccine is available to everyone.
Oh, yeah, the vaccine is not mandatory for teachers. As such, there should be no government “tracking” of which staff received the shot. Ever hear of confidential-medical-record laws?
Chris Leach
The Bronx
I can read between the lines of your editorial: It seems that Mayor de Blasio and Mulgrew are intentionally withholding info of teacher inoculation to keep the schools closed even longer.
With all the data coming out on the harm our children are suffering because of school closures, these two couldn’t care less. Just keep those checks coming in, eh, Mike? Shameful — except they have no shame.
B. Tonuzi
Wanaque, NJ
It is clear that many public-school teachers and their union masters across the country have abrogated their right to be considered frontline workers by their infuriating resistance to open schools for in-person learning.
The only concern expressed by the unions is for the safety of the teachers, not the welfare of the kids.
If other frontline workers, like doctors, nurses and health-care professionals, acted with such unreasonable demands and fear of risk, there would have been no one to take care of the very sick patients at the height of the pandemic.
The main difference is that true heroes like the supermarket, bodega and delivery people won’t get paid for staying home, while the teachers get a paycheck no matter how long they stay out.
And the real losers are the public-school students and parents, mostly from lower-income groups and communities of color. What a national disgrace.
Anthony Scro
Whitestone
Mulgrew has had 10 months to help figure out not only how to do remote learning successfully and with accountability, he’s also had ample time to figure out how to get 75,000 teachers vaccinated.
But no, instead he was laser focused on combat pay, making unreasonable demands and excuses for lackluster performance and accountability — all while threatening to strike.
Gov. Cuomo, on the other hand, keeps changing the rubric for who is permitted to get the vaccine.
Either we have organized leadership that has a clue as to what they are doing or we don’t. The poor planning and preparation for a vaccine we knew was coming is reprehensible.
Theresa O’Brien
Melville
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