A father took his moment on CNN to publicly shame the head of the American Federation of Teachers for leading the shutdown of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic, crippling students with learning loss and emotional trauma.
Scott Jennings, a father of four who said he was “speaking on behalf of millions of American parents,” looked directly at AFT President and excoriated her for leading a crusade to keep public schools closed throughout 2020 and into 2021 as the pandemic raged and called into question whether public settings such as schools were safe for social distancing measures.
I am stunned at what you have said this week about claiming to have wanted to reopen schools. I think you’ll find that most parents believe you were the tip of the spear of school closures. There were numerous statements you made over the summer 0f ’20 scaring people to death about the possibility of opening the schools, and I hear no remorse whatsoever about the generational damage that’s been done. I have two kids with learning differences. Do you know how hard it is for them to learn at home and not in a classroom that was designed for them?
And for you to sit in front of Congress and the American people and say ‘Oh, I wanted to open them the whole time’ I am shocked. I am stunned.
WATCH:
Watch Scott Jennings calling Randi Weingarten on her lies. pic.twitter.com/HZZImMVHkc
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) April 28, 2023
Earlier this week Weingarten was on the defensive over new disclosures that the Biden administration sought advice from the AFT on school reopenings as she testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. While calling it “routine” for presidential administrations to seek input from political allies on matters such as education, public records from last year show the Center for Disease Control worked in concert with the AFT before releasing public guidelines on Covid-19 mitigation procedures for public schools. Weingarten told lawmakers she couldn’t recall if CDC personnel were part of her discussions with the Biden administration.
In the wake of political losses including the victory of Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and a disruptive strike by the Chicago Teachers Union, the head of the AFT has sought to rebrand herself as an advocate for reopening schools, a position deeply at odds with her previous statements. An internal poll released by the AFT last year showed a slim majority of Americans trust Republicans over Democrats to handle matters of education.