OPINION:
Cheryl Chumley is right to criticize teachers’ unions for getting politicians to close the public schools (“Teachers’ unions shamefully exploit COVID-19 to shutter schools,” Web, July 30).
Officials backed by the unions are now closing private schools, too, to keep them from drawing students away from the unionized public schools.
On July 31, Montgomery County, Maryland, ordered private schools to close. The county falsely cited guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an excuse to close the schools. But the CDC says school closings are “harmful to children,” and coronavirus cases were not rising in the county. Maryland Gov. Hogan said he “strongly” disagreed with the county’s decision, because it shutters schools with safety “plans that follow CDC and state guidelines.”
The CDC says closing schools “can lead to severe learning loss.” Moreover, “extended closures can be harmful to children’s mental health and can increase the likelihood that children engage in unhealthy behaviors.”
HANS BADER
Arlington, Va.
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