OPINION:
Liberals claim to be driven by science. It is increasingly clear, however, that science only matters when it is beneficial to their political interests.
It is essential that school-age children return to the classroom. And it is safe to do so. Yet, liberals have sold out America’s children to the interests of teachers unions.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, told reporters last month during a White House briefing on COVID-19 that “there is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated.” She added that “vaccinations of teachers is not a prerequisite for safely reopening schools.”
Despite the scientific evidence showing that students and staff are safe in the classroom, teachers union bosses continue to obstruct efforts to reopen schools. At the same time, we continue to find examples of their hypocrisy.
Matt Meyer, the president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, has been speaking out at school board meetings saying it is not safe to reopen. Yet, the same union boss can be seen on a recently released video taking his young child to a private preschool.
Mr. Meyer claimed that there are no government-run options for his 2-year-old child to attend preschool. But that is not the point. Whether there is a government-run option or not, his child is able to safely attend a private preschool. The science shows they can — or is Mr. Meyer sending his child into an unsafe environment?
So why can’t parents, whose only option is a government-run school, safely send their children back into the classroom? The hypocrisy of the left: Do what they say, not what they do.
Sadly, this is one of many examples over the past year. Remember Sarah Chambers? She is a Chicago Teachers Union area vice president and member of the union’s executive board. On Twitter, she urged teachers to refuse to return to the classroom. Later, on the same day, she posted pictures by the pool and talked about getting food in Old San Juan. Maybe she thought it was safer in Puerto Rico because it was warmer there than in Illinois. But that’s not what science shows.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo certainly should have followed the science. A year ago, he issued an advisory directing nursing homes in the state to accept patients who had or were suspected of having COVID-19. And nursing homes were prohibited from requiring that medically stable prospective residents be tested for the virus before they arrived at the facility.
Anyone who understands basic science knows that you don’t go visit grandma when you have a cold. So why would you allow, let alone advise, a bunch of people who tested positive for COVID-19 to be placed in nursing homes full of elderly and medically compromised patients?
A report from New York Attorney General Letitia James shows that the death count may be 50% higher than what Mr. Cuomo’s administration provided to the public. Apparently, the Cuomo administration excluded the deaths of nursing home residents from the count if they were transferred to a hospital before they died.
A recording of Mr. Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa reveals her admitting that the governor’s office withheld the nursing home coronavirus death toll from state lawmakers because they were afraid it would be used against them by the Trump administration. Unbelievable.
Ms. DeRosa can be heard on the recording warning how then-President Trump would use the information: “He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,” Ms. DeRosa is heard on the recording. “He starts going after (New Jersey Gov. Phil) Murphy, starts going after (California Gov. Gavin) Newsom, starts going after (Michigan Gov.) Gretchen Whitmer.”
One thing is accurate. Mr. Trump would have gone after them. They deserve to be attacked for the horrible jobs they’ve done for their respective states. Months of draconian government power grabs did not provide better results than states that did not invoke the same orders. They claimed they were using science, yet the results in their states are some of the worst in the nation. All while devastating the blue-collar economies in their areas.
Ironically, Mr. Cuomo may be on his way out — not because of his unscientific failures and subsequent attempts to cover them up — but because of his apparent inability to control his sexual desires. Without a doubt, he is the worst governor in America.
The media put Mr. Cuomo on a pedestal because of his briefings during the early stages of the global pandemic. They cheered his book and awarded him an Emmy.
Liberals ignored science while Andrew Cuomo’s policies failed nursing home residents and their families. And they continue to fail school-aged children and their families now as the science shows it is safe to go back into the classroom. It’s time for them to follow the science.
• Scott Walker was the 45th governor of Wisconsin. You can contact him at swalker@washingtontimes.com or follow him @ScottWalker.
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