Weingarten led the charge in pushing back against schools reopening from the beginning. Even as European schools opened to in-person learning in spring 2020, Weingarten told her members to “scream bloody murder” if they felt the slightest bit unsafe.

And they did.

Even though top medical experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci and others at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said early on that prioritizing in-person learning was vital for children’s well-being – and outweighed the risks of COVID – teachers unions prevented a return to the classroom in many districts in the fall of 2020.

This continued into 2021. Although teachers were placed at the front of the vaccination line, it still wasn’t enough. Nor were the billions in COVID-19 relief dollars sent to schools.

People on the political right are often derided as science deniers and for doubting the guidance of public health experts, but the scientific guidance was firmly on the side of getting kids back to school – until teachers unions got involved.