The Chicago Teachers Union posted an unusual tweet Sunday. “The push to reopen schools is rooted in sexism, racism, and misogyny.” That was it. That was the post. The tweet was soon deleted as reactions came in.

Teacher unions have been fighting against reopening schools all across the country and Chicago is no exception. The teachers union represents 28,000 educators in the nation’s third-largest city. The seemingly random tweet brought replies that called out such an unnecessary and random post. One look at the union’s Twitter account, though, shows that this sort of logic is not unusual. There is a whole lot of grievance-peddling going on with the tweets in that timeline. This particular tweet just popped up without explanation.

The union’s contention that the public’s demand for reopening schools is racist flies in the face of reality. One of the conclusions drawn from statistics of the coronavirus pandemic is that minority communities are harder hit than others, especially black and Hispanic communities. Minority parents, for example, are suing in California to get their kids back into classrooms. The fact is that minority parents are at the forefront of the push to reopen schools. Moms can’t work full-time if they can’t find help in watching their children at home. Inner-city schools, like in Chicago, are disproportionately populated by minority students. The demands of the parents are not racist or sexist, they are based on the reality that at-home learning is failing their children and putting unnecessary stress on families.

Then why are minority parents suing in California saying virtual learning has left their children behind?

You say you care about your students, but you clearly don't. https://t.co/tND2mIvKeD

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 6, 2020

Parents should be putting pressure on teacher unions because they hold a powerful grip on local governments. Teachers get paid whether they are teaching in a classroom or online. There is little incentive for them to return to classroom instruction except that, simply put, it’s their job. Think of all the other workers who show up and do their jobs that are just as essential as educating the next generation. There have not been any superspreader results reported by any school system that is up and running with classroom instruction. By taking the same precautions that other school systems take, there is no reason to think that Chicago schools would produce different results in new cases.

Medical experts like Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci argue that in-person instruction can continue as long as it follows the science and is done in a safe way.

Redfield said last week that infections among teachers and students occur because of community transmission or virus spread at home.

“We’re not seeing intra-school transmission,” he said.

The CDC director emphasized the benefits of in-person learning, like socialization, mental health services, and food programs, saying at-home learning can, unfortunately, give rise to more substance abuse and suicide.

“I just think it’s healthy for these kids to be in school,” Redfield continued. “That said, they got to do it safely and they’ve got to do it responsibly. And when this was started over the summer, no one really knew for certain. They thought that these public health measures would work. But now the data clearly shows us that you can operate these schools in face-to-face learning in a safe and responsible way.”

Liberals like to sanctimoniously say that they follow the science. If that is true, why aren’t they following the guidance of Dr. Fauci or the CDC? Both Fauci and the CDC call for schools to reopen. Children are suffering from isolation and a lack of all the resources necessary to thrive in school, especially minority students. Dr. Fauci often says, “Close the bars, open the schools.”

“The default position should be to try as best as possible, within reason, to keep the children in school, to get them back to school,” Fauci told ABC News reporter Martha Raddatz, who noted that New York City public schools had recently closed down again due to rising coronavirus rates in the community.

“If you look at the data, the spread among children and from children is not very big at all, not like one would have suspected,” said Fauci. “So let’s try to get the kids back and try to mitigate the things that maintain and push the kind of community spread we are trying to avoid.”

The Chicago Teachers Union tweet was an example of poor judgment, lashing out using the buzzwords of victimhood. Students that are ill-served by online-only learning are the real victims during the coronavirus pandemic, not the teachers who are expected to do their jobs. Taxpayer money continues to go to school districts whether schools are open or not. How about returning that money back to parents so that they can get the help their children need if teachers cannot meet their needs online?

This, of course, is the best solution:

https://twitter.com/dangainor/status/1335699525600759811

The union soon realized its mistake and deleted the tweet while posting another one saying more “nuance” is needed in the discussion. That’s the problem, though, with the original tweet. There was no discussion, just a random tweet claiming victimhood.

https://twitter.com/CTULocal1/status/1335718772200665091

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for school districts across the country but basic precautions are universal in mitigating the coronavirus. Social distancing like moving desks further apart and providing hand sanitizer for students to use throughout their day in school, as well as face mask policies are all basic safety measures that schools can take to protect students and teachers. It sure looks sexist and misogynist to keep schools shut. Generally speaking, women are responsible for children and many have had to leave their jobs to stay home with their children. Moms are the ones making huge sacrifices for their families to get through the pandemic. Spare us the victimhood from teacher unions. Kids need to be back in school.