Dem Rep Admits Party Was Afraid To Speak Out Against COVID School Closures Because They Feared Teachers Union

Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz acknowledged on “The Chuck ToddCast” Monday that the teachers union played a role in his party not opposing school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prolonged school closures and remote 🎓Education during the pandemic had harmful effects on students’ aptitude in crucial subjects like math and English. Moskowitz said on the podcast that he told his colleagues to support reopening schools, but they did not listen because of the teachers union and a need to resist Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

WATCH:

“I was telling my Democratic colleagues like, ‘Guys, read the data.’ Like I would sit at a conference table with the governor,” Moskowitz told host Chuck Todd. “We’d be reading the data from Denmark and Germany and Europe because they were ahead of us. And it was clear it wasn’t spreading in the schools.”

“I said to my Democratic colleagues, I’m like, ‘When we open schools, it’s going to be very popular. When you guys come out and tell parents you want to keep their kids in the house for another year, I’m telling you this is where this is going.’ And none of my colleagues wanted to hear it, Chuck,” he continued.

Todd asked if their refusal to listen was due to “the power of the teachers union.”