President Biden has made abundantly clear that he cares more about the teachers unions than he does about the parents and students they're hurting. For an explanation, all you have to do is follow the money.

In 2020, the unions spent a total of $43.7 million, more than any previous year, with much of that going toward outside spending on ads, campaign materials, and political action committees backing Democratic candidates. In fact, 98% of the unions' political spending went to Democratic campaigns, according to OpenSecrets.

Nothing could better explain Biden's recent decision on school reopenings. He originally promised to push for the vast majority of public schools to reopen for in-person learning by the end of his first 100 days in office. But his administration has since backtracked, setting a much lower goal that most parts of the country have already met.

"His goal that he set is to have the majority of schools, so more than 50%, open by day 100 of his presidency, and that means some teaching in classrooms," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. "So, at least one day a week."

One day a week? Most private and charter schools are already open five days a week, and several metropolitan public school systems, such as New York City's, have been open on a hybrid basis for at least two or three days a week. And none of these schools have experienced significant coronavirus spread.

Biden's "goal" has no basis in science or basic common sense. Study after study has shown in-person learning can take place safely with next to no transmission of the virus. Biden's own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director said vaccination does not need to be a prerequisite for teachers to get back in classrooms. But instead of heeding CDC Director Rochelle Walensky's guidance, which is what he promised to do, Biden's White House dismissed her entirely and said she was just speaking in her "personal capacity."

Personal capacity or not, facts are facts — unless, of course, those facts upset one of your major political donors. In that case, one day of in-person school per week will have to do.

Biden seems to think placating the teachers unions will help him convince them to get back to work. He's even tried to throw in an additional $130 billion in funding. But Biden is discovering what city officials and parents have spent the past year learning the hard way: The unions do only what the unions want to do.

Take, for example, Chicago's debacle. The city has spent the past few months fighting with the teachers union over its plan to reopen public schools. Things escalated when the teachers union threatened to go on strike if Chicago moved forward with its original reopening date.

Now, the two sides have reached a "deal," which seems to have been pulled straight from the union's playbook. K-8 students will return for limited classroom instruction in early March, but high school students will continue distance learning for the foreseeable future. The city has not said how many K-8 students will get to return to the classroom, or what "limited classroom instruction" will look like.

In other words, Chicago barely squeezed a partial reopening out of the teachers union. And when the time comes for public school teachers to return to work in early March, the union will almost certainly find another excuse because it knows it'll get away with it.

Biden could threaten to withhold funding from school districts that cave to the unions' demands, lend his support to the city officials who do what's right and stand up to union ultimatums, and encourage other Democrats to do the same. Or, at the very minimum, he could be setting the goal as opening all schools for in-person instruction — rather than half of them for one day a week. But it's clear he has no plans to confront his benefactors.

Reprinted from The Washington Examiner.

REPRINTED FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

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