With teachers’ unions proving to be a major roadblock in preventing struggling kids from returning to school, CBS Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan used her show Sunday to press the Biden administration to use his “bully pulpit” to provide “political cover” for his “fellow Democrats” in the unions. This, as students were committing suicide across the country due to isolation and depression from not being in school, and the COVID survival rate was over 99 percent.
Speaking to senior Biden advisor Cedric Richmond, Brennan pressed the administration to let teachers jump the line and get the coronavirus vaccines before many other essential workers:
Tell me about the plans right now, what you can do now. Should the federal government make it a priority to vaccinate teachers or instruct governors to push them towards the head of the line as essential workers?
“Look, I think you see us doing everything humanly possible to make sure we ramp up vaccinations. We’re delivering another 1,600,000 to the states every week,” Richmond said, trying to explain what they had done to increase the supply. “We just purchased another 200 million vaccinations so that we can vaccinate the whole 300 million adults that we need to do.”
Unhappy with his response, Brennan grew irritated and talked about how former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was demanding President Biden do more. “He could use his bully pulpit to give political cover to fellow Democrats. He could tell the unions, yes, I understand how we need to prioritize teachers here and actually take measures to do it,” Brennan argued. “Why isn't the President doing more to help out some of these fellow Democrats?”
As Richmond began to flounder and describe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief bill, Brennan shouted over him about how Chicago teachers needed Biden’s support immediately:
RICHMOND: I think the President is doing a lot. He just introduced a $1.9 trillion plan to make sure that it is a whole community approach to--
BRENNAN: But they need the help right now! They’re trying to open schools Monday!
RICHMOND: - to providing vaccinations.
But Brennan’s prime example proved to be a bust.
When speaking with Chicago superintendent Dr. Janice Jackson about what kind of support teachers needed from Biden, and if they should get moved up in the vaccination queue, Jackson popped her bubble:
BRENNAN: I wonder if it would be helpful to you if the Biden administration explicitly said to prioritize teachers in the front of the line as essential workers.
JANICE JACKSON (Chicago Public Schools CEO): Yes, so in Chicago and in Illinois, we are prioritizing teachers. They're included in 1b, which is currently underway.
Oops! Looks like Brennan’s research team failed her there.
Yet, Brennan was not put off. Instead, she doubled down and wondered if teachers’ unions should be bumped up even further. “So, why couldn't you move them to the front of 1b, ahead of other essential workers, with the supply you have now?”
How would that work, Margaret? Would no one be allowed to get vaccines before the teachers’ unions?
Jackson busted her bubble again, this time explaining how schools were safe. “Rule number one is that you have to disseminate those vaccines in places where you are trying to stop the spread of COVID. Schools are not significant sources of spread,” she said.
Brennan’s push for President Biden to provide “political cover” for his “fellow Democrats” in teachers’ unions was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Nature’s Bounty and Ensure. Their contact information is linked so you can let them know about biased news the fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS’s Face the Nation
January 31, 2021
10:39:31 a.m. Eastern(…)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Tell me about the plans right now, what you can do now. Should the federal government make it a priority to vaccinate teachers or instruct governors to push them towards the head of the line as essential workers?
CEDRIC RICHMOND (senior Biden advisor): Look, I think you see us doing everything humanly possible to make sure we ramp up vaccinations. We’re delivering another 1,600,000 to the states every week. So, we bumped up the order. We just purchased another 200 million vaccinations so that we can vaccinate the whole 300 million adults that we need to do.
And so, we're going to keep pushing. We’re going to keep sending vaccines to the states, and asking the states to hurry up and make sure they get them all out. But our plan, and why we need to pass the American Rescue Plan, is to make sure we give the school systems ability to buy the masks, the ventilation systems, all of the things that’s needed to open up.
BRENNAN: But as you know, that fight is happening right now in cities like Chicago. We'll be talking to their superintendent later on in the program. And Michael Bloomberg, former presidential rival to President Biden argued in an op-ed this week that the President could be doing more.
He could use his bully pulpit to give political cover to fellow Democrats. He could tell the unions, yes, I understand how we need to prioritize teachers here and actually take measures to do it.
Why isn't the President doing more to help out some of these fellow Democrats?
RICHMOND: I think the President is doing a lot. He just introduced a $1.9 trillion plan to make sure that it is a whole community approach to--
BRENNAN: But they need the help right now! They’re trying to open schools Monday!
RICHMOND: - to providing vaccinations.
Well, that's an issue in Chicago both sides of dealing with. I know, they're both at the table. Teachers are concerned about their health, and making sure that they can teach in a safe environment. And if you look at the CDC study, the CDC study that just came out saying: with the proper investments, with the proper spacing and class sizes, schools could reopen safely.
But another key aspect of that CDC study is that they didn't test all of the students and teachers. They just tested people who were symptomatic, and the class sizes in that population were between 10 and 20 students in a class.
(…)
11:19:44 a.m. Eastern
BRENNAN: I wonder if it would be helpful to you if the Biden administration explicitly said to prioritize teachers in the front of the line as essential workers.
JANICE JACKSON (Chicago Public Schools CEO): Yes, so in Chicago and in Illinois, we are prioritizing teachers. They're included in 1b, which is currently underway.
(…)
BRENNAN: So, why couldn't you move them to the front of 1b, ahead of other essential workers, with the supply you have now?
JACKSON: Well, our city’s health department is in charge of that. But what I've heard them say is that, look, the vaccine is a part of a public health tool kit in order to mitigate the spread of COVID. Rule number one is that you have to disseminate those vaccines in places where you are trying to stop the spread of COVID. Schools are not significant sources of spread.
(…)
