Blackburn: Time for ‘Ultimatum’ for Teachers’ Unions on Re-Opening, Seems ‘We Need to Make Way for Some New Teachers’

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) argued that schools that refuse to go back to in-person instruction shouldn’t receive money from the coronavirus relief bill, local officials need to issue “an ultimatum” to teachers’ unions, and “It sounds like we need to make way for some new teachers” in some districts.

Blackburn said, “One of the things that we do know is that the teachers’ unions in some cities and states are refusing to go back to the classroom and this is one of the reasons that we’re saying, look, if you’re not going to go back to class, you shouldn’t get some of this $110 billion that the Senate has put in the pipeline that is there to help defray the cost of opening the schools during the pandemic. Now, most school systems are open. Most children are in class. And I am hearing from parents that are in so many different areas that it is healthier, it is better, the CDC’s guidance is get these children in school, pediatricians say they need to be in school, socialization, emotional health, as well as the ability to learn. So, I think we restrict these funds if they are not going to go back to the classroom. These mayors and governors need to give these teachers’ unions an ultimatum.”

She added, “It sounds like we need to make way for some new teachers in some of these districts, so that these children can be receiving the in-class instruction that they need to be receiving.”

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