Weingarten: ‘Schools Will Be Open’ But the Question Is ‘Will They Stay Open?’

On Monday, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten sounded off on schools returning to in-person learning amid the recent spike in coronavirus cases.

Weingarten told “CNN Newsroom” that “schools will be open” but said the question is “will they stay open” due to the lack of children under the age of 12 being vaccinated. She called for “universal masking” to help keep schools open.

“Schools will be open. They need to be open. We need to make sure that they are safe and healthy,” Weingarten stated. “We’ve launched our $5 million campaign to do back-to-school for all. So, let’s just be really clear about that.”

“The next question about will they stay open, that’s where we worry because when you have lots of kids, particularly every child under 12 has not been vaccinated,” she continued. ‘We see the Delta variant being very transmissible. And so that’s why what masks do is masks stop transmission. So, universal masking is going to be very helpful to keep kids safe, to keep the unvaccinated safe and to keep schools open.”

Weingarten added, “School opening is really important. We need kids to be in school. We need everybody to be safe. We need to focus on accelerated learning. And we need to focus on the emotional and social well-being of kids.”

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