Unionbusters Know No Bottom
By 
The Manhattan Institute is a hive of scum and villainy almost like no other. And there’s nothing our “free market” betters love more than hating on teachers unions. So therefore you have their director of education policy literally making the argument, in the Washington Post no less, that remote education is terrible for children (true) and that teachers unions are to blame for this because they didn’t want their members getting sick and dying. Therefore, with remote education being a disaster, teachers should not get the vaccine before anyone else.
No, really, that’s the argument.
In other words, normal citizens might be forgiven for not wanting to reward actions that have harmed kids — especially poor and minority children — and women by giving educators early access to agonizingly scarce vaccine doses.
To be sure, no one wants to see teachers harmed by covid-19. But while the initial fear that teachers expressed was understandable, recent data indicates that teachers and students are at no greater risk of contracting covid in schools than they are elsewhere. Several respected scientists and medical organizations have said the downsides of keeping kids out of school far outweigh the benefits, especially when schools implement common-sense precautions such as mask-wearing and social distancing.
Oh, get off it, you totally want to see teachers get COVID you horrible ghoul.
There is reason to be concerned about teachers who are elderly or have comorbidities. But if these groups are prioritized for the vaccine in the general population — as they arguably should be, before favoring any particular profession — at-risk teachers will be protected, without allocating doses to young, healthy teachers at the expense of vulnerable fellow citizens.
To his credit, in announcing his approach to covid-19 in his first 100 days in office, Biden also called for most schools to be opened within that time. But teachers unions hold the key here. And while Biden has little direct control over school operations, he does have the influence to persuade union leaders — and state and local authorities inclined to bow before them — of the critical importance of getting children and teachers back in school immediately.
If Biden does insist on using vaccines as part of his strategy to reopen schools, then the deal must be explicit and transparent: If teachers get vaccination priority, schools will open. Unless they themselves are sick, teachers are to be present and normalcy must resume. This includes the recording of student attendance, the administration of state achievement testing and the issuance of real report cards telling students and families exactly where they stand. Anything less would make a scientifically, morally and politically problematic policy even worse.
Ah yes, the morally problematic policy of not wanting teachers to die. The unionbusting contingent doesn’t even have to try to make a sensible argument to get their bullshit in the major papers.