AFT’s Weingarten Claims Parents ‘Are Still Really Skeptical About Sending Their Kids Back to In-School Learning’

EXCERPT:

WEINGARTEN: “According to us, it’s going to be great to be in person again so you don’t have these delays. But according to our data, 97 percent of schools are open in-person either fully or partially. And a lot of the partial openings are for many reasons, including the fact that there wasn’t space, there wasn’t good ventilation or that parents actually are still really skeptical about sending their kids back to in-school learning. We just did a poll with NAACP and LULAC and others, and -- and a large number of black and brown parents are still skeptical. So, that’s part of the reason why we’re putting $5 million in this -- this summer to try to actually run a campaign to get everyone back to school. We have to build the trust. The mitigation factors do, the vaccine efficacy does and the other piece that builds the trust is really -- is people actually being in schools and seeing the safeguards that we have done that have been the vehicle to making it safe.”