A GOP House Representative slammed a California teacher union president for taking his daughter to in-person preschool while advocating for public schools to remain closed.
In an interview with The Daily Wire, Rep. Bob Good from Virginia said that the rules for in-person learning are being selectively applied to those who can afford it. That includes the Democrats that lead powerful teacher unions.
“This is a typical Democrat mentality of ‘rules for thee, but not for me.’ The rules don’t apply to them,” Good said. “Not everybody has the option [the teacher union leader] has. Not everybody has the ability, the wherewithal, the financial ability to put their kids in private schools, so it’s really disappointing to see those in power making rules for the masses and then they find a way that it doesn’t apply to them.”
Matt Meyer, the president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, fell under fire on Monday after a video surfaced of him dropping his daughter off at a preschool that is open for in-person learning.
The Daily Wire reported:
Berkeley Federation of Teachers president Matt Meyer has been advocating for a “gold standard” that says schools in Berkeley, California cannot reopen until all educators and district staff members have been vaccinated and schools agree to enforce social distancing and mask wearing, according to the nonprofit news website Berkeleyside.
Yet a video has surfaced showing Meyer taking his young daughter to an in-person preschool leading to accusations of “hypocrisy” from parent groups, KQED reported.
Good has been at the forefront of the Congressional fight to reopen schools. In February, the Congressman attempted to bring transparency to the negotiation process between school districts and teacher unions. In an amendment to the Democrat’s pork-stuffed $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus package, Good suggested an amendment that K-12 funding be contingent upon making labor negotiations public.
Among partisan lines, Democrats shot down Good’s efforts for transparency. Good said that the Biden administration and Democrats are “beholden” to teacher unions.
“Now that Biden is president, [the administration] is beholden to the unions and wants money to install new HVAC systems, air-flow systems in the schools before they reopen,” Good said. “They don’t want accountability, they don’t want transparency, they’re putting their teacher unions ahead of the kids.”
Good plans on introducing a separate piece of legislation on Tuesday that mimics his COVID amendment. The bill would make coronavirus education funding contingent upon school districts recording in writing and disclosing all communications that they have with teacher unions regarding reopening schools.
School districts and local governments, especially those in Democrat-run cities, have struggled to negotiate with teacher unions on a reopening plan to return children to in-person learning. The most notable and public struggle was between Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Teacher Union (CTU).
Throughout January and February, the CTU threatened to strike after the Mayor and Chicago Public School leadership insisted that some teachers and students could return to in-person learning. The district and city spent more than $100 million on masks, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and other classroom safety measures, which were still considered inadequate to CTU leadership.
Good said that he believes increased transparency in the negotiations process between the Chicago Public Schools and the CTU may have expedited the slow process of returning children to schools.
“Sunlight is a good thing. Especially when it applies to our schools, to our government, and the impact that teacher unions have on that,” Good said.