RIGHT SPEAK: Biden Backed Teacher Union Head Randi Weingarten Over Honoring Promise to Get Kids Back in School During COVID; U.S. Schools Continue to Seek Solutions for Learning Loss Attributed to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and other C-Virus related stories

Biden backed teacher union head Randi Weingarten over honoring promise to get kids back in school during COVID: book:

President Biden told teacher union honcho Randi Weingarten just eight days into his term that “I am not abandoning you” — opting to keep a major ally and donor onside over honoring his campaign promise to get COVID pandemic-affected kids back in school by his 100th day in office, a bombshell new book has revealed.

The Jan. 28, 2021, call from Biden to the American Federation of Teachers president at her New York home — recounted by Franklin Foer in his new book “The Last Politician” — came one day before Weingarten and her lieutenants launched a drive to weaken reopening guidance issued two weeks later by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Biden, Foer writes, told Weingarten that “he knew she was taking a lot of heat around the reopening of schools” and reassured her that “he was an abiding friend.”

“I am not abandoning you on schools,” Biden reportedly said. “I want you to know that.”

The pressure by Weingarten, which The Post first revealed in May 2021 and further detailed earlier this year, also followed a Jan. 21 meeting at the White House with her, first lady Jill Biden, and National Education Association President Becky Pringle. During that meeting, Foer recounts, the first lady — herself a NEA member — hailed Weingarten as the “type of general who is never far from the front lines.”

“I said I was going to bring you with me into the White House,” Jill Biden told Weingarten and Pringle, according to Foer. “And on day one, you’re here.”

Beginning Jan. 29, 2021, then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky emailed, called and texted Weingarten to discuss the much-anticipated guidelines, a level of collaboration which did not go unnoticed by the union.

“Thank you again for Friday’s rich discussion about forthcoming CDC guidance and for your openness to the suggestions made by our president, Randi Weingarten, and the AFT,” emailed Kelly Trautner, AFT’s senior director for health issues on Monday, Feb. 1, describing the union as the CDC’s “thought partner.” The message was forwarded to Walensky by Carole Johnson, the White House coronavirus testing coordinator. --->READ MORE HERE

U.S. schools continue to seek solutions for learning loss attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Many schools across the country are coming up with new plans to deal with so-called pandemic learning loss that’s impacting students.

Some of the latest data shows that testing results for basic math and reading skills are 15 to 20 percent below pre-pandemic levels.

The problem is even more dramatic in some states than others.

The COVID-19 pandemic left its mark on students who were forced to learn at home when schools suddenly closed their doors for months or longer.

“Schools that stayed shuttered the longest have seen the largest learning loss,” Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera explained.

Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress - otherwise known as the nation’s report card- shows a drop in reading by four points, and nine points in math when compared to scores from three years ago, before the pandemic started.

New blog! 🔎 How might increases in student absenteeism during the pandemic be related to the recent NAEP score declines? NCES has been analyzing the data with @WhiteHouseCEA. Read our latest post: https://t.co/McoxkpUYKe #BTS #attendance pic.twitter.com/e3KqnBALrm

— NAEP, The Nation's Report Card (@NAEP_NCES) August 30, 2023

The federal government has been trying to send money to schools to help offer more programs. Now, states are also budgeting tens of millions of dollars intended to go to schools. --->READ MORE HERE