As schools across Arizona resumed classroom learning on Monday after the Christmas break, the head of the Arizona teachers’ union, Joe Thomas, warned parents to get ready for online learning. Thomas claimed his threat was based on the rise of omicron variant positive tests.
Thomas tweeted: “Parents should be preparing for a temporary shift to remote learning. It will be due to not enough staff being able to report for work.”
Governor Doug Ducey responded on Twitter later: “IN-PERSON LEARNING WILL CONTINUE IN ARIZONA. The science is clear, and overwhelming. We know how to keep our kids safe from COVID-19 in school. K through 12 schools should be open.”
IN-PERSON LEARNING WILL CONTINUE IN ARIZONA
“The science is clear, and overwhelming. We know how to keep our kids safe from COVID-19 in school. K through 12 schools should be open.” 1/
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) January 3, 2022
Once again, teachers unions are playing political games with no regard for the social and emotional impact on our kids. Parents shouldn’t stand for it — and will remember these antics at the ballot box. 3/
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) January 3, 2022
Brian Anderson, a Republican political consultant and former staff member for Governor Doug Ducey responded to Thomas, the president of the Arizona Education Association on Twitter: “The teachers union paid this bumbling loser $190,000 during COVID to lock down your schools. It’s now 2022 and he’s trying to lock them down again.”
Parents should be preparing for a temporary shift to remote learning. It will be due to not enough staff being able to report for work. https://t.co/xUqrn6mYC5
— Joe Thomas (@AZ1Thomas) January 3, 2022
Last Friday, Rebecca Garelli, founding member and organizer with Arizona’s chapter of National Educators United and a member of the Steering Committee of the Democratic Socialist Labor Commission, called on “allies” in a tweet to sign an “Open Letter to ALL federal and state decision makers,” for a pause in-person learning across the nation…”
National Educators United describes itself as an organization dedicated to “collective action in our different states and local contexts to meet our demands. The organization also hopes to “replace charter schools, education reform, standardized testing, scripted curriculum, and the corporatization of education with fully-funded, democratically operated neighborhood community schools with that center racial equity and social justice.”
Thomas also came out in support of the Kyrene School District, which announced it was requiring masks to be used indoors at schools and district facilities upon return Jan 3. This decision follows significant developments in the past week, including new COVID-19 isolation/quarantine guidelines from local/federal health agencies.
Science-based, student-centered, temporary. We can do this. https://t.co/RrdfKB0P5B
— Joe Thomas (@AZ1Thomas) January 3, 2022
In his piece, The CDC’s Flawed Case For Wearing Masks, David Zweig writes, “The agency’s director has said, repeatedly, that schools without mask mandates have triple the risk of COVID outbreaks. That claim is based on very shaky science.”
“The World Health Organization, for example, does not recommend masks for children under age 6,” noted Zweig. “The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recommends against the use of masks for any children in primary school.”