Global Courant 2023-04-21 12:36:56
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, announced Thursday that the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will hold the second part of a hearing on the Biden administration’s forced closure of schools and the impact it had on students.
In a press release, Wenstrup, also chair of the subcommittee, announced a hearing entitled “The Consequences of School Closures, Part 2” with President Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) as key witness.
According to a subcommittee description, the hearing will examine whether Weingarten and the AFT played a role in “editing the CDC’s COVID-19 guidelines for reopening schools and keeping schools closed longer than necessary.” . It takes place on Wednesday, April 26 at 2pm ET.
“The influence of Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), may have endangered the well-being of our nation’s children during the COVID-19 pandemic. If so, she must be held accountable “, said chairman Wenstrup.
COVID BOOSTER DOSE FOR CERTAIN PEOPLE APPROVED BY FDA
Representative Brad Wenstrup, an Ohio Republican and chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, speaks at a hearing in Washington, DC, U.S., on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The subcommittee will also inquire about the decision to keep schools closed despite several vaccines being approved and made freely available to most Americans.
“Even when healthy and successful learning environments were possible, Ms Weingarten and the AFT advocated against reopening schools. Getting our children back to school safely as soon as possible should have been our top priority,” continued Chairman Wenstrup.
HOUSE GOP LAWMAKERS SAY COVID EDUCATION FUNDS ARE USED FOR FURTHER ‘RADICAL, LEFT-WING AGENDAS’ IN SCHOOLS
“I look forward to hearing and learning Ms. Weingarten’s testimony about the role AFT played in advancing school closures that ultimately harmed our youth’s academic, mental, physical and social development,” he also said.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Friday, July 13, 2018. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks at a news conference at the Capitol on May 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)
The hearing will be a continuation of a discussion last month, when witnesses said there was no support for keeping schools closed.
“At the Select Subcommittee’s first hearing on pandemic-era school closures in March, expert witnesses testified that the ‘science’ never justified the prolonged closure of schools. Chairman Wenstrup sent a letter to Randi Weingarten last month requesting documents and information related to AFT’s impact on the guidelines for reopening the CDC’s science school,” the subcommittee said in a statement.
THE WORLD LOST TRUST IN CHILDREN’S VACCINES DURING COVID, UNICEF REPORTS
Close-up of crayons, markers, and pencils in a first-grade classroom at Boston Teachers Union School. Wednesday September 09, 2009. (Ted Fitzgerald/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
President Biden officially ended the national emergency declaration of COVID earlier this month, and House Republicans immediately began looking back at the federal response and its fallout.
Children of all ages – and across the country – had no choice but to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational and psychological experts have argued that students kept out of school for months or years may have suffered a huge loss to their academic and social development.
