We Did it: Teacher's union plans next move on mandatory vaccines — Denver orders school workers to get shots — More schools start in-person classes this week

Aug 09, 2021

WIth help from Jessica Calefati

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Parents take a picture of their daughter before her first day of kindergarten in Yuma, Ariz.

Parents take a picture of their daughter before her first day of kindergarten in Yuma, Ariz. | Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP

'DO YOUR PART TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL SAFE' — National teachers unions haven't yet endorsed vaccine mandates for school workers, even as businesses, colleges and government institutions enact requirements — and tens of thousands of K-12 students start attending classes in-person across the country this week.

— There are signs one union's stance on vaccine mandates is changing. The surging Delta Covid-19 variant and the looming full FDA approval of Pfizer's two-dose vaccine has the American Federation of Teachers revisiting its opposition to educator vaccine mandates this week. "As a matter of personal conscience, I think that we need to be working with our employers, not opposing them, on vaccine mandates," AFT President Randi Weingarten said Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press".

— Both the AFT and the larger National Education Association have said mandates must be negotiated locally between unionized employees and their employers. But at least one major city is moving ahead on a vaccine mandate without the permission of its public school teachers. Federal officials are prodding educators to get shots, too.

— "For the educators: I feel strongly that if you're eligible to get vaccinated, get vaccinated," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Sunday on CBS' "Face The Nation." "Do your part to make sure that we're all safe and that we can reopen schools without interruptions. Again, our students have suffered enough."

— "We do know how to keep our children safe," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday during a roundtable discussion with Cardona. "We do so by getting as many people around them who are eligible for vaccinations to be vaccinated, and to keep our schools masked right now, until we have more and more people vaccinated, and until we have our young children vaccinated."

IT'S MONDAY, AUGUST 9. WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. ICYMI: President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure deal cleared its final serious Senate hurdle Sunday night, putting the legislation on a glide path to passage as soon as late today.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said he disagrees with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' opposition to school mask mandates. "The local officials should have control here," said Cassidy, who is also a physician.

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Children's Health

Graphic displaying rate of child Covid-19 vaccination in U.S. states, as of Aug. 4.

Graphic displaying rate of child Covid-19 vaccination in U.S. states, as of Aug. 4. | Annette Choi/POLITICO

ARE EDUCATORS THE PROBLEM? — The NEA is discussing launching an internal poll to survey how many of its roughly 3 million members are now vaccinated against Covid-19, the union's executive director, Kim Anderson, told your host.

— "We think everyone who can get vaccinated should, and if they can't get vaccinated, they need to get tested regularly," Anderson said of her union's members. An NEA survey of close to 3,000 union members in May concluded 86 percent of educators had received at least one shot, while just under one in 10 did not plan to get vaccinated.

— "The bigger issue for us is that the vaccination rates among students who are 12 and up continue to seriously, seriously lag," Anderson said. "That is really the critical piece of making sure that we can safely go back to in-person learning."

— More than half a million children received their first Covid-19 vaccine dose during the past week, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics — a figure that's increased during each of the past three weeks.

— But adolescent vaccination rates are still highly uneven across the states. In four states, more than 60 percent of children aged 12-17 have received at least one dose, according to the AAP. In nine states, however, 30 percent or fewer of eligible children had received one dose as of Aug. 4.

— " I'm not sure that it's the educators that are the problem here, because we've got nearly 90 percent of them vaccinated," Anderson said. "And I don't think it's the bargaining issue that is the holdup."

K-12

A Covid vaccine clinic stands open in a school in Springfield, Mo.

A Covid vaccine clinic stands open in a school in Springfield, Mo. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images

DENVER'S DEMAND — Colorado's largest school system is on the forefront of requiring teacher Covid-19 vaccinations this fall. But its teachers union says educators weren't consulted.

— Denver Mayor Michael Hancock last week ordered a swath of public-sector workers to get fully vaccinated by Sept. 30. That requirement includes all of the city and county's school workers and higher education employees, unless they have religious or medical exemptions.

— "There are consequences for not following the order," Hancock said. "There might be some folks who may lose their jobs behind this, we recognize that. But the reality is we're going to start with working with every employee who has questions. The goal is compliance. The goal is to get people vaccinated."

— Hancock's announcement "was a surprise and a bit of a shock" to the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, a 4,000-member affiliate of the National Education Association, its president told Weekly Education.

— The union plans to meet with the Denver Public Schools this week to assess the order's impact on teachers, DCTA President Rob Gould said. But he's concerned the abrupt mandate could "shut down conversations" with teachers who are still uncertain, unable or unwilling to get the vaccine.

— "Teacher unions are supportive of vaccines," Gould said. "It's not that we're necessarily against the mandate. We're against not having conversations about it. And we need to make sure that educators are at the table throughout the process."

— One important note: "We are not going to go on strike over this issue," said Gould, who served as a lead union negotiator when Denver teachers hit picket lines in 2019. "Everybody wants to make sure we maintain the safest environment possible for our students and our staff."

Cardona Today

A teacher at Yung Wing School P.S. 124,goes over a lesson with in-person summer program students in New York City.

A teacher at Yung Wing School P.S. 124,goes over a lesson with in-person summer program students in New York City. | Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

CARDONA HEADS TO KANSAS — Cardona and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff will visit a community vaccine clinic in Topeka, Kan. today to promote the administration's back-to-school inoculation campaign.

— Fewer than half of Kansans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and the number of new cases there has steadily increased over the past six weeks.

— But unlike leaders of several other Midwestern states where the Delta variant is responsible for a summer surge in new infections, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has said she wants all staff and students to mask up when they return to school later this week.

— "We know our children belong in the classroom," Kelly said in a statement. "It's critical that we provide Kansas school districts with support and tools they need to keep our kids safe."

— Kelly, a Democrat, is not mandating that masks be worn in schools at a statewide level. However, one large Kansas school district after another has voted locally in recent weeks to require them. Topeka's school board voted Thursday to impose an indoor mask mandate on teachers, staff, students and visitors.

— Meanwhile, Republican state Attorney General Derek Schmidt has asked the Kansas Supreme Court to revive a law struck down by a judge earlier this year that limited the power Kelly and local officials have to impose Covid-19 restrictions.

Around the Nation

A nurse explains the vaccination process to a student before administering a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Wilmington, Calif.

A nurse explains the vaccination process to a student before administering a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Wilmington, Calif. | Mario Tama/Getty Images

MORE SCHOOLS GET BACK TO BUSINESS — Roughly a quarter of the nation's K-12 students start school this coming week, according to the data trackers at Burbio. More than a dozen states will have more than half of their state's students back in school by the end of the week, including population centers like California and Florida.

— About 40 percent of Texas students are also scheduled to return to school this week, according to Burbio, though campus mask mandates are banned and new guidance from the state education agency says schools are not required to conduct Covid-19 contact tracing.

— Experts are concerned schools will thus see clusters of infections, especially if they have lax policies on face masks and other protective measures, as long as the Delta variant continues to spread.

— "Clearly from a medical and medical safety perspective, the optimal choice here is universal masking [for] K-12," said Danny Benjamin, a Duke University professor of pediatrics, during a briefing with reporters this week. "I think what we're going to see is school districts struggle a little bit with some increased clusters and some secondary transmission."

— "People whose job it is to keep you alive encourage masking," Benjamin added. "People who are running for reelection have very mixed opinions about whether or not there should be masking."

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