UFT strike threat

Teachers: Require virus test or we’re out

City teachers won’t return to the classroom without a mandatory testing program in place, their union warned Monday — as Gov. Cuomo predicted in-person learning will lead to some school shutdowns this fall.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said his organization was ready to strike if Mayor de Blasio did not meet its demand for repeated required coronavirus testing of all teachers and students.

“We’ll know shortly over the next couple of days if we’re going to have a major war — even a bigger war — with the city of New York, or if we can actually get to the hard work of preparing each one of our schools to open in a way that is safe,” Mulgrew said during a meeting of the Association for a Better New York.

“I cannot and I will not back off the fact that I said we would not go back unless independent medical experts gave us a stamp of approval,” Mulgrew said.

“So it’s not like the mayor is going to convince me not to have a mandated testing program. It’s not happening.”

But Cuomo said another situation would likely keep at least some of New York’s teachers from the classroom regardless — virus outbreaks where in-person learning is planned.

“I believe colleges are the canary in the coal mine,” Cuomo said at a press briefing Monday — the day after officials at the Oneonta campus of the State University of New York closed its facilities over an outbreak.

“What we’re seeing in colleges

I think is going to be replicated in K–12,’’ the governor said.

“So don’t be shocked when we get to September . . . and schools wind up going to remote or canceling certain classes. That is going to happen.”

Mulgrew speculated that the de Blasio administration has declined to require COVID-19 tests for New York City schools because of the politically fraught climate around mandated medical procedures and vaccines.

“There’s this reluctance to say to people that you need to be tested,” the union chief said.

As for requiring tests, “I know sometimes they can be controversial. But we’re in a health crisis,” Mulgrew said.

City Hall has stressed that teachers who want to be tested at any point in the year will be accommodated.

But Mulgrew added that there are still other hurdles to reopening schools on Sept. 10 — a date he said should be pushed back to provide more time for preparation.

He warned of teacher shortages amid fears over the virus, looming budget cuts and the need for expanded child-care provisions for the district’s hybrid in-school and online learning plan.

“I know we’re not prepared as a school system,” Mulgrew said. “We still have not visited every building. Neither has the Department of Education.”

De Blasio has held his ground in the confrontation over reopening schools, arguing that working parents need scheduling relief and that kids would benefit from the partial revival of their school routine.