Teacher Unions’ True Priority

It was an appalling argument for an even more disgraceful cause: The Chicago Teachers Union tweeted out that the push to reopen schools is “rooted in sexism, racism and misogyny.”

Wiser heads soon deleted the message, though not before one union supporter chimed in, “Been feeling this lately. We can discuss the merits of reopening but the conversation cannot be rooted in white supremacy.” Huh?

It’s the worst sort of mental laziness — throw “racism” and “sexism” charges at anyone who opposes you.

For what it’s worth, the Windy City’s student body is predominantly black. So it’s mainly minority kids who suffer from keeping those schools closed — since everyone now knows that remote learning is a disaster.

As Dr. Anthony Fauci puts it: “The default position should be, as best as possible, within reason, to keep the children in school and get them back to school.” But the unions don’t care what the nation’s foremost infectious-disease expert says.

The CTU has gone to court in a bid to derail the plans of Chicago Public Schools district (the nation’s third largest) to start reopening Jan. 11 — until it has “bargained in good faith.” That is, agreed to pay teachers extra for returning to the classroom and doing their jobs.

Across the country, the main factor determining whether schools reopen hasn’t been the local COVID threat, but the strength of the local teachers’ union. And these unions care far, far more about their members’ fear and greed than about the children’s needs.

In this light, note the pressure for President-to-be Joe Biden to tap some teachers’-union official as his education secretary. What a way to betray the nation’s children.