But the socialists support them! 

Parents of the 26,000 students enrolled in Madison’s public schools got to wonder if their classrooms will open as scheduled Monday 01-10-22. Or how many of their teachers will show.

Because the teachers union is doing what it does best: making demands. They want more sick leave and “mental health support.” The latter includes “giving space for social-emotional processing of the past year.” They also want authority to “separat[e] those who refuse to wear a mask … from the majority of students and staff who are masking for the public good.” They want it by Tuesday.

→ See what the school board does Monday at 5 p.m. (Agenda and links)

Madison Teachers Inc. claims that two-thirds of its members surveyed “either did not support a return to school buildings on January 10 or would only do so if COVID-19 infection rates were stabilizing or decreasing.”

“Not only have we started this school year short-staffed, but we are losing an extraordinary number or staff due to burnout and disrespect from leadership and community stakeholders.”

Disrespect from “community stakeholders?” Whom might that be? Parents? Taxpayers? At least, they have the support of the Madison-area Democratic Socialists. The Far Left group today blamed Covid on capitalism:

Hello comrades,

I am sure you are all thinking about Omnicron and how it yet again illustrates the blatant failings of capitalism, the state, the U.S. healthcare system, and so many other oppressive institutions. … (MTI) is calling on MMSD leadership to make basic commitments to staff members. Please read their statement, sign their petition, and share it.

Aren’t they SPECIAL!

Like Mother Mary, National Review keeps speaking words of wisdom:

To hear them tell it, teachers are basically 19th-century coal miners, risking their lives every time they go to work. … This melodramatic nonsense must not be indulged. Teachers are not at any more risk than grocery-store workers, restaurant workers, or any of the other “essential workers” who have been working in person throughout the entire pandemic.

MTI is among the more militant teachers unions in the nation and they cannot be expected to yield the title to their comrades in Chicago, where the union unilaterally shut down schools. That union threatens to make a hero out of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who blasted the “illegal work stoppage.” She said: “Our kids need to be back in school. Schools are safe.”

Follow the science

Education secretary Miguel Cardona agrees. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci says, “If you look at the safety of children with regard to infection, we have most of the teachers, [an] overwhelming majority of them are vaccinated.” Fauci told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: “It’s safe enough to get those kids back to school, balanced against the deleterious effects of keeping them out.”

The Omicron Covid variant in childen is proving to be no more serious than a bad cold. A study of California hospitals showed that 40-45% of children in hospitals with Covid had the infection only incidentally to the reason for their hospitalization. In Wisconsin, only one child under the age of 10 and seven kids and young adults under the age of 20 have died of COVID since the pandemic began in March 2020. (Source here.) This represents a microscopic 0.069% of the state’s total COVID deaths.

Blaska’s Bottom Line goes to National Review: “We don’t close schools for influenza, and we shouldn’t close schools for Covid.”

Anyone remember how Reagan handled PATCO?