Teachers union chief agrees to testify at House COVID-19 hearing

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president has agreed to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in April, the union confirmed to The Hill. 

Randi Weingarten accepted the invitation from Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) in a hearing centered around Weingarten and the AFT’s alleged role in school closures. 

The hearing, titled “The Consequences of School Closures, Part 2: The President of the American Federation of Teachers Ms. Randi Weingarten,” will take place on April 26 as a follow-up to a hearing in March that focused on the consequences of school closures. 

Wenstrup said the hearing will “delve into the role Ms. Weingarten and the AFT played in editing the CDC’s school reopening guidance and keeping schools closed longer than necessary.”

Last month, Wenstrup sent letters to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AFT and 14 other non-governmental groups requesting communications the groups had with the CDC regarding guidance to keeping schools closed during the pandemic. 

Who was responsible for the prolonged school closures during the pandemic was the main focus of the March hearing, when lawmakers debated if the teachers unions or the Trump administration should take responsibility. 

“When we see something that doesn’t look like it’s not right, it usually is follow the money and you can figure out exactly why this stuff happened, so I’m excited about looking into this and finding out exactly what drove all of this, where that money went and who made these decisions,” Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) said at the last hearing.

Weingarten previously rejected an invitation to testify to the House committee last year, citing the last-minute notification as the reason. 

It can be expected Republicans will not go easy on Weingarten as many have cited her and other teachers unions as the reason schools stayed closed during the pandemic for longer than the party felt needed. 

Weingarten has not been shy to fire back at Republican lawmakers, blaming the Trump administration for the prolonged closures and celebrating Biden for reopening schools.