President of Key Teachers’ Union Shares Plea: ‘Schools Must Be Open’ in Fall

About half the nation’s schools are not fully open despite rising vaccination levels, and teachers’ unions are getting much of the blame. Randi Weingarten hopes to carve a path forward.

Randi Weingarten, president of the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union, plans to call on Thursday for a full reopening of the nation’s schools for the next academic year, saying: “There is no doubt: Schools must be open. In person. Five days a week.” Her prepared remarks, made available to The New York Times, come with about half of the nation’s public schools not offering five days per week of in-person learning to all students and with many families uncertain about whether they will have the option for a more traditional schedule in the fall. Teachers’ unions have been one key barrier to a broader opening this school year, accused of slowing reopening timelines as they sought strict virus mitigation measures, even after teachers began to be vaccinated in large numbers.