D.C. Mayor caves in to teacher's union, schools will remain closed

In-person classes for special-ed, non-English speaking, and homeless children were scheduled to resume, but the teachers won’t go along “out of concern for the children’s safety” [sic].

Elizabeth Davis, the union president, told members to take the day off from interacting with administrators and the school district but not with students. "We do not want the appearance that we are abandoning our students," Davis said. "Stay in touch with students via text messaging, phone calls, emails, or Zoom meetings."

One D.C. resident with children in the school system told the Washington Free Beacon that teachers have not interacted with students, and families are not privy to their teachers' personal contact information. The mother of three also noted that one of her children's teachers did not communicate that they would be absent from online learning ahead of time.

"Throughout this entire effort, parents and teachers have had to partner…. What happened this morning is a slap in the face to families who have done everything they can to side with their teachers," the mother said. "The teachers effectively said, ‘We are going to play politics with your children.'"

Like the teachers in most areas of the country, D.C.’s have been paid for doing no work since last March, and will incur no financial penalty if they stay out another year. We call that an incentive program, though what’s beig incentivized isn’t necessarily what taxpayers were hoping for.

As for that poor schnook of a parent who’s been siding with the teachers and is only now discovering that the educators are playing political games, using the children as pawns, Honey, where have you been the past fifty years?

Side notes: Union President Elizabeth Davis was arrested and charged with D.U.I., reckless driving, and assorted other bad acts stemming from a car crash last year.

Davis blamed a “poor decision”, and “accepted full responsibility for my actions”. She also supports the BDL movement, but I suppose that’s a quibble.

As for those teachers she’s leading in staying home in indolence, they’re doing very well indeed. Highest pay in the country.

The school system said it currently has the highest first-year teacher salary in the country at $53,000 [2017 - now $57,465 ] as well as the fastest path for teachers to earn a six-figure salary.