Congratulations, Randi Weingarten: YOU Built this.
The Intercept tells the sad tale of a couple in Washington, D.C. who feared for their children’s health because COVID-19 protocols at their elementary school were not clearly established. Because the COVID-19 protocols at their elementary school were not clearly established, the working mother kept her children away from school.
Kasargod Staub and her husband watched the rise of Delta variant cases in their region by August. After her husband went to school to examine safety protocols, he was alarmized to learn that the HVAC system was not working and there was no outdoor dining plan. Kasaragod Staub was the previous president of the PTA and called the principal to talk about it.
“The policies were vague, everyone was scrambling, so we decided to keep [our kids]Home for the first week in school. [D.C. Public Schools] would realize they made a mistake and catch up with things like testing and outdoor eating,” she told The Intercept. “It feels a little dumb now, but I genuinely thought things would change and they’d figure safety stuff out.”
Because American Federation of Teachers President Weingarten (ATF) and her ilk at the NEA, National Education Association (NEA) make up policies as they go along, these policies are somewhat vague. But it is hard to see that you’re being duped, when you’ve been blinded by fear.
Things didn’t change, and the children stayed home. Pretty soon, Kasargod-Staub was notified that her family was being referred to D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency due to her kids’ unexcused absences. “I have a lot of privilege, I know the system, and it was still terrifying,” she said. “My mind immediately goes to, ‘Where will this lead? Are they going to take away my kids?’”
The school district reported Kasargod-Staub to D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency for “potential neglect;” all because the government refuses to address the problems that the government created, and plants the blame squarely on the parents.
It’s terrifying, all right. It is terrifying that the poor lady has so much invested in a system which has betrayed both her and her children as well as American children.
But here’s the most grievous part of this tale: these parents are fine with being locked into the public school. Kasargod Saub actually wanted the school to continue receiving funding, even though she had pulled her children out.
Head, meet desk.
Yeah, there’s definitely abuse—but not by the parents. There’s also a serious case of Stockholm Syndrome.
Kasargod Saub discussed with her husband whether to formally remove their children from school, but both felt strongly committed. “I was the freaking PTA president, my Ph.D. work is around public education, and I didn’t want my Title I elementary to lose my kids’ per-pupil funding,” she explained. While her unvaccinated kids were not eligible for a remote learning option through D.C. Public Schools, which requires a doctor to certify that virtual school is necessary, she and her husband provided them with learning supplements and later enrolled them in a national online school for more structure.
Kasargod Saub, who lives in D.C., would have the option of choosing between sending her children to school or continuing her education at home. Parents who fear COVID and are reluctant to send their children to school in New York or D.C. do not have these choices. Weingarten and her staff know this and are aware that it could quickly destroy their corrupt organization.
Now that the federal government has made COVID protocols a thing on which to base school re-openings, as well as attendance and participation, shouldn’t a parent be able to say, “I think this school is unsafe and I’m pulling my child out”? They can also send their child to school with the protocols they prefer.
This is what common-sense measures would entail. Teachers Unions, and the agenda they promote, are not compatible with common sense.
Parents are unable to bear the thought of their children dying from COVID. According to the CDC, only 700 U.S. children have been affected by the virus. However, if you dig deeper, the data shows that underlying conditions such as comorbidities played a role in their deaths. These are just a few of nearly 800,000. COVID affects children less than adult victims. Children that recover from the disease are faster and retain stronger antibodies, according to CDC research.
Weingarten, along with her colleagues from the teachers’ union, wanted to turn this into a cudgel. For vulnerable people, who prefer to follow their noses, instead of doing their research and following the science, it has worked. Instead of admitting that they created problems with fear scenarios about COVID epidemics, children dying and teachers being killed, and then saying that the protocols will help to mitigate those issues, they label parents negligent and delinquent for making these fears a reality. To make matters worse, they also turn the child protective services arm into a government agency. The InterceptThese cases seem to have a more racially-skewed outcome, as more parents of color are reported to child protective service than parents with white children.
How. A. It’s shocking.
Karsargod-Stove got a taste of what people without “privilege,” as she termed it, have to go through. But she trusts her government and the systems that got her into this situation in the first. It is not just her experience with an overreaching and inept government.
In Washington, D.C., at least 90 families with Covid-19 safety concerns have been referred to child protective services for “educational neglect,” which the Department of Health and Human Services defines as a parent or guardian’s failure to provide a child with appropriate schooling. Paul Kihn (the deputy mayor for education) stated that about 30 referrals were being upgraded to more severe investigations as of October 8. (His office did not provide any more information. In one warning letter sent to another D.C. parent and reviewed by The Intercept, the school district threatened referral not only to the Child and Family Services Agency but also to the city’s juvenile probation agency.
It’s time for these parents to wake up and join the many organized parents groups who are fighting against vaccine mandates for their children. Karsargod Stove and many others are suffering from the same disease, just with a different appearance.
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