Vice President Kamala Harris stressed that it is a priority to get teachers vaccinated and to make schools safe for all.
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Vice President Harris said that it is a priority to get teachers vaccinated and until they are, Congress needs to provide the funding to make schools safe for everyone to return. pic.twitter.com/JFHtFAFzVJ
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 17, 2021
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Vice President Harris said on NBC’s Today, “Teachers should be a priority along with other front-line workers, and we’re going to make them a priority. I believe that 22 states, I believe, have prioritized teachers in terms of vaccines.”
When she was asked if it was safe for teachers to go back to school, the Vice President answered, “Well, I think that we have to decide if we can put in place safe measures. This is why it’s so important we pass the American rescue plan.”
The Vice President was correct on both points. Teachers need to be vaccinated. There is a Republican talking point that schools are safe right now, but when schools tried to open at full capacity, they had COVID cases. Teachers already sacrifice so much for the love of teaching and working with children. The least that we can do as a country is to provide a safe workplace for them.
School districts and local governments are desperate for funding. Local governments, especially in the East and Midwest, are dealing with a collapse in revenue at a time when they are being hammered with a particularly harsh winter that is causing an increase in demand for public services.
Schools need to be made safe, and teachers must be protected. The quickest way to take a large step on both of those priorities is to pass the Biden/Harris American Rescue Plan.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
