Seattle-area teachers refuse let kids back in class until demands are met

Educators with the Tacoma Education Association that are involved with the Socialist #RedforEd movement announced a set of demands, refusing to return to in-person until certain demands are met.

The group called "Safe Return Tacoma" listed four demands that Tacoma Public Schools must meet before educators return to the classroom. These were posted on Twitter.

Demands include: ensuring safety protocols are strictly followed, in-person learning can only resume once the entire community has been vaccinated (including kids), there must be an option for remote teaching and learning, and teachers who have been working in buildings must receive retroactive hazard pay.

Public School teachers across the country frequently make headlines for their roles in pro-longing in-classroom teaching despite orders from government officials and science-based guidelines from the CDC.

Safe Return Tacoma is a front for the #RedForEd campaign, a subversive leftist movement of teachers in the United States that attempt to obtain political power to advance a socialist agenda. Teachers across the country joined the movement to help flip red states blue and demand higher wage increases. The #RedforEd campaign has been involved in strikes throughout the country.

The leftist group claims Tacoma Public School’s aren’t implementing covid-19 mitigation policies even though science and evidence don’t back up their claims.

In an interview with Kiro7 TV, Tacoma Public Schools spokesperson Dan Voelpel said the school district has taken the proper precautions for a safe return to classrooms.

"That's why we've addressed all the issues with our labor partners in weekly and ongoing discussions," said Dan Voelpel.

"Because we care so much about student and staff member health and safety, we've followed all the requirements, recommendations and guidance of our state and local health departments and the state Department of Labor & Industries for the safe return to schools of our staff and students."

Last week, Safe Return Tacoma held a "sick out" where educators in the Tacoma Public School called out sick to protest the school district's unwillingness to cave to their demands, thus leaving their students without educators for the day.

"By participating in a sick out on an asynchronous late-start Wednesday, we are having minimal negative impact on students while still being able to send a clear message to the district: look how many of your employees don't feel safe with your hybrid model!" their post on Instagram stated.

In a blatant excuse which ran contrary to CDC guidelines, teacher Andrea Knuckles said that opening schools would not be safe for the community. "What about our community? Because sure, we can have a big push and say, ‘Yeah, let’s all of us jump the line and we all get vaccinated. Great, we’re all safe,'" Knuckles told KIRO 7 TV. "But our family’s members of our community and our students are not. And many of our students are in Black and brown communities. They are in multi-generational houses and they are particularly vulnerable to this disease."

Knuckles virtue signaling failed to include that students of color are disproportionately impacted by the mental health toll coronavirus has on school-aged children.

In a recent survey done by the Seattle Education Association, According to a February survey done by the Seattle Education Association only nine percent of public school teachers that responded "are ready and want to return to in-person instruction regardless of vaccinations." Meanwhile, Seattle’s public school students have not been in a classroom since March 11, 2020, almost a full year without being in a classroom.