I’m Sarah Lee, and this is the Influence Watch podcast. Yesterday, three years after the COVID pandemic lockdowns began, American Federation of Teachers union president Randi Weingarten, who many feel was the public face of extended school lockdowns, testified in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Weingarten, who had spent most of her time during the pandemic loudly decrying attempts to reopen schools – calling plans from the last administration to reopen in late 2020 “callous” and “cruel” -- struck a decidedly different tone before Congress, insisting her goal was always getting kids back to in-person instruction, an assertion that was rather hilariously fact-checked by Twitter’s community notes Thursday. Here to discuss the hearing are my colleagues Mike Watson and Parker Thayer.

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Beware Teachers Unions Bearing School Reopening Talk

Randi Weingarten says 'Biden transition team’ was first to solicit union’s advice on schools reopening