Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, defended the policy of masking in schools on Tuesday. But she also embraced a vaccination off ramp — which means that the CDC is now more extreme than one of the most prominent school masking dead-enders in the country.
In a segment of “Morning Joe” about the end of school mask mandates in several blue states, doctor Lucy McBride noted the damage masking has done to mental health of children while, “There’s no convincing evidence in the real world that masking children in schools makes a significant difference in transmission in schools.” She said that, “We cannot wait longer to think about lifting restrictions that are causing more harm than doing good.”
In response, Weingarten talked about eliminating transmission in schools, which of course is a metric that will never be totally met. But she also endorsed an off ramp: “I like what Massachusetts has done, because what they’ve said is that on a school by school basis, they said if there’s 80 percent vaccination rates, then those schools can lift the mandates.”
She also called on the CDC to weigh in on the debate with updated guidance.
Of course, those of us who have been advocating an end to school masking would argue the CDC guidance should be lifted entirely. But that’s a separate argument. What’s notable here is that CDC, by maintaining its universal masking guidance for every child two years old and up without any vaccination off ramp, is staking out a more extreme position than even Weingarten, who has been a militant masker.