We have entered the “falsification of memory” phase of the American Cultural Revolution. Just last week, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten took to X, formerly Twitter, to remind people that her organization always advocated for reopening schools. She made this proclamation from her lofty perch on the moral high ground and chided those who have a different recollection of events.
While Weingarten and others like her would prefer we all move on, let’s instead rewind the tapes and explain why that would be a mistake.
Covid Uncertainty and Absurdity
I am the kind of parent Attorney General Merrick Garland and the National School Boards Association warned you about. I live in Chester County, one of the wealthiest counties in Pennsylvania and home to at least six of the top 50 public schools in the state.
When the pandemic first hit, I took it very seriously. One of my children has asthma, so I closely followed the news out of China beginning in early January 2020. I grew so concerned about the catastrophic potential of the virus that I pulled my children out of school a week or so before the state government ordered it. But by the summer of 2020, after carefully studying the available evidence, I concluded that the virus was serious but entirely manageable for the overwhelming majority of the population, especially kids.
As that summer drew to a close, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf continued to flex dubious emergency powers. He kept churches, schools, businesses, and restaurants closed
