The Republican Senate and House campaign arms, along with Republican outside groups, have coalesced behind a unified message of reopening schools, hoping to put Democrats in a difficult spot between teachers unions and parents, who desperately want their kids to go back to the pre-pandemic days of in-person learning. The fight could also act as a salve for all-out Republican infighting, giving the party a message and target while many are turning their rhetorical fire on each other.
As they ramp up their criticism, Republicans are seeking a return of their own — to a strategy of tying Democrats to organized labor during a time of strain centering on a hot button issue with special resonance in the suburbs. GOP officials have in a series of coordinated attacks accused Democrats of turning their backs on scientific evidence in order to placate teachers unions, who have been hesitant in some cases to bring members back to classrooms amid concerns over safe working conditions.
“Science is not the obstacle. Federal money is not the obstacle. The obstacle is a lack of willpower,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday. “Not among students. Not among parents. Just among the rich, powerful unions that donate huge sums to Democrats and get a stranglehold over education in many communities.”
McConnell’s remarks set off a firestorm among some Democrats and union leaders, who accused the Senate’s top Republican of seeking to gin up misguided anger over an issue that the GOP, during the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency, largely ignored.
The Biden administration, which has been peppered with questions about in-person learning as the Republican blitz picks up speed, supports re-opening schools, but has largely stayed in lockstep with teachers unions as they push for funds to redesign and update the modern classroom in a way that meets Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued safety guidelines.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of…
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