EDITORIAL: Will Biden choose the teacher unions or the kids?

Joe Biden said repeatedly on the campaign trail that his priorities during his first 100 days in office included reopening the nation’s schools. He reiterated this goal during his inaugural address. “We can teach our children,” the new president insisted, “in safe schools.”

We’ll soon find out if Mr. Biden’s commitment to getting kids back into the classroom trumps his fidelity to the teachers unions.

Mr. Biden’s promise was always somewhat symbolic. Decisions on opening or closing public schools are mostly in the hands of state and local authorities. In Clark County, for instance, the school superintendent and officials with the primary teacher labor group have both argued for opening classrooms, while the School Board has resisted.

Elsewhere, however, the driving force behind keeping kids at home are the powerful teacher unions. Rarely have they been so explicit in dismissing the needs of those they are supposed to educate.

Across the country, “unions are fighting efforts to return their members to crowded hallways,” The New York Times reported this week. “Their reluctance comes even as school administrators, mayors and some parents feel increased urgency to restore educational business as usual for the millions of students who are struggling academically and emotionally.”

In Chicago, for instance, the school district was forced to suspend efforts to begin in-person instruction when the union refused to cooperate.

Part of this resistance is no doubt to extort more federal money out of taxpayers under the guise of pandemic protection. Never mind that studies show a low risk of transmission in school settings. According to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, “a trio of new studies demonstrate low risk of COVID-19 infection and spread in schools, including limited in-school COVID-19 transmission.” Also, many teachers, particularly those new to the profession, are not at high risk from virus complications.

Mr. Biden finds himself in a conundrum. He has long been a loyal Senate soldier for the teacher unions — the entrenched education establishment is a vital benefactor of the Democratic Party — and even told union members during the campaign that if he were elected, “You’ll have an NEA member in the White House.” But now that the unions are the biggest obstacle to getting struggling children back to campus, how does that square with his campaign promise about opening schools?

The presidency is perhaps the world’s largest and most effective bully pulpit. If Mr. Biden’s rhetoric on the hustings was anything but hot air, he’ll use that power to pressure the education unions into doing what millions of workers have done since the pandemic began almost 11 months ago: their jobs.

Which will it be, Mr. President, the unions or the children?