Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), a company directly funded and supported by the Chinese Communist Party, continues to pose national security risks to the United States. This past spring, CATL batteries were installed at Camp Lejeune, North...
News
Latest News
Next Week: Rubio Staff Hosts Mobile Office Hours
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of Senator Rubio’s...
Rubio, Colleagues to Biden: Ban Travel From China to Prevent Mystery Illness Spread
A mysterious respiratory illness is once again spreading in China. Until we know more about what could be a new pathogen, the United States must do everything possible to prevent the illness from reaching our shores. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and colleagues sent...
Rubio y Colegas a Biden: Prohiba los Viajes Procedentes de China para Evitar la Propagación de Enfermedades Misteriosas
Una misteriosa enfermedad respiratoria se está propagando una vez más en China. Hasta que sepamos más sobre lo que podría ser un nuevo patógeno, EE.UU. debe hacer todo lo posible para evitar que la enfermedad llegue a nuestras costas. El senador estadounidense Marco...
Rubio y Colegas Presentan Reautorización para Mantener Sanciones Contra Régimen de Maduro
El 21 de diciembre del 2023 expirarán las sanciones del gobierno de EE.UU. contra el narco-dictador venezolano Nicolás Maduro y 150 miembros de su régimen criminal, quienes son responsables de abusos contra los DDHH. del pueblo venezolano. El senador estadounidense...
Rubio, Colleagues Introduce Reauthorization to Preserve Sanctions Against Maduro Regime
On December 21, 2023, the U.S. government’s sanctions against Venezuela’s narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro, and 150 members of his criminal regime responsible for human rights abuses against the Venezuelan people, will expire. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)...
ICYMI: Rubio: Put Students First and Open Schools
Rubio: “If a school continues to cave to the unions at the expense of their students, they should not receive funding. I propose that if a school refuses to offer students an in-person option by April 30, 2021, 100 days into the Biden administration, that funding should be rescinded and directed to school choice and the reopening plans of schools that are prioritizing their students’ needs.”
Put students first and open schools – here’s what we should do if teacher unions refuse
By U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
February 2, 2021
Fox News
Tens of millions of American children have not stepped inside a physical classroom in nearly a year.
In that time, the damage to our students’ futures has been catastrophic; isolation, depression and learning loss are only a few of the consequences with which our nation’s children are grappling.
When it comes to preparing them to be well-adjusted adults, there’s simply no substitute for in-person instruction.
…
This week, leading health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that America’s schools should reopen as soon as possible if precautions are taken – namely mask-wearing and social distancing – and that new scientific research provides “a path forward to maintain or return primarily or fully to in-person instructional delivery.”
…
But there’s still one thing standing in the way of schools reopening: bosses at our nation’s teachers’ unions.
Look at what’s happening in Chicago, where the mayor worked with the local union on a safe reopening plan, but the latter is now going to strike – stopping all educational activities for children in the city.
…
When schools first closed because of the pandemic, the unions pledged to return when it was “safe” to do so. The AFT’s president called on Americans to “summon the will to follow science both in school and out.” The National Education Association’s head similarly declared that when “it comes to ensuring safe, in-person instruction, we must rely on public health officials and scientists for what they know best.”
The CDC has now made clear that we’ve reached that point. Indeed, states like Florida and many private and parochial schools around the country have safely been opened for far longer.
If the national teachers’ unions and their local affiliates in Chicago, New Jersey, California and elsewhere really wanted to follow the science, they would be working with local governments to open our schools right now, not demanding more taxpayer dollars. They would recognize that, with student suicide rates surging around the country, there is in fact a need to hurry back.
The truth is that Washington has provided a lot of money. At the end of last year, Congress passed legislation that included $54.3 billion for public K-12 schools. This funding is on top of the $13 billion provided to school districts through the CARES Act last March.
…
While unions fight to stay home, our students are falling behind. Doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers, garbage collectors, cashiers, letter carriers and Florida teachers have powered through the worst of the crisis. And now with the CDC recommendation, the union bosses have run out of excuses.
America’s educators play an indispensable role in our nation and deserve safe working conditions. They also deserve representation that treats them with dignity – not as some pawn in the political power game over government funding.
Going forward, Washington must fund what it values. President Joe Biden promised that within 100 days of becoming president all schools would be open. I agree with President Biden, all schools should be open, which is why I will be filing legislation to hold our nation to that promise.
If a school continues to cave to the unions at the expense of their students, they should not receive funding. I propose that if a school refuses to offer students an in-person option by April 30, 2021, 100 days into the Biden administration, that funding should be rescinded and directed to school choice and the reopening plans of schools that are prioritizing their students’ needs.
Right now, we face the very real risk of holding back an entire generation of Americans. There is no ambiguity at this point: in-person learning can be done safely.
If Democrats want to claim they are the party of science, they should side with our students and public health experts and tell the teachers’ unions it is time to get back to class and do their jobs.