WASHINGTON – The DC Republican Committee issued the following statement regarding the severely flawed “no in-person learning on Wednesday” policy practiced by DC Public Schools (DCPS). Even though not all students are back in school for in-person instruction, DC Public Schools still take each Wednesday off for “cleaning” and “asynchronous learning.” The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) is largely responsible for the systemically racist policies that keep many economically disadvantaged children of color from realizing their full potential. While until very recently most students have been out of school for the better part of a year, the no-school-on-Wednesdays policy is another example of the unnecessary damage the WTU bosses have wrought on DC children.
DC Republican Committee Chairman Patrick Mara stated, “With this mandated school vacation on each Wednesday, we are ceding 20% of the school week to someone who gets a lucrative contract to Windex the desks. The WTU and DCPS have decided to ignore the scientific findings of health professionals that there is a low likelihood of spread of Covid-19 in schools and that the virus does not transfer on surfaces. Over the last year the city has made far too many concessions to union bosses, past and present, at the WTU. I hope next year we consider the human cost to all children who go without in-person instruction. We should stop disguising every aspect of opening our schools as a public health issue. Most early childhood centers operated throughout the pandemic and we did not see teachers or our kids at those centers carted out in body bags.”
Chairman Mara, a former elected member of the DC State Board of Education and the father of two young DC Public Schools children, added, “While every Wednesday out of the classroom is tremendously inconvenient to families of means as well as to disadvantaged children, the loss of focus on students’ academic and social emotional development is likely even more exacerbated. Sadly, the WTU and DCPS have decided to disregard the opinions of health professionals, and I hope we will continue to consider the human cost to children who go without in-person instruction. Let’s get DC children back in classrooms five days a week.”
For further comment, contact Patrick Mara at patrick.mara@dcgop.com.
The DC Republican Committee is composed of registered Republicans living throughout the District of Columbia in all eight wards who are nominated and elected to serve as members.
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