The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), headed by the infamous Randi Weingarten, has long been suspected of wielding undue influence over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and COVID policy. It is well documented that the AFT gives handsomely to Democrat political campaigns. Weingarten herself even said in the lead-up to the 2020 elections that it “will be a vitally important cycle, and that’s why the AFT moved earlier than usual, mindful of the challenges posed by the pandemic, to ensure our long-term allies could establish a footprint.” They certainly have left their footprints — right on the necks of our school children. And under the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden, the AFT has been pulling the puppet strings.

A watchdog group called Americans for Public Trust obtained requested emails through the Freedom of Information Act that are undeniable proof of the CDC and the AFT working together to create back-to-school policy. The emails were between CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, AFT top advisers and union officials, and the Biden administration. These emails prove that Randi Weingarten got to tweak the wording on some of the CDC documents regarding going back to school. The two points in particular where the AFT’s wording was adopted verbatim were on the issues of in-person learning and the rights of teachers who were high risk or had a family member who was considered high risk. In other words, the tweaks by the AFT were union protected and teacher focused and not at all about the welfare of the children.

The document in question was released in February 2021 and, to the rest of the world, it looked like the CDC was ignoring the science behind COVID — at the time there was ample evidence that schools were not superspreaders — and slow-walking a return to school.

It had long been suspected that there was some collusion between the AFT and the CDC on various COVID policy decisions. The CDC even admitted using the teachers union’s expertise but brushed off the undue influence accusation by convincing the public that this was normal practice. In fact, Walensky intentionally downplayed the role that the AFT played in the February guidance.

Dr. Walensky was not the only one intentionally hiding information from the public. In a congressional investigation into this matter, Biden administration lawyers saw to it that key CDC scientists were prevented from giving testimonies about this CDC-AFT collusion. The lawyers wanted “to ensure the Biden Administration was shielded from legitimate oversight.”

We now know the disastrous results of the AFT’s meddling in COVID policymaking. Between its position on masking and keeping schools closed, the AFT had made it abundantly clear that its priorities were never the children. Our public school students have lost years in academic gains that they may never be able to get back. And the CDC in cahoots with the AFT exacerbated the problem. Both organizations should not wonder why the public, especially the parents of these children, hold them in utter disgust.