Washington, D.C. – On Friday, a piece was published in The Atlantic detailing the lasting impacts that school shutdowns, championed by Democrats throughout the pandemic, had on children – especially those from low-income families:
“For many students, physical school wasn’t replaced with Zoom school. Rather, physical school closures meant no school—literally none at all, for days and even weeks on end.
National surveys of teachers by the EdWeek Research Center, for example, reported that nearly a quarter of students ended the 2020 spring semester “essentially truant.” In Los Angeles, the situation was even more dire: Four in 10 students simply failed to participate regularly in remote-learning programs during the first pandemic spring.
…the average American public-school student had experienced 65 school days without any contact whatsoever from their schools or teachers—no in-person classes, no Zoom classes, no videoconferences, no telephone calls. That’s more than a third of a school year without schooling, full stop.”
Given the services provided by schools, children suffered mightily, not only academically, but physically and mentally as well. The pain was also passed to parents who faced their own severe challenges trying to manage the unprecedented disruption to their lives and livelihoods.
Yet none of these challenges appeared to impact Democrat lawmakers, and their teachers union donors who continued their crusade to keep kids out of the classroom. As a reminder:
- Senate Democrats, including Raphael Warnock, Maggie Hassan, Catherine Cortez Masto, Mark Kelly, Michael Bennet, and Patty Murray, voted TWICE to keep schools closed.
- Teachers unions ramped up their donations to Democrats who helped do their bidding in Congress.
Statement from NRSC Spokesman T.W. Arrighi: “The damage from Democrat school closures will last for many years to come. Despite mounting scientific evidence to the contrary, Senate Democrats decided to side with powerful teachers unions instead of children. While parents and students alike suffered, Senate Democrats were seemingly unmoved, and their votes and campaign contribution receipts serve as a constant reminder of their disservice to the next generation of Americans.”
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