Several teachers and teacher’s unions around the country have stopped showing up to school in the wake of rising cases of omicron. I’ve got one thing to say about all of those teachers who refuse to come to work: Fire them all.

Here’s why:

  1. Hurting Kids

This is the easiest but also the most effective argument to make. We have enough data to show how damaging “distance learning” was and still is to kids. While I appreciate all of the creativity displayed by truly talented teachers in trying to teach from home, it didn’t work. Academically, students of all ages were left behind when they went behind a screen.

And if the left wants to talk about privilege, this is a great example. Any parent who could take their kid out of public school did just that. Parents fortunate enough to afford it sent their kids to private schools so they could be in the classroom. The kids without that advantage got screwed the most. If avoiding the inevitable damage to kids was the only reason to keep the school open, that would be a big enough reason.

2. The Shot

This argument is short and simple. If the shot works, teachers shouldn’t be concerned about the virus. Everyone has had ample opportunity to get the shot. Remember when the American Federation of Teachers didn’t show up to work for over a year because they didn’t have the shot yet? Well, they have it now. 

3. Money

The real reason, I think, behind the initial COVID teacher strike became less and less about the disease as time went on and became more and more about money. The teacher’s unions effectively held out for as much money as possible, using kids as their pawns. In early 2021, the president of the LA teacher’s union, the second-largest school district in the nation, said that anyone who wants schools open is racist. She was holding out for more money.

The worst part is, they won. The teacher’s unions, at the expense of children, won at the end of the day and got more money to, in many states, try and level out their crazy underfunded pension liabilities.

So where is that money now? Remember, we, the taxpayers, give them BILLIONS of dollars to make schools safe. What happened to all that money? If they’re going to strike now because the schools are “unsafe,” I think Uncle Sam needs to see a refund.

It’s not every day that I agree with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Actually, it’s exceedingly rare. But she is an example of how even the craziest of leftists don’t agree with the teacher’s strike.

Teachers who aren’t showing up to work do not have the right to do so and keep their jobs. They have no grounds based on their obligation to kids, especially the less fortunate. They have no grounds based on the “science” and the virus. And they definitely have no grounds based on the billions of dollars given to make sure this kind of strike never happens again.

To the 87% of Chicago teachers who haven’t been to work since last week and others around the country that are keeping kids at home, fire them all!