WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Republican Leader Burgess Owens (R-UT) sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona demanding more information on the involvement of the American Federation of Teachers in the development of school reopening guidelines.

In the letter, the Members write: “The New York Post recently reported on the outsized influence teachers unions had over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when the agency was developing updated school reopening guidance in February. This report is alarming considering the harm extended school closures have caused students and families.” The Members continue: “Millions of women have left the workforce to help supervise their children’s at-home education. Students’ self-reported mental health has dropped 40 percent since the pandemic began and mental health-related emergency room visits are up 31 percent for children ages 13 to 17. Knowing this, it is entirely inexcusable for teachers unions to sway official guidance on school reopenings that flies in the face of students’ educational and mental health needs.”

To read the full letter to Secretary Cardona, click here.