HAPPENING NOW: @rweingarten joins @Axios on @HBOMax to discuss school reopenings and more. Follow along with the hashtag #ReopenSafely!

.@rweingarten: Teachers, more than anyone but kids' parents, understand what has been lost by not having in-school learning. It's not just the issues around not having enough WiFi. It's the lack of interaction. It's the loneliness. Screens have replaced communities. #ReopenSafely

.@rweingarten: I believe a majority of K-8 schools will be open. Because of physical distancing & mitigation strategies, a lot of these schools were overcrowded to begin with. So will they be open 5 days a week? I hope so. Our members are in favor of this goal. #ReopenSafely

Airing now in Washington, D.C. & New York City:

@rweingarten joins @MeetThePress to discuss President Biden's plans to reopen schools, #COVID19 vaccinations, and more. Follow along here with the hashtag #ReopenSafely.

.@rweingarten: I want to dispel this myth that teacher unions want to keep schools closed. Teachers know how important in-person learning is important. I think we have a roadmap to #ReopenSafely, and with Biden's #AmericanRescuePlan, we'll have the resources.

.@rweingarten: It comes down to 3 things: Mitigation factors, testing for asymptomatic spread, and vaccination alignment with reopening of schools. #ReopenSafely

HAPPENING NOW: @rweingarten talks to @CNN about the Biden school reopening plan, vaccinations, and more. #ReopenSafely

.@rweingarten: Dr. Walensky & the CDC put out safety guidance we asked the Trump administration for months ago. Teachers know in-person instruction is best. We need the guidance to curb #COVID19 & resources to do it. The Biden administration has been a sea change. #ReopenSafely

.@rweingarten: If you're social distancing, you need 30% more space & 30% more educators. The reason so many places are in hybrid is because they don't have the space or the educators. #ReopenSafely

HAPPENING NOW: @rweingarten talks to @yasminv on @MSNBC about school reopenings, vaccinations, and more. Follow along with the hasthag #ReopenSafely

.@rweingarten: I think it's feasible to meet @POTUS's reopening goal. I think there's some confusion about 5 day a week meaning that everyone is back to normal in April, May, June. You need to have 30% more space & educators to do that, per CDC guidelines. #ReopenSafely

.@rweingarten: The good news is, unlike the last administration where we begged for guidance & resources, we have the Biden administration's CDC putting out science-based guidance & the #AmericanRescuePlan with much-needed resources. actionnetwork.org/letters/pass-t…

.@rweingarten is joining @malcolmkenyatta to talk about his Senate candidacy this morning, along with @AFTPA @PFTLocal3 @jerrytjordan. Follow along here.

If you come from a working community like mine, govt hasn't always centered your needs. If we're going to get from where we are to where we need to go, the people who can best lead us are the people who can identify where the pain is, where govt has fallen short. @malcolmkenyatta

.@malcolmkenyatta knows what it's like to work a min wage job, and knows firsthand the pain that govt's failure has inflicted on PA. These aren't just policy debates, they're actual life and death matters for working people. - @WorkingFamilies @MauriceWFP

Happening now: AFT @rweingarten is joining @NEAToday's @BeckyPringle for the "Grantmakers for Education Webinar: What Funders Need to Know About School Reopening" #ReopenSafely

"I've spent every day since April focusing on how we're going to reopen schools." — @rweingarten #ReopenSafely

"We really want schools to reopen. Most schools will not reopen in any way that is recognizable to anyone." — @rweingarten #ReopenSafely

"I'm glad that the President has woken up that kids are important, but I am really mad. How dare they go out and say directly the opposite of what their own report said?"

@rweingarten talks to @CNN about what we'll need to #ReopenSafely. (1/4)

"The key here is, neither the President nor the Secretary want to put plan together, nor do they want to give us the resources."

@rweingarten talks to @CNN about what we'll need to #ReopenSafely. (2/4)

"My members are ready to go back to school if we have the safety precautions in place where there is low risk."

@rweingarten talks to @CNN about what we'll need to #ReopenSafely (3/4)

.@rweingarten has joined our webinar with @womensmarch from the car, noting that with technology we can all be connected as #COVID19 #coronavirus spreads across America.

Now that #COVID19 is in the US and there's no vaccine, there's going to be a lot of disruption to our lives "because no one has been through this," says @rweingarten

.@rweingarten lays out the things the AFT is focused on right now:

✅ Health & safety of our kids, educators, families, and communities
✅ Health & safety of our healthcare providers on the frontlines
✅ Short-term and long-term economic impacts