Ingrid checks in on teachers

Tuesday, August 30

A message from Ingrid on teachers' unions and COVID

Good day newsletter subscribers. Let's check in with Ingrid to get things started.

Let me say this first: I have great respect for teachers. I have many educators in my family, from two uncles who taught in public schools and became administrators, to my brother, who is a public high school teacher. My mother-in-law spent her career teaching at a public school as well.

And it was my high school English teacher who gave me the confidence to pursue a life of writing.

I know how hard these teachers have worked and how much care they've shown their students. And I know there are thousands more just like them.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, meets with USA TODAY's Editorial Board on Aug. 24, 2022.

USA TODAY

What bothers me – and what became so apparent during the pandemic – is the power that teachers unions hold. This power is often wielded in ways that do not benefit students and families. For instance, unions across the country blocked a return to in-person learning in the 2020-21 school year and used their resistance as a bargaining chip for increased pay and other perks.

In states where unions don't hold as much control – such as Texas and Florida – public schools returned to in-person learning much sooner. Private schools also opened their classrooms months ahead of many public schools where strong unions blocked that opportunity for students.

Studies have demonstrated the learning loss and mental health challenges faced by students, many of whom did not fare well from learning at home.

This is why I wanted to remind parents what happened during the pandemic, and the role that teachers unions played. You can read my full column here, and thank you for your support of our work.

-Ingrid Jacques

What else has Ingrid been writing?

•	'Forgiving' student loans isn't motivated by kindness. It's all about cold, hard politics.
•	Liz Cheney loses her primary. What to do now with 'hot mess' that is the GOP?
•	GOP can become the 'Parents' Party.' Arizona schools the country on how to do it.
•	2022 elections could be a new year of the woman. Can conservative women catch up?

I paid off $65K in debt months before Biden's student loan forgiveness.

By Cydney Henderson

I entered 2021 fatigued like everyone else. The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the volatile state of our country, topped off by the third consecutive year of my journey to being debt-free.

Cydney Henderson celebrates being debt-free. She paid off $65,000 worth of debt by herself in 38-months.

Cydney Henderson

I had committed myself in my early 20s to an ambitious goal of paying off $65,000 worth of debt, most being student loans, as quickly as I could.

I know that would lead any normal person to ask, "Why?" Read more...

The other columns you want to read

•	My father was a poor immigrant who bet on America. Now, I'm a Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner.
•	My students struggle to pay for college. Student loan forgiveness doesn't fix the system.
•	Attack on teachers 'never been as bad as right now': Q&A with a teachers union leader
•	Botched withdrawal scarred Biden's presidency, plunged Afghanistan further into strife

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