@akarl_smith New NRCC Tom Emmer told staff as soon as he took over to go all in on schools: "It's the teachers unions that want to keep the schools closed. Dems are ignoring the science, and they're standing with their special-interest donors instead of the students."
https://t.co/LOiINBsGvi
@akarl_smith Going after public sector unions is a throwback to the last time the GOP was locked out of power in DC in 2009/2010 and it's a message that every faction in the party can get behind -- with the potential for crossover appeal to indies and some Dems.
@akarl_smith The politics have changed since circa 2009, when the school reform movement was at its height w/ broad bipartisan support, including from the Obama admin.
Now, support for unions is at a nearly 20-year high and teachers unions favorability has gone up a bit during Covid, BUT...
@akarl_smith But the frustration over shuttered schools is real and Republicans think they can channel that anger into a grassroots uprising to drive a wedge between suburban voters and the Democratic Party.
"This is the suburban-parent revolt," said Corry Bliss.
@akarl_smith Dems say this won't work because schools will (hopefully) be open before voters vote.
AFT Pres.
@rweingarten told me it's "a reckless and irresponsible exploitation of the fear and frustration that everybody feels right now" and attempt to "deflect blame" from Trump+GOP.
@akarl_smith @rweingarten The first real test will be in #VAGov, where GOPer
@petesnyder has centered his campaign around "#OpenOurSchools."
"I think Virginia is the beginning of the nationwide earthquake on this," he told
@akarl_smith. It's not "conservative red meat,"he said just "common sense."
@akarl_smith @rweingarten @petesnyder A lot more, with polling data, more voices and other perspective in here:
https://t.co/LOiINBsGvi
@akarl_smith @rweingarten @petesnyder P.S. Politics is ALREADY determining school openings more than science, according to a recent study from
@BrownUniversity's @AnnenbergInst, which found correlation btwn in-person learning and the district's pres. vote share + strength of teachers unions.
https://t.co/qAdW4QqXyH