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Newly Revealed Texts Shine a Light on Relationship Between Weingarten and CDC Director Amid Pandemic

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  June 05, 2023 2:30 PM

It's long been reported that one of America's largest teachers unions influenced the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when it came to the agency's guidance on reopening schools. The American Federation of Teachers even put forth language "suggestions," some of which were adopted almost verbatim, emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request showed. Now, thanks to another FOIA request by the Fairfax County Parents Association to the CDC, Americans are getting a better glimpse of just how close AFT boss Randi Weingarten and outgoing CDC director Rochelle Walensky really were at the time. 

In a series of texts, Weingarten tells Walensky a day before the CDC issued the guidance about her concerns with some language in the document that appears to be "at odds" with something the two previously discussed. 

Walensky asked for the part she is concerned about, to which Weingarten quotes from what was leaked: "all schools can provide in-person instruction (either full or hybrid), through strict adherence to mitigation strategies." 

In the guidance that was ultimately released the next day, that part was modified to read: "all schools have options to provide in-person instruction." 

The AFT boss then sends Walensky a link to the union's press release reacting to the guidance that included praise for the CDC. 

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"This gave me the biggest smile of my week, Thank YOU, Friend!" Walensky replied. 

Fairfax County Parents Association spokeswoman Christy Hudson told The New York Post the group was "not at all surprised" by what the texts showed. 

"As parents who very closely watched the political maneuvering over school closures at the local, state, and federal level, it was apparent to us from the start that the CDC was deferring to teachers unions and not science when it came to reopening schools," Hudson said.