Republicans evidently hope to win back suburban voters by attacking school closures
Republicans have landed on an early campaign theme for the 2022 midterms, and any elections before then: Blame President Biden and the Democrats for enduring school closures. "Locked out of power at the federal level, Republicans have increasingly focused on shutdowns as a way to win back the suburbanites who drifted away during the Trump presidency," David Weigel reports at The Washington Post.
The conflict between angry parents and teachers over school reopneings is real, and it has "reached a fever pitch," The Wall Street Journal reports, but it's complicated.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"In Virginia, Republican candidates for governor have campaigned on ending the school closures; in New Jersey, they've criticized the Democratic governor's vaccine rollout," Weigel reports. "The first Republican ad buys ahead of the 2022 House midterms have been billboards accusing Democrats of opposing school reopenings because of their support from teacher's unions." So far, though, public polling doesn't favor the GOP case.
"Since the start of the year, national polls have found voters more in agreement with the teachers unions than with the demands for reopening," Weigel notes, and the only groups where there's majority support for complete reopening of schools right away are Republicans and Trump supporters. A Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday morning found that 59 percent of voters trust local school administrators on reopening schools, two-thirds trust parents, and 54 percent trust local teachers unions. A similar faction, 55 percent, say teachers should be vaccinated before schools open.
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the deep of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
