Va. lawmaker pushing for school staff-wide vaccinations before opening received $27K from teachers unions

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Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is advocating for school staff-wide COVID-19 vaccinations before schools reopen, in line with Virginia teachers' unions who argue that a safe return to in-person learning is not yet feasible.

Spanberger received more than $27,000 in contributions from teachers' unions in 2020 -- more than any other House lawmaker, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. 

"Teacher-to-teacher transmission is one of the major risks, having read a variety of articles about what are the risks of transmission within schools," Spanberger said during a Jan. 27 virtual town hall while answering a question for a constituent. "I would like to see schools opened as soon as possible, but as soon as possible and safe."

The constituent, Robert Thompson of Barboursville, said he has seven children, including one daughter who is deaf "and gets transported from Orange County to the Virginia School of Deaf and Blind daily and is really missing out on immersion into the American Sign Language, deaf culture." 

Thompson cited several studies that found reopening schools with proper safety precautions does not correlate with high COVID-19 transmission while keeping schools closed leads to higher suicide rates and mental health concerns among children. 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Duke Health each released studies last week showing that in-person learning is generally safe if schools take proper safety precautions.

"Our data support the concept that schools can stay open safely in communities with widespread community transmission," researchers at Duke wrote in their study, citing the use of COVID-19 mitigation strategies "including mask-wearing, physical distancing, hand hygiene and surface disinfection" in North Carolina schools.

Teenagers are struggling with anxiety and learning from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Credit: Getty Images)

One November study from Fairfax County, Va., Public Schools Office of Research and Strategic Improvement suggested that middle and high school students were seeing less academic success as a result of online learning. 

Still, teachers' unions argue that reopening will not be 100% safe until all teachers and school faculty are vaccinated.

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"Governor [Ralph] Northam this week said that getting Virginians vaccinated against COVID-19 is the best way to end this pandemic, rebuild our economy, and move the Commonwealth forward," Virginia Education Association President James J. Fedderman said in a Jan. 8 statement.

Fedderman continued: "We commend Governor Northam for that, and we call upon the [g]overnor, school board, and school superintendents to keep all students and staff safe with virtual instruction until staff are vaccinated."

Spanberger said during the town hall that across the 10 counties she represents, each one has taken "slightly different" approaches to reopening, with some deciding to return fully to in-person learning and others adopting a hybrid model.

The congresswoman represents Virginia's 7th District, which stretches from Culpeper to Blackstone and reaches the outskirts of Richmond. She does not decide counties' approaches to virtual or in-person learning.

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Spanberger's office did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News.

The congresswoman noted that with the new Biden administration, "one of the priorities has been to create a national vaccination strategy, and this is something that's new." Schools must "ensure vaccinations across the board, certainly to teachers and all those who work in [schools]," she said. 

In this Jan. 26, 2021, photo, President Joe Biden holds his face mask as he speaks on COVID-19, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"Abigail Spanberger’s refusal to call out her special interest donors is causing students to fall behind and threatening their well-being. Her anti-science position is downright shameful," NRCC Spokeswoman Camille Gallo said in a statement.

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Parents across the U.S. have been lobbying for their children to return to in-person learning as some students face the possibility of completing an entire school year without entering a classroom in addition to the months they lost at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

Virginia father Brandon Michon, whose recent angry outburst against local school closures went viral, told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" last week that he hopes his message will reach leaders on both sides of the political aisle so children can begin to return to their classrooms after struggling through months of virtual learning. 

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"Look, we've gone for months to these school board meetings and as parents, you know, our voice wasn't being heard," Michon, a father of two children aged five and eight, told Carlson. "And so what happened was, when I got up there, you know, my blood started boiling a little bit. And as I began speaking, I said, 'Look, I want them to hear me. I want them to look up and pay attention,' and I think we’ve got some acknowledgment from that."

Fox News' Evie Fordham and Yael Halon contributed to this report.