After cowering to teachers unions for a full school year, NYC to fully reopen schools in September — with no remote option

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced that the city's public schools will fully reopen in September after being closed during the last school year under extreme pressure from the teachers unions.

Not only will the schools be back to in-person instruction full time, but also remote learning will no longer be an option.

What's happening?

Experts have known since last fall that youngsters are at very little risk when it comes to the coronavirus and that schools were essentially a non-threat when it comes to being sources for COVID-19 outbreaks. Yet, thousands of schools across the nation have remained closed.

Political and union leaders acted as though the classroom is a serious threat vector for the virus and used that scare tactic to keep schools shuttered — much to the detriment of millions of students and the chagrin of millions more parents.

New York City's 1 million students have been stuck in a school system that has feared bringing students back full time. Elected leadership kept schools closed, and teachers unions refused to budge in the face of calls to reopen from leaders and citizens, even when city officials made concessions to the unions — including bumping teachers to the front of the COVID-19 vaccine line.

Currently, more than 60% of the city's 1 million public school students are still learning fully remotely, U.S. News reported.

On Monday, Mayor de Blasio revealed that the city would no longer be held hostage by the teachers unions and would finally fully reopen all of Gotham's schools Sept. 13 — and that there would be no option for remote learning.

Hizzoner went on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to make the big announcement.

"It's good news: New York City public schools, 1 million kids will be back in their classroom in September, all in person, no remote," de Blasio said. "That's the news I think parents, kids, everyone's been waiting for to know. We're going to be back strong, ready, safe."

The mayor noted that "COVID-19 is plummeting" across the city, with about 8 million vaccination doses administered.

But if the city wants to fully recover, de Blasio said, then it needs to have "full-strength schools, everyone back sitting in those classrooms, kids learning again."

"It's time," he added. "It's really time to go full strength now."

For parents concerned about their kids' health, the mayor said they will be inviting people to come to the schools in June to see what the district is doing for students to "keep them safe, get reacclimatized."

And for those parents who might have hoped they could get away with not making sure their kids are getting an education because they could hide behind virtual learning, de Blasio put the kibosh on that with his long-awaited definitive cancellation of all remote learning.

NYC Schools To Fully Reopen In September, Says Mayor De Blasio | MSNBCwww.youtube.com