The American Federation of Teachers wants $25 billion from taxpayers to launch a nationwide summer school program “to get kids ready for next year,” AFT President Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten said.

“It’s instruction to deal with summer loss or this year’s loss or this change that has upended everything, it reinforces and provides instruction, it provides food and nurturing, it provides some well-being issues and it also really helps parents,” the union boss told WTVF.

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According to recent research highlighted by OregonLive:

Compared to how much they would have learned in a normal school year, elementary and middle school students are likely to start school in the fall equipped with only about 70% of those reading and writing skills and with 50% or less of the expected gains in math, according to the research, conducted since the pandemic shuttered nearly all U.S. schools.

While the projected learning losses are estimates, it’s clear it will likely take years, even in a best-case scenario, to fully remedy the hit to most students’ academic trajectories, say researchers at testing outfit NWEA.

The AFT is leveraging the concerns about students falling behind to push for the massive federal spending, which would presumably flow to its members in the form of additional pay.

“It is really to get kids ready for next year,” Weingarten said. “So instead of thinking about it as remedial, think of it as a bridge toward next year.”

The union’s summer school plan comes just days after the U.S. Department of Education warned governors against funneling $3 billion in emergency education aid to teachers unions. The legislation states governors can send the money to school districts, colleges, or any “education related entity,” but federal education officials explained in a letter this week that sending money to teachers unions “would be likely inconsistent” with the law, Chalkbeat reports.

If governors send money to the unions, the U.S. Department of Education will expect them “to separately identify and account for” the spending, according to the notice.

Weingarten sounded off about the rules in a prepared statement.

“As teachers unions are working 24/7 to help our members help students during this pandemic, leave it to Secretary DeVos to take a gratuitous swipe at us,” Weingarten said, referring to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. “Educators and unions like the AFT and our affiliates are partnering with their districts to put these resources to good use, and we want to do more, but adding an onerous reporting requirement for unions is a cheap shot.”

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DOE spokeswoman Angela Morabito countered that the union doesn’t offer “emergency services to students,” as the law requires.

“Individual teachers do,” she wrote to Chalkbeat.

“We owe it to these kids, and to the American taxpayer, to make sure this money is put to good use,” Morabito wrote. “It’s unfortunate that AFT views basic transparency as an unfair burden.”

Meanwhile, officials with state AFT affiliates are lobbying lawmakers to cancel summer school. AFT Representative Richard Franklin told WBRC remote learning during the coronavirus provides an unequal education.

“Franklin said the lack of internet access could greatly impact a student’s final grade, and that the state should consider canceling summer school for the 2019-20 school year,” according to the news site.