A Virginia Teachers Union faces widespread ridicule today after making errors teachers wouldn’t expect from second graders.
The union’s president said it accidentally sent out a draft letter that used “our” instead of “are,” among other childlike grammatical errors.
As Fox News reports:
“On behalf of the members of the Arlington Education Association, this dire expression lends great concerns for Arlington Public Schools (APS) return plan for January 3rd, 2022,” begins the letter, which Arlington Education Association (AEA) President Ingrid Gant sent to Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Francisco Duran on Dec. 30, 2021. The letter raised concerns about the omicron variant of the coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, a more contagious variant that has spread rapidly throughout the U.S.
Ellen Gallery, a homeschooling mother of three who lives in the area, claimed that she and her kids had gone through the letter, correcting mistakes. She and her kids marked what they identified as eight errors in that one opening sentence.
The mother posted a picture of the letter with copious corrections, faulting AEA for leaving out words, adding unnecessary commas, confusing subject-verb agreement, and more.
Hey @VEA4Kids, are you going to send out more of these grammar worksheets over break? My kids and I had a great time spotting errors! Did we find them all? pic.twitter.com/ZfiQQbWwpv
— Ellen Gallery (@ellenfgallery) December 30, 2021
One offending pair of sentences read, “The fire departments in are region are exemplifying domino outbreaks as well. APS employees are no different or above this trend, yet leadership prepares to send educators into situations that will make them sick.” In the first sentence, Gant used “are” when she clearly meant to write “our.” Gallery and her kids suggested “neither different nor above” for the second sentence.
Many teachers’ unions across the country have remained militant in their opposition to in-person learning, claiming the public health risks of COVID-19 outweigh the devastating developmental impact social distancing has on children.
A massive and growing number of parents who have children enrolled in Arlington Public Schools are furious that the AEA is asking at the eleventh hour to impose distance learning on children who need social interaction.
So, what do you think? If you have children who couldn’t attend classes in person due to the fears of a few hypochondriacs, would you enroll them in another school? Or have you already? As always, tell us in the comments below!
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Republican Standard.