Three years post-COVID-19, and children around the country are still catching up. Almost every state, including states that remained mostly open, saw a dip in learning so severe that many educators are unsure if the learning gap can be closed.

Worse, we’ve since learned that schools nationwide didn’t need to be closed, especially for so long. But Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers , refuses to accept responsibility for her role in keeping many children out of classrooms for nearly two years.

Last week, Weingarten posted on X : “In-person learning is where kids do best, which is why educators & their unions worked hard to reopen US schools for safe in-person learning beginning back in April 2020, and why we’ve spent the last several years following the pandemic prioritizing public schooling & investing in #RealSolutionsForKids that help them recover & thrive.”

This is an attempt to gaslight the public, pure and simple. There is no evidence Weingarten or unions “worked hard to reopen US schools … in April 2020.” In fact, there is plenty of evidence demonstrating the opposite. Weingarten called plans to reopen schools in fall 2020 “reckless.” Swaths of teachers unions not only didn’t try to reopen schools as early as spring 2020 but actually tried to keep schools shuttered for fear of the virus until late fall 2021. In some parts of the country, schools didn’t open for almost two years after COVID hit the U.S.

It’s vital to remember the COVID-19 timeline as it relates to school closures. At first, keeping schools closed seemed like the right thing to do. Few knew if children would contract and spread COVID. Soon, even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention learned that children under 18 years old rarely transmitted COVID to their peers or adults and, if they did contract it, were hardly getting ill from it — at least not seriously.

In December 2020, more evidence surfaced that closures were bad for children. The Washington Post reported a swath of our nation’s students were falling behind academically (especially for children who already lived near the poverty line). NPR reported 4 of 10 teenagers didn’t even log on for virtual learning. The CDC found suicide and depression rates among children had skyrocketed and children already at risk for abuse and neglect were now even more so with their school buffer gone.

As the risk for COVID transmission seemed nonexistent to children and the risks to children of keeping schools closed seemed more harmful than ever, it became clear schools remained closed for longer than they should have due to powerful teachers unions, many of which used the lockdowns as leverage to make demands — and remained unwilling to reopen schools unless demands had been met. Demand Safe Schools weaponized virus fear to hold teachers unions hostage to demands so children remained learning virtually until schools finally reopened in late 2021.

Part of being a leader is recognizing when you’re wrong. Weingarten is not only unable to do this, but she continues to gaslight, lie, and engage the public in revisionist history on COVID-19 school closures to avoid being held accountable. It won’t work.

Nicole Russell ( @russell_nm ) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. She is a mother of four and an opinion columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas.