FAYETTE COUNTY, Ky. — A national teacher’s union president is calling for full reopening of schools beginning in the fall. Kentucky's 120 United teacher's union supports the recommendation.

Randi Weingarten, chief of the American Federation of Teachers said the union is all in on reopening.

"The United States will not be fully back until we’re fully back in school and my union is all in," Weingarten said. 

On Thursday, the president of AFT, the second largest teacher’s union in the country, called for the education system to fully reopen for in-person instruction five days a week.

"Creating safe conditions in schools during a public health crisis is not an obstacle to reopening classrooms its the pathway to going back, staying back, and creating trust through the school community," Weingarten said.

During a virtual address, Weingarten outlined her vision for best practices for public education that has faced uncertainty with closures, remote and hybrid learning. 

"Every school should have a committee of school staff, parents and age appropriate students to plan for and respond to safety issues. These committees can conduct safety walk throughs this summer," Weingarten said.

According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education, 85% of the nations K through 8th grade public school districts are open for full in person learning at least on a part time basis.

Weingarten suggested that vaccines were a game-changing factor for fall reopening.

Kentucky 120 United is an education union in the Commonwealth and is in a partnership with the American Federation of Teachers.

It includes members like Jeni Bolander. She's a high school history teacher at Henry Clay High School in Fayette County.

"We’re ready to recharge our own batteries and come back next year and get going like normal and hopefully a normal school year will help a lot," Bolander explained.

In a year with so much uncertainty, Bolander pointed to the narrative of "learning loss.” She said it is weaponizing everyday achievements.

"I have talked a lot with my students about things they have learned and things they have accomplished and we focus a lot on that because I’m seeing kids do things that they might not ever done yet in this point in their life like such as time management, being able to be self guided and self directed," Bolander said.

The chief of the teachers union says they will devote $5 million to its effort to engage with members in a back to school campaign. School educators say they are focused on students academically, socially and emotionally.

"We want kids to return to school this fall with less stress and more resilience and we’ll meet students where they are provide the necessary interventions and supports," Weingarten said.

Bolander said the transition is an opportunity for everyone to embrace and reflect.

"If we can take this giant lemon of COVID-19 teaching and turn it into lemonade and make public education truly better for everyone involved.

We reached out to the Kentucky Education Agency and were provided this statement: 

“Kentucky’s educators have always been there for our students, and that will never change. In-person learning is vital to a student’s academic, social and psychological needs, and KEA members have led the way in finding solutions to provide for those needs. We look forward to welcoming our students back with open arms when they return to school in the 2021-2022 academic year.”