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As students gear-up to (hopefully) return to school and to colleges across the country this fall, questions abound about what the return will look like, and if it will happen in typical fashion at all. The teachers unions are already signaling they may once again try to keep schools closed to in-person instruction, some 17 months after the pandemic began. American Federation for Teachers head Randi Weingarten has been tweeting continuously about universal masking for children in schools, getting “ all school-aged kids vaccinated,” reducing class size in the name of “ physical distancing,” and going remote in the fall.

In other words, if the unions are once again successful at keeping schools closed in order to extract long-held political demands like smaller class sizes, parents should be prepared to have a school plan B. Politico reports on “the prospect of another year of remote learning…” noting:

“Of the nation's 200 largest school districts, 69 are mandating masks, according to Dennis Roche, co-founder of Burbio, which aggregates school data. But others’ mask requirements — recommended by the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics — have become mired in political debate and waves of heated complaints to administrators.”

“ Diversity University ” continues to make headlines. As college students prepare to head back to campuses in August, they should be aware of how a vast Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion apparatus is driving up their tuition costs. DEI staff make up an average 3.4 positions for every 100 tenured faculty, as Jay Greene and coauthor James Paul recently found in their study of 65 major universities across the country. The average university they sampled listed more than 45 people as having formal responsibility for promoting DEI goals.

Over at The Federalist, Jay and James write that spending money on piles of diversity staff is just one more reason college tuition is rising. Moreover, as they explain:

“ Rather than being an effective tool for welcoming students from different backgrounds, DEI personnel may be better understood as a signal of adherence to ideological, political, and activist goals. Employing dozens of DEI professionals (chief diversity officers, assistant deans for diversity, directors for inclusive excellence, etc.) appears to work better as a jobs program subsidizing political activism than a means of improving campus climate.”

The Washington Times covered Jay and James’s study in a piece Diversity Officers Make their Mark on US Campuses . Over at CNS News, Jarrett Stepman covers the report in a piece More Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Staff than History Profs at Average Campus . As Jarrett succinctly explains, “The woke revolution on college campuses is being bolstered by a vast network of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ staffers who gobble up school budgets and enforce left-wing orthodoxy.”

Heritage Action for America gathers people from different backgrounds, walks of life to talk about opportunity for all, no matter your ethnicity. Jonathan Butcher spoke for Heritage Action for America last week in Delaware about how America’s promise holds opportunities for everyone, no matter your background. Jonathan spoke alongside Heritage Action’s Melody Clarke, Xi Van Fleet (a Chinese immigrant who lived through the Chinese Cultural Revolution), Shawntel Cooper and Joe Mobley from Fight for Schools, Jeremy Hunt (served on active duty as a U.S. Army Captain and who makes regular appearances on FoxNews), and Stephanie Holmes (founder of BrigherSideHR, LLC, who works with HR professionals to prevent critical race theory’s racial discrimination).

“The goal of critical race theory was making the issue of race and ethnicity the primary driver for public policy and social change,” Jonathan explained. You can watch the event here .