First lady pitches Biden's COVID plans to teachers

Dr. Jill Biden, a community college educator, held her first public event following Wednesday's inauguration by pitching President Biden's COVID-19 response plan, and his executive order regarding safely reopening the nation's schools during the pandemic.

President Biden's executive order instructs the Department and Health and Human Services  and the Department of Education to provide states and schools with science-based guidance on whether and how to reopen, as well as guidance on in-person learning and such mitigation efforts as cleaning, masking, ventilation and testing.

"We know this won't be easy," she said. "But we have to do two things right now: Make sure that the health and safety of educators are protected, as well as the families they serve, and give our students the educational support they need in the schools they love," she said. "That's our goal."

During her virtual remarks, the first lady also said that she taught class on Tuesday morning, just before boarding a plane with her husband to come to the nation's capital for Wednesday's inauguration.

She was joined for the White House event by Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers and Becky Pringle, the head of the National Education Assn.

Weingarten took a dig at the Wall Street Journal for a recent column that criticized the first lady for using the title "Dr." before her name. According to the White House website, Biden received a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in educational leadership from the University of Delaware in 2007.