Democrats are beginning the new year much like they began the last: by ruining the lives of our kids.

In Democrat-run Chicago, the city’s teachers’ union voted to refuse to show up for in-person work until their “conditions” are met – leaving more than 340,000 Chicago students in limbo. Despite Chicago Public Schools receiving (and spending) more than $100 million in federal aid specifically for school re-opening, the teachers’ union put their agenda ahead of students. The same is true in Democrat-run cities and states across the country.

Powerful special interests, enabled by the Democrat politicians whose campaigns they fund, have spent the past two years dictating every part of Americans’ lives – no matter the cost.

Democrats’ pursuit of complete control will only exacerbate the mental, behavioral, and emotional health crises already gripping kids:

• Elementary and middle school students – particularly Black, Hispanic, and lower-income students – are seeing lower than normal scores in math and reading, while experiencing “more cognitive, motor, and learning deficits” due to school closures.
• Emergency rooms are seeing “dramatic increases” in mental health emergencies among adolescents, including a 51% increase among young women for self-inflicted harm.
• Behavioral problems, such as intra-student conflict or a lack of attention, have increased, along with rates of violence and crime.

The situation has devolved so much that the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health.

It’s an unacceptable tragedy – a full-blown crisis – but Democrats do not care. They will not stop until their power is consolidated and their agenda is fulfilled.

It didn’t have to be this way.