California Governor Gavin Newsom and his Aunt Nancy Pelosi always like to use the phrase, “for the children” when seeking more money for some school program that usually has less to do with the children and more to do with enriching the powerful teacher’s unions in the state. Now that they both have gotten what they wanted, and the 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package has been signed, school districts are making no pretenses about who the money will be for.

@GavinNewsom @UTLAnow So you mean they don't care about the kids? It's just about the "Benjamin's"?https://t.co/Z9VmA3cd0o

— Jen and Don (@jenanddonshow) March 15, 2021

Both the Daily Mail U.K. and the New York Post told the same story:

California schools are using COVID relief payments for teacher bonuses and a union has jokingly requested a trip to Hawaii using the money – even as classrooms are still closed, internal memos have revealed.

The memos, shared online by the group Reopen California Schools, appear to show that some school districts have been using state and federal COVID relief money on educator bonuses instead of getting kids back into classrooms.

‘I’ve been inundated with reports of school districts spending state and federal COVID relief money on substantial one-time bonuses to teachers and administrators instead of spending them on getting kids back in classrooms or to curb learning loss,’ the group tweeted.

CA school district (@DublinUSD) is paying its teachers $2,500 bonuses with state and federal aide money, even suggesting staff could use the money for a trip to Hawaii (see c. and d.)

This comes despite the sad hybrid plan approved before any aid bills were passed.

1/2 pic.twitter.com/ilSOPj4wWQ

— Reopen California Schools (@ReopenCASchools) March 14, 2021

This discovery involved multiple districts in the State, as the New York Post notes.

Meanwhile, teachers from the Dublin Unified School District reportedly talked about bargaining for a $2,500 bonus to cover expenses such as PPE, childcare and “an airplane trip to Hawaii” when the pandemic is over, according to memos.

Then San Juan Unified reportedly suggested paying teachers 1% bonuses on top of a $500 stipend.

“This means food service and special ed aides who have been in-person since Sept get ~$300, teachers who haven’t stepped foot on campus get ~$1,000, and the superintendent ~$3,000,” Reopen California Schools wrote on Twitter.

School officials in Clovis insisted that they haven’t decided what to do with the relief funds, Fox News reported.

So those teachers aides and food service people who have been doing actual hands-on work get $700 less than the teachers who are sitting on their fannies in front of a computer?

Sounds about right.

TEACHER BONUSES WITH CORONAVIRUS RELIEF MONEY?!

Talk about lighting a fuse.

— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) March 15, 2021

The fuse has been lit. California schools still have not been reopened, despite Governor Gavin Newsom talking about unicorn farts and glitter. The reality is that millions of parents have no idea when their child will be able to return to in-person learning.

Yet, the teachers are demanding to be paid. Not demanding the money be spent on equipment and mitigation measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its subsequent variants, but given money for sitting on their hindquarters or protesting any forced reopening.

Now that more money is on the table, the teachers are salivating. The Act allocates $15 million to the Department of Education that can be used to pay teacher salaries. We have covered all the pork laden in the 1.9 trillion so-called relief package that has little to do with COVID or education.

The Committee for Responsible Federal Budget talks about the 1 trillion of COVID relief that is still unspent.

But many of us knew all along that it was never about the children or safety, it was extortion.

It’s not like the National Education Association (NEA) is trying to hide their venality either. NEA President Becky Pringle was practically giddy as she told Jake Tapper this:

First, it’s fitting to start with what the @NEAToday pres. admitted Friday night.

In her words, the light at the end of the tunnel is… the 1.9T fed aid package giving 170B to schools.

You’d think this money would be spent on PPE, supplies, and programs for kids. Not quite… pic.twitter.com/8wx4OzzEjf

— Reopen California Schools (@ReopenCASchools) March 14, 2021

“To do just that. And the smile you see on my face right now, Jake. Is the light at the end of this very dark tunnel. As I watched President Biden sign into law the American Rescue Plan of Almost 2 Trillion dollars, that dedicated 170 billion dollars, not just to K-12 schools but to higher education, so we can get all of our students back to in-person learning safely, and equitably.”