The head of the American Federation of Teachers dismissed as a “myth” the idea that teachers don’t want to reopen schools, but she warned that reopening will take more taxpayer money — putting an awkward confrontation with unions at the forefront of the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said Sunday that union members are eager to return to the classroom but want to make sure it is safe.

“I do actually want to debunk this myth that teacher unions — at least our union — doesn’t want to reopen schools,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Teachers know that in-person education is really important, and we would have said that pre-pandemic.

President Biden has said on multiple occasions that he would like public schools to reopen during the first 100 days of his administration and vowed to follow the science in seeking to meet that goal.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said evidence shows in-person learning is safe in schools that follow social distancing and that vaccinating teachers should not be considered a prerequisite for reopening.

Biden to criticism that he has put the interests of teachers unions ahead of the well-being of students for political reasons.

He questioned why the administration is seeking more money for schools when roughly $60 billion from relief packages last year remains unspent.

Biden is seeking for schools as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package should be tied to a requirement that schools must reopen if they tap into those funds.

Psaki said the relief package is key to getting children back into classrooms because many schools lack the funding needed to set up mitigation measures, such as vaccinating teachers, hiring more teachers and reducing class sizes

Weingarten said “there’s no perfect solution” for reopening schools and “teachers unions are not monolithic.”

She said the good news is that schools have a road map thanks to the CDC guidelines and the additional school funding the White House is fighting for in the coronavirus relief package

Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, said it is hard to quantify the risk to unvaccinated teachers and that the situation poses unique challenges