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As a teacher and a union rep, going back to school and everything involved with it is a complicated thing involving politics, state officials, health departments, local officials, school administrators, teachers, classified staff, parents, and students.
Most people in my local union want to be back in school, but it’s not that simple. There’s so much planning, and resource distribution, and logistical things that are being worked out.
I hate online school, and I worry about my students till I get a stomach ache. Anyone who thinks most teachers don’t want to be in school can piss off. But you just can’t go back to school like everything is normal. It’s not as simple as “wear a mask”
In some districts that have only some or elementary kids in school, distance requirements mean that all the middle and high school buses are being used. So no transportation. Some don’t have enough PPE or cleaners.
What do we do when 6 teachers are in close contact with a kid who has corona and no subs want to go to a school with an active corona outbreak? Title one schools often have staffing problems BEFORE you get to improper ventilation/large class size issues
My class size average is 32, I can only fit 16 kids in my class and one para educator. When I was in AZ, my class size was in the 40s. The cleaner we have to disinfect has to sit for 5 minutes. Where are kids gonna go for 10 minutes or more between class periods?
I haven’t been in school for almost a year. I’m willing to go back unvaccinated (I will have to be based on state vaccine distribution if we go back before April) but what’s the point if we can’t limit an outbreak? If parents don’t want to send kids back?
Besides, K-2 in my district is the only group back (along with some students with special needs/situations) and my Union has not at any point held up any plan or negotiation. This is true a lot of places, and if they did it’s usually for a very valid reason.
Just saying all this for when the mood changes and people start blaming teachers. I’ve worked like 70 hour weeks and I’m gonna go grade till midnight as I do most nights. Online school sucks, but David Brooks sucks even more.
