Educators, Remote Learning, and Reopening
Teachers Must Set the Terms for How and When Schools Reopen
dc]I[/dc]n a matter of days in mid-March, educators were expected to move classes online, work from home, and manage their own fear and uncertainty—all while worried for students whom they suddenly couldn’t see, talk to, or reassure.
Even veteran organizers were at a loss for what steps to take, except to focus on the immediate problems. How do we move classes online? Will students who depend on school for meals have enough to eat? What about the students with no internet?
Educators were managing awful conditions and not yet ready to shape those conditions, overwhelmed by the crisis at hand.
What needs to happen in order for schools to reopen? Do we have the power to make sure we reopen under those conditions?
What needs to happen in order for schools to reopen? Do we have the power to make sure we reopen under those conditions?
As life under the pandemic settled into something like a routine, educators could see the coming storm. Dangers to health when schools re-open. Austerity budgets and job cuts. And then, one more video of police murdering a Black person—and the uprising that followed.
I asked educators: What needs to happen in order for schools to reopen? Do we have the power to make sure we reopen under those conditions? What are you or your union doing to build that power? Here’s what they told me.
Health and Safety First
While the CDC has released guidelines for the safe return to school, and the Teachers union (AFT) has done the same, it’s hard to see how these guidelines can be met without a huge influx of money.
While both sets of guidelines suggest flexibility based on the degree of the virus’s community spread, they require physical distancing, limits on size of gatherings, and testing and contact tracing when there is any community spread.
Health and safety was an issue before the pandemic. Too many schools are already over-crowded and in poor repair. “We have schools that don’t have hot water, no air conditioning, and ventilation systems that aren’t working properly,” said Deborah McCarthy, former president of the Hull (Massachusetts) Education Association and a fifth-grade teacher.
Teacher after teacher told me the safety guidelines would require smaller classes, more classroom space, and more educators. “We are going to need more buildings-and-grounds staff and more CONTINUE READING: Educators, Remote Learning, and Reopening - LA Progressive
