NYC Educator: Teachers Fear for Their Lives

NYC Educator: Teachers Fear for Their Lives

Teachers Fear for Their Lives

You can't really blame us. I saw my doctor the other day, and she told me if she didn't have to come in, she wouldn't. Of course there's not really a substitute for medical care. She does teletherapy too, but you can't give blood over Skype. Not many teachers ask their students to give blood at all, as far as I know.

Of course, this feeling isn't limited to teachers or doctors. Most people I know value their lives. My little dog jumps when he hears loud noises, when he senses danger. He doesn't want to get hurt. Every time I turn on the TV I see Joe Namath telling me to stay safe and buy into privatized Medicare.

I get a lot of email from teachers, rightfully concerned with survival. I'd say that makes them pretty good role models. There's really nothing we want more for our children than that they grow up without being killed. It's our job to set an example even in something so basic and fundamental as that.

Teenagers are at a very stressful time in their lives. They're learning who they are and how they relate to other people. They're figuring out what they're good at and where they fit in. Call me madcap, but it doesn't really seem the best idea to set them up with teachers constantly on the verge of panic attacka.

Now don't tell that to Mayor de Blasio. He wants to open the schools in the worst way, and from everything I've seen, that's exactly what he's going to do. I just read an article on Chalkbeat about what school openings would look like. Now I'm a little more critical of Chalkbeat than other publications, because they take money from opponents of public education and give us every nuance of the many sides of Moskowitz. CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Teachers Fear for Their Lives