CONCORD, NH – Pressure is mounting on US school systems to reopen classrooms for students who have been learning online for nearly a year, pitting politicians against teachers who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19.
In Chicago, the grudge is so great that teachers are about to attack. In California, a frustrated governor Gavin Newsom begged schools to find a way to reopen. In Cincinnati, some students returned to classrooms on Tuesday after a judge dismissed a teacher union lawsuit over security issues.
While some communities claim that online classes remain the safest option for everyone, some parents, with the support of politicians and administrators, complained that their children’s education is suffering from being at home in front of their computers and that isolation is hurting them emotionally.
Alicia Houston, whose children are in the sixth and tenth grades, said her biggest frustration is “not being able to help my kids effectively,” although she quit her job just to try it.
“Watching them get a little darker,” she said last week. “Watching them fall apart. The emotional and mental health piece is one of the most important pieces. Trauma like this is not something they will necessarily recover from immediately. “
Some families and their supporters also argued that the reopening of schools would allow parents to return to work instead of staying at home to oversee their children’s education.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a recent study that there is little evidence that the virus spreads in schools when precautions are taken, such as masks, distance and adequate ventilation.
But many teachers hesitated to return without being vaccinated first against the scourge that killed more than 440,000 Americans.
In California, with 6 million public school students, teachers’ unions say they will not send their members to an unsafe environment. They want all teachers to be vaccinated before they return.
Newsom, a Democrat, said he would not force schools to reopen, but wanted to give them an incentive and proposed a $ 2 billion plan that received criticism from superintendents, unions and lawmakers. The plan would provide schools with extra funding for COVID-19 tests and other security measures if they resume face-to-face classes. Schools that reopen earlier would receive more money.
Newsom told educators bluntly that he is willing to negotiate, but that certain requirements, including calling on unions to have all teachers vaccinated before classes start, are unrealistic due to a lack of vaccines.
“If everyone has to be vaccinated, we can simply tell people the truth: there will be no personal instruction in the state of California,” said Newsom.
The largest districts, including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, say the plan sets unrealistic rules and timelines.
“The virus is in charge now and does not have a timetable,” warned the California Teachers Association, with 300,000 members, in a letter. “We can’t just choose an artificial calendar date and expect to change direction by reopening all schools for face-to-face classes.”
President Joe Biden’s government and Republican senators have dubious proposals for stimulus packages that would distribute billions of dollars to help schools put children back in class.
On Monday, the Chicago school system extended remote education for another two days and called for a period of reflection in negotiations with the teachers’ union, which launched a strike in the country’s third largest district. About 62,000 students and 10,000 teachers and staff from kindergarten through eighth grade were expected to start classes on Monday for the first time since last March.
District-wide efforts to vaccinate Chicago teachers will not begin until mid-February.
In several states, lawmakers are advancing legislation to demand more personal learning.
An Iowa law, signed on Friday by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, requires districts to offer full-time classes to parents who request them. Despite concerns that teachers have not yet been vaccinated, they are due to return this month.
In North Carolina, Democratic Governor Roy Cooper faces pressure from Republican lawmakers to reopen more schools.
In South Carolina, a bipartisan effort to bring students back to school five days a week is underway.
“After this pandemic is over, I hope I will never make another call from Zoom,” said House minority leader Todd Rutherford, a Democrat. “I hate it. I can’t stand them. I can’t imagine being in the third or fourth grade and having to look at a screen to learn.”
In Utah, the Salt Lake City school system announced plans to resume face-to-face learning for at least two days a week, under pressure from lawmakers who threatened to cut funding.
The head of schools in Washington State is pushing for teachers to be vaccinated when it is their turn, but he is also insisting that they return to classrooms immediately, shot or not.
“The end result is that a vaccine is a tremendous safety net, but it is never the thing that will create the perfect scenario,” said Chris Reykdal, public education superintendent.
Emily VanDerhoff, a first-grade teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia, and a union employee, was scheduled to be vaccinated last Friday. But she and others saw their appointments canceled when the vaccine supply ran out.
The Fairfax County Superintendent has revealed a provisional plan for students to start returning on February 16, but the union says 8 out of 10 teachers have no confidence in the plan and less than 10% feel safe to return.
“Even after everyone is vaccinated, it will still be necessary to decrease the spread in the community so that people feel safe and that it is safer to have students in schools,” said VanDerhoff.
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Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Reporters Bryan Anderson, David Pitt, Holly Ramer, Jeffrey Collins and Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.