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Teachers’ Plight in The US; Reopening of Schools is a Panic For The Educators
Teachers in the US are worried to go back to school, at the same time not going means losing their jobs
The education sector is suffering all over the globe; students are lagging in academics, missing out on sports and extracurricular activities and are becoming withdrawn. On the other hand, educators are in more trouble than ever, staying home means losing their job and going to school implies risking their and family’s lives.
Teachers in the US are worried about the school reopening decision for both, their sake and as well as for their students’ safety. They are also sacred because of the government’s decision to legally cease their teaching certificate on striking against the reopening or quitting abruptly, as suggested in these following quotes by anonymous teachers across the US.
“I am a single mom, so I’m used to living a frugal lifestyle. Before the pandemic, pretty much by myself, I was able to construct an income that supported me and my son. Since the shelter is in place, I’m not up to that capacity. I own a letterpress printing business and I’m a part-time substitute teacher in the Berkeley schools. Most of what I do is wholesale greeting cards. I’ve saved enough to take a hit for one summer. But my long term concern if schools do not open in the fall is, I am not going to get that income. And I imagine that some of the stores won’t open at all. Right now, I’m designing a Christmas card line. Is there going to be Christmas? Are people going to want to order Christmas cards?”
A teacher who taught middle school English in Virginia for three years decided to quit in June. The problem, he said, is that leaders are “expecting teachers to be the glue that holds society together.” He was lucky to be hired as a technical writer, a job he can do from home. Quitting his teaching jobs wasn’t an easy decision, he said he’ll miss the students he worked with last year and those he would have taught this year in the eighth grade.
The teacher also said he worries for his former students’ safety and education, but also for the nurses, counsellors, administrators, food handlers, and other adults at school who he feels don’t have the appropriate support to deal with the crisis.
This spring, a teacher in Dallas was invited to the high school graduation of the first class of students she had taught when she became a teacher a little over a decade ago, but the ceremony was cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Now, just a couple months later, facing an uncertain plan for reopening schools, she’s applying for jobs in the private sector and considering quitting teaching altogether. “At this point, if anybody were to offer me something, I would rather do that than risk my health,” she said.
The crisis, over when and how to reopen schools underscores a central contradiction in society. The society can’t function without the public school system, which doesn’t have the funding and resources to follow the basic health and safety guidelines that would make reopening schools during a global pandemic feasible.
Some teachers are worried that students won’t wear masks, or bring them to school, or perhaps even be able to afford them. Teachers in Dallas were told students would wear masks, but one kindergarten teacher was sceptical of that promise. “They said we’d have masks and face shields and everyone is going to be covered, but it’s a school district and sometimes we don’t even have soap,” he said.
The St. Paul-based teacher worries this way, the pandemic will widen inequality between students of different socio-economic backgrounds. She’s also seen parents posting ads online for tutors to help their students get a better education from home, a resource lower-income families can’t afford.
Another teacher on reopening, worries about the health of his wife, who recently underwent heart surgery, and his daughter, who’s been in and out of the hospital for a lung condition. The district where he works, in which classrooms are typically crowded, hasn’t said it will mandate masks. “Most parents have no idea how bad this is going to be,” he said. “I am just sitting here looking around in bewilderment.”
The Dallas-based teacher said she’s having trouble sleeping as more people in the area get sick. She said a student’s mom called her and asked if she would speak to her son. “She was like, ‘Can you talk to him? Because he is crying that he doesn’t want to go to school and come back and kill us,’” she said. “I can't lie to them,” the teacher said. “That’s what I told her. I wish I could tell him it’s going to be okay, but I’m scared, too.”
Source: berkeleyside.com / buzzfeednews.com