CONCORD, NH (AP) – Pressure on school systems in the US is mounting to reopen classrooms for students who have been learning online for nearly a year, pitting politicians against teachers who are not yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
In Chicago, the resentment is so great that teachers are about to hit. In California, a frustrated government begged Gavin Newsom schools to find a way to reopen. In Cincinnati, some students returned to class on Tuesday after a judge dismissed a lawsuit against teachers’ unions over safety concerns.
While some communities argue that online classes remain the safest option for all, some parents, backed by politicians and administrators, have complained that their children’s education suffers from sitting in front of their computers at home and that the isolation hurts them emotionally.
In Nashua, New Hampshire, the school board voted distance learning for most students until the city achieves certain goals in terms of infections, hospitalizations, and tests that come back positive for the coronavirus.
Alicia Houston, whose sons are in sixth and tenth grades, said her biggest frustration is that she “ can’t help my kids effectively, ” even though she quit her job to try just that.
“Watching them get a little darker,” she said last week. ‘Watch them fall apart. The emotional and mental health part is one of the most important parts. Trauma like this is not something they will necessarily recover from right away. “
Some families and their supporters have also argued that reopening schools would allow parents to return to work instead of staying home to supervise their children’s education.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a recent study that there is little evidence that the virus is spreading in schools when precautions are taken, such as masks, distance and proper ventilation.
But many teachers have refused to return without first being vaccinated against the plague that killed more than 440,000 Americans.
Kathryn Person, a high school teacher in Chicago, wants to teach remotely so she doesn’t endanger the health of her 91-year-old grandmother and an aunt fighting lung cancer. Person said she trusts the union will fight school officials if they try to punish teachers who don’t return.
“If they try to get even, we’ll go on strike when that happens,” she said.
In California, with 6 million public school students, teacher unions say they will not put their members in an unsafe situation.
Newsom, a Democrat, has said he will not force schools to reopen, but instead wants to give them a boost and has proposed a $ 2 billion plan that has met with criticism from superintendents, unions and lawmakers. It would give schools extra money for COVID-19 testing and other safety measures when they resume in-person classes. Schools that reopen earlier will receive more money.
Newsom told educators he is willing to negotiate, but that certain demands, including calls from unions to have all teachers vaccinated before school starts, are unrealistic given the shortage of shots.
“If everyone needs to be vaccinated, we might as well tell people the truth: There will be no personal instruction in the state of California,” he said.
Major districts, including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, say the plan contains unrealistic rules and timelines.
“The virus is currently in charge and it has no calendar,” the California Teachers Association with 300,000 members warned in a letter. “We can’t just pick an artificial calendar date and expect to flip a switch to reopen every school for personal instruction.”
President Joe Biden’s administration and Republican senators have made dueling proposals for stimulus packages that would distribute billions of dollars to help schools get children back in the classroom.
About 10,000 Chicago teachers and staff and 62,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade were due to return to school Monday for the first time since March last year. But the school system in Chicago extended distance learning by two more days and called for a cooling-off period in negotiations with the teachers’ union.
The district’s efforts to vaccinate Chicago teachers won’t begin until mid-February.
In several states, lawmakers are working on legislation to require more personal learning.
An Iowa law signed Friday by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds requires counties to provide full-time classroom education to parents who request it. Despite concerns that teachers have still not been vaccinated, they will return this month.
In North Carolina, the Democratic Roy Cooper government is under pressure from GOP lawmakers to reopen more schools. In South Carolina, a twofold push is underway to get students back into class five days a week.
“After this pandemic is over, I hope never to make another Zoom call again,” said House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, a Democrat. “I hate them. I can’t stand them. I can’t imagine being in third or fourth grade staring at a screen to learn.”
In Utah, the Salt Lake City school system announced plans to resume personal learning for at least two days a week under pressure from lawmakers who threatened to cut funding.
The Washington state school principal insists that teachers get vaccinated when it is their turn, but also insists that they go back to class immediately, shot or not.
“The bottom line is that a vaccine is a huge safety net, but it’s never the thing that will create the perfect scenario,” said Chris Reykdal, Superintendent of Public Instructions.
Emily VanDerhoff, a first-class teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia, and a union official, was due to be vaccinated last Friday. But she and others saw their appointments canceled when vaccine supplies ran low.
The Fairfax County Superintendent has unveiled a preliminary plan for students to return on Feb. 16, but the union says less than 10% of teachers think it is safe to return.
“Even if we are all vaccinated, there is still a need for lower community distribution to make people feel safe and to make it safer to have students in the schools,” said VanDerhoff.
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Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Associated Press reporters Bryan Anderson, David Pitt, Sophia Tareen, Don Babwin, Jeffrey Collins, and Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.