Teachers, Students-Do NOT Go Back to School!

In California, Governor Newsom has extended the Shelter-in-Place (SIP) through May, but at the same time, he wants to reopen schools early, in July. This would be a deadly mistake and should be opposed by everyone.

What should happen before anyone is sent back to work:

1. Infection rates need to decline to 1 new case per million residents, as prescribed by epidemiologists at UW. California is currently at 1,289 cases per 1 million residents. So, we're not even close. This low infection rate is required both to ensure that the medical system is not overloaded, like we saw in New York and Italy and Spain, AND to ensure there is sufficient time, resources and human beings to implement #2, below
2. Universal testing, contact tracing and mandatory quarantines of all infected people and their contacts. This is the only way to significantly reduce the chances that infected people don't show up at schools and work and infect others. But to do this, we'd need 20 million tests per day, and we're currently only at 150,000.

So far, there has been no serious attempt to achieve either of these goals. California is certainly flattening the curve, but we're still seeing over 1000 new cases a day. We're definitely not yet on a downward trajectory. Consequently, there's no way it'll be safe to go back to work or school in July or August.

The current proposals to "safely" reopen the schools are pathetic and absurd, and FAR FROM SAFE. Indeed, even Anthony Fauci has said that massive testing, contact tracing and quarantining will only help ensure the second wave is LESS DEADLY. Not risk-free. There will still be a second wave. There will still be more infections and death.

People are talking about blended learning systems with 10 kids per class, so that social distancing can be continued at school, and continued online learning for the 2-3 days per week students aren't in school. But why not stick with SIP and online learning for everyone, every day? Logistically, it's much easier and it's obviously safer.

More importantly, the 10 kids per class proposal is predicated on the assumption that the disease spreads entirely through droplets and that 6 feet distancing is sufficient protection. But we know the virus aerosolizes and remains viable in the air for up to 3 hours. So, even after an infected student or teacher leaves the room, and there is no one to stay 6 feet away from, the germs are still present and could still infect students and teachers in that room for the next few hours. 

Also, what about desks, doorknobs and lab benches? Who is going to disinfect them? Are custodians going to clean each classroom between every class period? And what about K-5 students? Are they going to suddenly behave with the maturity and punctiliousness of doctors with respect to washing their hands and not touching people's faces?

Administrators and politicians will be able to hide in their offices and make video announcements. Teachers will be forced to spend hours inside of potentially infected rooms. They will not be given N95 masks because there aren't any to give. Probably the same with gloves. And even if they did, these PPE are designed for brief interactions in uncrowded conditions and to be replaced often with clean, uncontaminated ones. And what about shoes and clothes? Are teachers going to have to "suit up" in special work clothes before they get out of their cars and then decontaminate before getting into them again at the end of the day?

Also discussed in some of the planning phases has been how school districts can avoid liability. This implies that they know full well they are forcing students and employees into a dangerous, potentially deadly environment. They should not be allowed to do this and certainly not without any accountability. If children are going to become orphans because their parents were forced to work in unsafe conditions, then the employer should be held liable.

Speaking of compensation, what about sick leave? If teachers or classified staff catch covid-19, they could be out for more than 2 weeks, much longer than the amount of paid sick leave most school employees are given. And what about other leave, like staying home to care for sick family members? Are school districts going to increase the amount of paid sick leave provided to their employees, or are they going to be jettisoned, like so many other workers, and left without income when sickened with covid-19?

And what about work hours? If teachers have to teach both in person and online, if they lengthen the work day or the school year to compensate for the reduced in-person learning, are they going to double or triple teachers' pay to compensate for all the extra work? Many districts are laying teachers off because of lost revenues. Where's the money going to come from to pay teachers more? 

Even if they paid teachers double to work year round, this would not be desirable. Summers are when teachers develop their curriculum for the following year, something that will be even more urgent and critical if schools reopen before the pandemic is truly over. Teachers need time to reconfigure their curriculum and develop new curriculum compatible with these new conditions.

And what about teachers' own children? If all the schools move to a blended learning model where students attend classes in person for 1-2 days per week and do online learning at home the rest of the time, who will look after teachers' children when they have to go into work? Many teachers have children who are too young to leave at home, unsupervised. Are they going to force teachers to subordinate their own children's health, safety and education to those of their students, by placing them in overcrowded childcare settings at public libraries and recreation centers, or bringing them to work with them? 

It's complete madness to be talking about reopening schools under these conditions. The only sane option is to continue with distance learning until the pandemic truly ends. Education is one of the few industries that can be done remotely. It's not ideal. Learning in a live classroom is far superior, as children benefit from the social interactions and there are countless important learning opportunities that cannot be replicated as effectively or efficiently remotely (e.g., labs).  But children are a major vector driving this pandemic, spreading it to older people with underlying health conditions. Sending children back to school too soon risks turning them into orphans, as they spread the disease to older family members.

Politico says the CTA opposes a July reopening, and that both the NEA & AFT would authorize strikes if teachers were sent back before it was safe. Problem is, there is phenomenal pressure on unions, politicians and even the health experts to get everyone back to school and work, and to say whatever they have to convince us it's safe. It would be naive to trust that the unions will continue to oppose July or August starts.

This whole thing is a terrible tragedy. Frankly, it scares the hell out of me and I see no quick way out of it. But as terrible as it is now, both in terms of deaths and economic and social hardship, this is truly just the beginning. It is likely to get far worse, even if California continues with the SIP. Too many other states have already "reopened." Infections and deaths are going to go up in those states. And in fall, when influenza picks up again, the deaths and economic problems will worsen further, possibly to the point of mass food shortages and even starvation, if too many people in the food industry get sick (as we have already seen on a small scale at Tyson, JBS and Smithfield).

Keeping the schools closed is not just about protecting students, teachers, and their families. It is a necessary tool for protecting all of us.