Too Far…

I am angry. And I am NOT an angry person. It is not my character or demeanor. This week the President and his Secretary of Education attacked our schools and this time they went too far.

We are going through a pandemic. While our COVID numbers continue to surge in places across the nation, states are being encouraged to reopen to get the economy going. We are being told we don’t need to wear masks and life can get back to normal. Life will never be back to normal; I realize that and most citizens understand that things have forever changed. I am okay with that reality, as hard as it is, and I do what I need to do to keep myself safe and healthy. Yet I don’t feel our President has my best interests at heart. It is an election year, and money drives power, so let’s open everything up and put everyone at risk so the economy doesn’t suffer any longer.

Our Governor made decisions I didn’t understand or agree with, but I believe he did what was in the best interest of Virginians. As a doctor, he understood more than most of us that this wasn’t just a simple virus. He closed schools suddenly, and like most of my colleagues, I was emotional and surprised by his decision. Yet in the end, I came to understand the seriousness of the pandemic and was grateful for his decision. He kept my students and all of us who work with them safer. Virginia’s numbers remained lower than other states that did not quarantine as quickly.

I am a teacher. I love teaching. It’s what I do because there is nothing more amazing than helping a child realize their own potential and worth in this world. In March, teaching changed forever. I am proud of how I challenged myself in new ways and rose above the outside challenges that I had no control over. And trust me, there were a lot of unknowns and hurdles when we shifted to virtual learning. But still I persevered and even thrived despite the COVID Chaos.

The President’s threat to cut federal funding if schools did not reopen was a political move. It is an attack to defund our public schools and destroy them one school system at a time. Ordering all schools to have full time, in person classes demonstrates their lack of concern for our students and school employees. They know the risks. The risks have been outlined by the CDC, which is grounded in science and research. There is so much about COVID we still don’t know or understand, so why are we putting our kids and school employees at risk?

DeVos is no better. She has not supported our students or their learning since taking her post in 2017. She never went to public schools, nor did her children. She never taught at a public school and yet we are supposed to trust her when she proclaims students need to be in school for their well being. As an educator who has been teaching for 25 years, I don’t put too much trust in her opinions, which don’t have the kids best interests at heart.

YES… children need socialization with peers and caring adults. NO…Virtual teaching will never replace the magic that happens in a classroom with a caring, loving adult. However, there are realities no one on the President’s panel addressed this week. School will never be the same. Students will not be laughing, hugging friends, or socializing the way it was before COVID. Students will not collaborate with peers or engage with their teacher the way it was before COVID. School employees will not be able to hug, high five, or support students in the ways that they did before COVID. School is forever changed.

In fact, I worry that we will spend more time in school reminding students to stay at their desks, keep their masks on, and stay away from the very people they need social contact with and that there will be a lot less learning and more programming of students. Students will be expected to be like robots. Desks in rows. Facing forward. Six feet apart. No collaborative learning in class. How do they benefit? What are the ramifications to children’s well being in this environment? Is our children’s new reality in school really the best thing for them?

Virtual learning definitely has its challenges. It is not the ideal learning environment. Yet our new in school reality is far more concerning. Safety should be the priority. Everyone’s safety. No educator or school employee should have to choose between their own safety and their students’ learning.

To criticize what you don’t understand is a dishonest proclamation. To advocate schools opening up without a real plan or providing support to school systems is just pontificating. To call out a school system and call them a disaster without experiencing the challenges of that school system is unwarranted. And to carelessly put children and school employees at risk when you are worried about your political career is going too far.