COVID and the Push to Reopen Schools

In Support of Teachers

Photo by Deleece Cook on Unsplash

Maryland schools shut down for the pandemic on Friday the 13th of March 2020. Seems apropos doesn’t it? Many teachers and students left their supplies thinking they would return in a few days or maybe a few weeks. I don’t think anyone expected schools would stay closed for the rest of the year. And for many that they would begin the next school year virtually. Through it all, the teachers collaborated, shared resources, and made distance learning work even with limited materials. They were lauded as superheroes.

Fast forward nine months and, if my social media feed is any indicator, teachers are no longer considered superheroes. Teachers who are asking to stay virtual until their safety and health are guaranteed are being told that they are lazy and don’t deserve their full paychecks until students return to their classes full-time in school buildings. These accusations are insulting. Teachers, like their students, are managing the uncertainty of life in a pandemic, juggling family life, a hard shift in schedules and work expectations, and working with their entire family at home. As students log on for distance learning, their teachers are doing the same while managing their own children’s distance learning. My daughter’s teacher had to teach with her infant son on her lap because daycares were closed, he was too…