Meaningless words do not create a strong team.
When plans for a return to school are unsafe and insensitive to teachers, words of praise become empty and meaningless.
Many who laud teachers are the same people creating unsafe plans for a return to school. This is disheartening, depressing, and troubling, and demonstrates that we were probably mistaken when we thought we were working as a strong team to teach children well. In many ways, it feels like betrayal.
Educators across the country pour their hearts and souls into teaching--they work long hours, spend their own money on school supplies, attend countless professional development seminars, and do everything within their power to teach children well. Yet, at a time, when a pandemic threatens lives, so many in leadership positions simply discount the tremendous investment and commitments made by teachers by asking them to work in unsafe, life threatening conditions in the fall. These plans are similar to having a knife stuck into your gut since it's the sharp realization that your hard work and investment over countless years does not matter at all. What are educators to do?
Fortunately most of us have unions that work for our best interests. There are also many laws that protect us. So, with good research, we can be smart about the short term and long range decisions we make related to this.
The hard part is that the strong sense of teamwork needed to teach children well has been greatly compromised right now. When one part of the team is willing to compromise the other part of the team's safety and well being, the spirit and dedication to teamwork quickly erodes and that erosion will impact what we can do to teach children well.
Teamwork matters in every sphere, and good teams work to protect one another and elevate one another. Good teams don't pit one group against another for their own gain and fame. This pandemic time should be a time where we work together to make sure that everyone is safe and well cared for.
The government needs to stop seeing schools as child-care, but instead recognize that schools are centers of education. As far as the child-care crisis in the country, the government should give families a "bail out" by providing child care funds to every family so they can care for their children with hired help or by supporting one parent or co-parents to stay home and care for the children. Those that stay home with the children can manage the remote teaching that will occur, the kind of teaching that will continue to elevate children's learning throughout the pandemic. This is the safest, best response.