As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on, some school districts have turned to virtual learning to make school as safe as possible for students, teachers, and staff. Other districts are operating on a hybrid basis, with some students learning at home and some in-person. As schools in New York City—once an epicenter of the virus that today has relatively low case numbers—are set to reopen in early September, teachers again protested with fake guillotines, caskets, and skeletons on Aug. 20, as reported by CNN.
Here’s what we know about New York City’s plan to reopen schools. Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to provide enough personal protective equipment, including face masks and cleaning supplies, and inspections on ventilation systems. He also suggested holding classes outdoors, which would entail closing some streets. The hybrid model of some students at home, while some are in the classroom, is supposed to help maintain social distancing. But not all educators are convinced.
As of now, New York City families have the choice of doing school entirely online or having students attend in-person class some days of the week, with the rest online. This hybrid model of school is supposed to cover more than 1 million students. For comparison, school districts of similarly massive size, including Chicago and Los Angeles, are going totally virtual to begin the academic year.
Jeff White, who participated in the march last Thursday, held in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, pointed out some logistical barriers and concerns about in-person teaching when speaking to the news outlet. Even if students keep their face masks on, it’ll be a hard balance when it comes time to get them personal assistance on assignments. If students “need one-to-one help, I can't help them because I have to be six feet away from them,” he stated as an example.
In terms of protest style—fake caskets are quite a powerful image—last week’s march isn’t actually the first time teachers in New York City have done this. For example, as reported by Vice, hundreds of protesters, including teachers, first protested over de Blasio’s initial plan to reopen schools, using makeshift caskets as well as a guillotine that read “DOE” (assumably as in the Department of Education) earlier this summer. We have also seen a Florida teacher write her own obituary.
Brooklyn-based special education teacher Annie Tan stressed to CNN: "We want to teach. We just want to teach safely."
While outdoor learning is a potentially safe option with a growing support base in New York City, it’s not a flawless solution right off the bat. First of all, no one can control the weather. And if classrooms are to be set up with, for example, tents, it’s imperative that all schools actually get the right equipment and supplies. And that means equal access to funds.
“If we’re going to do this,” Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander said outside of City Hall at another recent rally, as reported by local outlet CBS New York, “schools need access to tents and gear and that cannot only be for schools that have PTAs that can pay for tents and gear.”
Logistics aren’t only about supplies, but the literal attention and mental efforts of educators. For example, Pam Segura, who teaches high school English in the Bronx, told NPR she’s “genuinely confused” about how teaching both in-person and online will work, adding, “I feel like I need like 25 different planners and different calendars.”
Representing about 75,000 public-school educators in New York City, the United Federation of Teachers has rallied on behalf of safety changes before schools reopen. In fact, if conditions—including testing all students and faculty prior to returning to school and thorough contact tracing—are not met, union President Michael Mulgrew said, “The union is prepared to go to court and/or go on strike if we need to.” Which, given the sheer size of the union, is no small threat.
The big-picture background here is, of course, that the White House—and especially Donald Trump—has been relentless about schools reopening for in-person classes. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has put pressure on reopening. But the number of COVID-19 cases we’re already seeing pop up at schools around the nation is far from comforting.
