As an @NYCSchools teacher:
I am grateful to have my job right now & for the privilege to stay #safeathome. Grateful that I had leave days so I was able to make the choice to quarantine before schools were closed in a timely manner. Grateful my family remains healthy... (A thread)

...and I am extremely disappointed in the way NYCDOE teachers are being treated by @NYGovCuomo,
@NYCMayor DeBlasio, & @DOEChancellor Carranza.

I have never felt so disrespected, undervalued, or demoralized as a teacher than with the decision to cancel our upcoming Spring Break.

Not because I don’t care, or am not willing to sacrifice, but because teachers are being asked to be inhuman in changing our entire profession and then taking away the days we had planned for rest, reflection, and preparation before we went back to a job we didn’t sign up for.

I became a teacher because I love people, not screens, because I thrive in an environment where I can physically move and engage, not sit at the only table in my 1-bedroom apartment for 12+ hours a day. Yet, we were asked to launch remote learning, so we did.

We spent a week learning new technology, building online platforms, discussing best practices, filming & editing videos, and shifting our instruction to meet the needs of our students. Our initial timeline was to return after Spring Break, so we planned for 13 days of teaching.

The work I have engaged in over the last 3 weeks has been some of the most taxing and exhausting in my entire career. I have been powering through thinking I'd have time to reflect and recharge in order to do a better job after a break, knowing it was likely.

None of this is easy, and we are trying to make it work. We, too, are people dealing with loss, grief, fear, anxiety. We, too, are struggling with the challenges of quarantine. We, too, had been looking forward to celebrating Passover and Easter with friends and family.

It is completely unacceptable to demand that teachers and students continue to have school during holy days of observance and celebration. We’ve planned online services, as well as virtual Seders and brunches, for ways to engage in our faith community while physically isolated.

It is ridiculous to add 7 days of instruction that we've had no time to plan or prepare for. To change a 3 day week to a full week without notice. It communicates that our time & energy isn't valued and the effort we put in each day can be forced out of very, very empty people.

It is cruel to change the academic calendar without any regard for the emotional toll these changes will have on families and school professionals. In a world where everything is uncertain, constantly changing these attendance expectations has been unnecessary and unfair.

Students need more family connection, not more time in front of a screen. Teachers need time spent with loved ones and a chance to remember we are more than the content we produce online. We are all already doing everything we can and our risk of burn out is very real. @UFT