Read on Twitter
Thread on school re-opening: It's really something: we are seeing in real time the acknowledgement that teachers and related staff are the equivalent of menial "essential workers" who never had the PPE they needed & will be expected to just re-open, because, well, because. 1/ https://twitter.com/librarianerd/status/1279918248880988160
There are a lot of important and compelling reasons for kids to be in school (heck, I want my own kids to go back). And yes, it appears the evidence for kid-to-adult COVID transmission shows it's not as big a risk as adults-to-adults. 2/
But it's also really, really true that we haven't remotely stopped this first wave of the pandemic in most parts of the country, and it's accelerating in many places that are due to re-open schools in 4-6 weeks. So, a rise in cases w/schools trying to plan for this. 3/
I also find it fanciful that so many op-ed writers and experts are willing to just say a more intellectualized version of "won't somebody think about the children?" even though they know that the risks are still high for the adults and parents in the mix. 4/
Because here's another awful reality that America has never dealt with: we don't support working mothers with anything like what other countries do (child care, paid leave) so now we are casting about for a way to manage our youth's education AND child care deficits. 5/
So what are we looking at, in early July? Districts will try to re-open (mostly) fully, and kids, teachers, and parents will all go back into the buildings, excited, relieved but also super-anxious. There will be a massive need for SEL and trauma-informed care on top of 6/
the VERY likely outcome of some schools, districts, and possibly regions of states having to shut down again due to another outbreak. 7/ https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/03/868507524/israel-orders-schools-to-close-when-covid-19-cases-are-discovered
& when this happens, then what? The whole rationale for being back at school was the damage being done to our youth educationally and developmentally, particularly already-disadvantaged students, not that we really think it's a safe place for adults. 8/ https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/asia/south-korea-coronavirus-shuts-down-again-intl/index.html
And what if teachers just say...no, we're not gonna be there? "Teachers increasingly are on edge and leaning on unions for help. 'I'm being bombarded with, ‘How the hell are we going to do this?’ said (NEA President) Eskelsen García." 9/ https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/04/coronavirus-school-opening-348405
More magical thinking: the people who think that the feds are going to find the $$ needed to make re-opening of schools as safe as possible. Politico again: "DOE Sec. Betsy DeVos is largely on the sidelines, saying the COVID back-to-school planning is a state & local issue." 10/
Not a hopeful end to this thread (sorry) but I can promise you we're going to keep discussing these issues through the Summer-Fall over at @SchoolSocWork & our social media platform SSWNetwork, & we welcome any educators and researchers who want to help us figure this out. End
