Just talked with a teacher who starts school at the end of the month & the issues that the Legislature has been debating the last few weeks are not the top concerns for teachers as they prepare for the upcoming school year. Listen to teachers.

With no additional funding for classroom supplies (this teacher gets $80) how are teachers going to make sure that there is no sharing of writing utensils, scissors, etc., especially with laid off parents who don't have the $$ to buy these things?

The media center at this teacher's school is closed. Students are only allowed to pull 1 book from the teacher's personal library and are not allowed to put it back on the bookshelf. The book then must be placed in a bin for ~18 hours and then be sanitized.

How do teachers make sure that students aren't taking their masks off in the bathroom or at recess? How do they ensure that kids aren't swapping masks? What if a student comes to school and argues that their parent says they have the right not to wear a mask?

For teachers that have never taught online before, how are they supposed to get the training for online programs? What if three weeks in a parent decides to pull their student from online and put them back in the building or vice versa? How do teachers plan for that?

Of course teachers are concerned about per-pupil funding and standardized testing, but a lot of the issues they will face on a day-to-day basis stem from under funding education for decades. The pandemic is bringing to light a number of issues that have existed long before COVID.

The state education committees have now only invited two teachers to testify about their concerns, but there are so many issues that aren't being discussed because teachers just simply aren't being asked.