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I see this article all over social media already. NJ folx, PLEASE do not celebrate this decision uncritically. Once again, the Governor (if true) decides to leave reopening decisions up to local districts, rather than making it a statewide mandate. https://www.nj.com/education/2020/08/nj-schools-will-be-allowed-to-start-all-remote-report-says-in-major-reversal-of-murphys-reopening-plans.html
This raises extreme equity issues. I can see school districts feeling pressured to say, “Well, we spent millions of dollars to prepare, let’s just try to reopen hybrid because we think we’re prepared”. The collective HEALTH and SAFETY of our communities should far outweigh that.
All of the money spent by local districts on PPE & other “preparations” WILL STILL BE NEEDED NO MATTER WHEN WE RETURN b/c we are NOT going back to “pre-March” schools — whether we open tomorrow or next calendar year. NJ: We cannot safely return to school buildings in September.
A reminder that 3 of the largest education-based unions & orgs in NJ said the following: “The question of whether & when to reopen for in-person instruction is first & foremost a public health decision that *cannot be left in the hands of nearly 600 individual school districts.*”
“...the districts will need to show the state Department of Education the reasons why they can’t offer in-person classes at the start of the 2020-2021 school year and what they are doing to solve those problems.”
Is a deadly global pandemic not enough? https://www.nj.com/education/2020/08/nj-schools-will-be-allowed-to-start-all-remote-report-says-in-major-reversal-of-murphys-reopening-plans.html
Is a deadly global pandemic not enough? https://www.nj.com/education/2020/08/nj-schools-will-be-allowed-to-start-all-remote-report-says-in-major-reversal-of-murphys-reopening-plans.html
Local districts should not have to PROVE they need to start the year virtually. Our intentionally & historically underfunded, racist, classist systems of education that don’t value the lives of Ss & educators, especially BISOC & BITOC, should be enough proof we cannot open.
Again: if indoor dining cannot take place at capacity & if groups should not be gathering in groups of more than 25, HOW CAN SCHOOLS OPEN? It is a blatant disregard for the students, educators, and families/caregivers in NJ to treat this as a “choice” that first requires “proof.”
