Everyone knows that academia and parenting are not a great fit. But I never expected my employer to literally force me to choose my job or my kids. Today we learned that caregiving will no longer a qualifying reason for remote teaching in the Spring semester.

Let's break down what that means for faculty parents:

We spent all summer, unpaid and without childcare, building hybrid courses for the fall semester.

We teach these courses effectively while caring for our kids whose schools are also hybrid or remote.

Now we're told we can't teach those courses and we have to abandon our kids or take leave.

I'm not being dramatic. My kids are in school 8hrs/week. There are no babysitters. We have tried. Everyone needs babysitters right now, there are none to hire.

Even if we imagine a best case scenario where a two-parent household can split caregiving responsibilities, I still cannot return to campus full time. There aren't enough hours in the day for my spouse and I to work full time jobs outside the home and also care for our children.

Why would we do this to people? For what gain?

We are effective teachers and researchers from home. I have won grants and published papers. My service has gone up (hello, increased student mentoring and zillion panels on pandemic parenting)

I'm proud of what a good job @Northeastern is doing to manage outbreaks. It's impressive, a model for other universities.

But managing a pandemic is not only managing a disease. It's also managing challenges for employees so we can be effective during and after the pandemic.

You say you care about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Let's see it. You *know* this policy will disproportionately disadvantage women, and especially women of color.

We haven't walked out on you, but if you ask us to choose our kids or our jobs, you know what we'll pick.