Teachers unions are at war with education officials about returning to in-person classes, insisting that the promise of a COVID-19 vaccine in the near future is not enough to make schools safe.
Individual teachers unions across the United States are defying their school systems’ plans to force educators to teach in person, as parents and administrators say that remote-only learning has been a detriment to education and children’s emotional health.
The Chicago Teachers Union has engaged in a battle with the Chicago Public Schools system, which announced that teachers of grades K-8 were required to return to schools on Monday or face getting locked out of all remote teaching platforms. This would lead to thousands of students having no classes at all, as well as thousands of angry parents and public education officials.
Under the Illinois vaccine prioritization plan, schoolteachers are eligible for the vaccine to prevent COVID-19 in Phase 1b, the phase the state is currently in. Phase 1b is also designated for seniors over 65 and front-line essential workers. But vaccinations are moving slowly, and supplies are low, as other governors have reported. The Chicago municipal government website says, “Even when you become eligible, it may take weeks to get an appointment.”
After the Chicago teachers union members voted Sunday to defy orders to return to schools on Monday, the Chicago public school district struck a deal with the union and delayed the start date from Monday to Wednesday to “ensure we reach a resolution without a disruption to student learning.”
In Fairfax, Virginia, the Fairfax Education Association argued earlier this month that the safest way to return to in-person classes “includes 14 days of no community spread, PPE, cleaning equipment, full-time nurses in all schools, as well as staff & student vaccinations.” Immunizing the roughly 212,000 Fairfax County public school staff and students would keep children out of school for much longer. At the current rate of vaccine administration, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Fairfax Education Association would hold teachers back until 2022.
Unions have argued that mandatory in-person classes put teachers and staff at higher risk for contracting COVID-19, whereas children have been proved to experience mild symptoms of the disease, if any. Rory Cooper, a parent of young students in Fairfax, told the Washington Post that the unions’ arguments are flimsy and causing unnecessary harm to students who need to return to school.
“Typically, when the school opening debate is had, union allies line up to accuse parents of wanting teachers to get sick or wanting increased community spread,” Cooper said. “These insulting and bad-faith arguments are not supported by … pediatric and pandemic experts who almost universally say schools should be open for public health purposes.”
Meanwhile, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools Sonja Santelises stressed the need to get the city’s students back in classrooms, citing data that shows over half of Baltimore public school students in third grade through 12th grade have failed at least one class this school year. However, Santelises said the school system cannot wait for teachers to be vaccinated in order to reopen the school doors.
It could take weeks or longer for teachers to get immunized, given the slow rate at which many states are administering their allotted vaccine doses. Illinois has utilized about 51% of its 1.4 million doses. Virginia has administered less than 49% of its roughly 1.06 million-dose supply. While most states include teachers in early phases of vaccine eligibility, getting them the shots could take months.
