Teachers: Don’t politicize their real safety concerns

Re: “Are teachers saying they’re not essential?,” (TNT, 8/2).

Columnist Marc Thiessen’s tirade against public school teachers predictably politicizes a safety issue in the middle of a growing, not diminishing, pandemic.

Teachers are just as dedicated, or more, than the essential employees in Thiessen’s list. But schools, teachers and unions want plans to safely support teachers, students and families.

Thiessen ignores that there are no plans for masks and PPE for millions of US students and teachers every day, or that almost every school was crowded to capacity before the virus.

There are no places for kids to social distance (10-15 per classroom), nor enough teachers for 85 fifth graders who had three teachers but now are required to have six.

He ignores research that kids 10 and older transmit the virus like adults. And unlike shoppers, students interact in an enclosed space for 5-6 hours per day. “Outdoor classes where possible” is not feasible.

Online learning is, as he says, no substitute for face-to-face learning. There isn’t a responsible teacher in the country who doesn’t know that and who doesn’t want to go back to class – safely.

This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 8:09 AM with the headline "Teachers: Don’t politicize their real safety concerns."