Public School Teachers Want Phased Reopening In The Fall
BOSTON (CBS) - On Monday, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the American Federation of Teachers and the Boston Teachers Union submitted their own re-opening proposal to state officials.
The alliance comes three weeks after the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, (DESE), laid out a blueprint for districts to map out a return in the fall. Currently, district leadership is exploring three options: remote learning, in-person instruction or a hybrid of both.
"Educators across Massachusetts are united in what we know is best for our students. We are united with our families about how to resume learning safely in the fall," said MTA President Merrie Najimy.
Najimy says union officials are having high-level talks with the state's education commissioner on a weekly basis. And local associations are meeting with districts to "determine the plan to start the year with what best suits their context."
The unions' proposal calls for a phased re-opening. The first phase is for teachers. Union leaders say faculty should have uninterrupted time to learn new teaching techniques and identify student needs.
"Educators need new professional development around trauma based learning and an anti-racist curriculum. They need to learn health and safety protocols. They need to figure out room configuration if there's going to be some hybrid model," Najimy said.
The second phase is for educators to meet with students and families and help them transition. The third phase is the resumption of instruction and learning.
"We need to spend the first six weeks of learning together to be a period where we are building routines, expectations, and the foundation of our new curriculum; the new way forward," said Najimy. "We don't believe having learning resume according to the current calendar is going to be the right way to meet the emotional, and health, and safety needs of our students' families and educators."
A fourth phase would establish an assessment period to determine if the initial plan is working. The proposal also calls for fully funding and fully staffing schools, computers and internet access for all students, and the waiving the MCAS graduation requirements for incoming senior, junior, sophomore and freshman classes.
"I spend hour after to hour working to make sure my students understand something. I don't just watch over them," said English teacher DeAnna Wendland. "We keep hearing parents saying 'we have to get the economy going, we need to get back to work.' It's insulting. I didn't get a Master's Degree to babysit your kids. I love empowering my students with knowledge but it shouldn't mean that I risk my own life."
Wendland has been an educator for eight years. After spending last spring teaching remotely for a Malden charter school, she is now looking for options in the public school system. She says now is the time to fully fund schools.
"We need to be talking about stimulus packages for schools," Wendland said. "If we think about how many schools are underfunded already, and then you put a situation like this, we just don't have the bodies, the money, or the capacity to handle it."
A new Axios poll released Tuesday shows 71% of Americans say they have a large or moderate concern about sending their children back to school. Special Education teacher Jason Montrose also believes it's too risky.
"I've got to think about my health and the health of my family. If I were to go back to school will I get death benefits if I were to die in the line of duty?" said Montrose. "There's no guarantee that I can be safe."
This year marks Montrose's fourth as an educator at Brookline High School. He's been on the job for 14 years. "How can we make remote learning work until we have a handle on the pandemic? Right now we don't have a handle on the pandemic," said Montrose. "I think we need an opportunity to go in and just plan. We need time to plan and come up with a holistic approach to meet the needs of the students."
