Are We a School or a Daycare Service?

The discussions surrounding the return to school have begun. I have been listening to town hall meetings with the superintendent of my district and read articles stating various concerns from parents, teachers, and administrators. There are so MANY opinions and concerns. Educators are about to be on the frontlines beside health care workers. We are being asked to consider duty before self. We are being guilt-tripped into “these kids need you.”

School leaders are being put in a position to figure out solutions to a situation that does not offer set answers. We do not know how to reach the end goal and the lack of patience, understanding, care, and compassion from non-educators is apparent and downright disrespectful. Governors across the U.S. are being instructed to come up with a plan for return, but no one will be completely satisfied with the plan because it will be unlike anything we have ever experienced.

Childcare is one of the costliest expenses within a household. According to various sites, childcare costs can be 30-40% of a parent’s income. Imagine being a low-income, single parent that does not have a trusted family member or friend to help consistently care for your child. Parents are returning to work and many cannot telework. I read an interesting New York Times article by Deb Perelman which stated the notion of being allowed to have either a child or a job during this pandemic, not both. Some parents are being expected to choose between the two. Parents are concerned about the academic, social, and emotional well-being of their children. They want their children to be able to interact with others, play with classmates, and rightly so, but opening a school to be fully operational is a terrible idea.

There are opinions that teachers just “don’t want to do their job” and we want an “extended vacation.” Oh yeah, we love the idea of not being able to help mold young minds or teach the material that we studied 4+ years to become level: expert. Most of us truly love our career. We want to return, but we want to do so SAFELY. Teachers understand the concerns that you have regarding your children, but we want you to be concerned about our safety and health as well.

Initially, virtual learning was chaotic because we were thrown into a situation without proper professional development to handle the virtual setting. We missed being able to interact with students face-to-face, but we fully understood that our students needed us. We showed up, often, with less than half of our students in attendance (please understand how disheartening that is). If educators are given proper resources and training, we can make virtual learning more effective.

Lastly, I would rather know that I am healthy in my home following precautionary measures than to be in a constant state of anxiety wondering which child or colleague has COVID-19. There are so many factors to reopening schools that are being overlooked. Let’s be honest, this entire process has made educators more aware as to how society views teachers and the school system, we are a babysitting service. That may sound brash, but schools are currently being deemed as a form of daycare with the overall health of children and educators as the least of concerns.

If you love children and are genuinely concerned about the social, emotional, academic status of children, now is the perfect time to establish a business geared toward supporting education. Schools need the community now more than ever. We need innovative ways to provide children with the opportunity to learn while safely interacting with others. Educators cannot handle this on our own (I have some ideas, but I may save it for another blog entry). Religious centers, non-profit organizations, LLCs are needed to ensure our students can make it through 2020 academically and emotionally SAFE.