School is the current rope in the tug-of-war between economic and public health. Some people are more interested in protecting the economy and getting adults back to work while others are interested in saving lives. Over the past few months, we’ve worn down many ropes: there have been arguments about when to reopen, what to reopen, and most ludicrous of all, mask-wearing (which many citizens of Asian countries wear regularly upon catching a common cold as a courtesy to others to avoid spreading viruses). Schools are no different. Indeed, schools have historically been a battleground for politicians seeking to make a point or wrestle a “win.” The current state of confusion and anxiety we all live in is due to a vacuum in federal leadership and mixed messages about scientific facts. A few weeks ago, DeVos threatened to withhold federal funding for schools that did not reopen in-person for the new school year. All so that the country’s leadership can continue to pretend that the virus is under control and that the pandemic response hasn’t been a total failure.
As a teacher, I’ve seen numerous articles and attended town halls in my district about schools in NYC reopening this fall. There is overwhelming consensus in my community that schools should not reopen in-person. Teachers’ unions across the country are prepared to go to battle over the reopening issue. Governor Cuomo announced Friday that schools in the state may reopen, though he did not mandate it, and granted local officials more leeway to make decisions that are best for local communities. New York has among the lowest infection rates in the country, but the majority of teachers remain wary about returning to school in the absence of stronger safety measures. Where does the reopening conversation go from here?
Reopening will only be successful if people feel safe. Schools in Georgia and Indiana discovered new positive cases the first week of school, some within the first day or two of opening. Schools are not like restaurants, grocery, or other retail stores where people are generally inside for an hour or less and keeping to themselves. New York state even delayed the return to socially distanced indoor dining because of COVID concerns. Being back at school is far more of a risk factor than indoor dining. At a restaurant, people stay for one to two hours, and that in itself is enough to breed spreading events. Schools in NYC require teachers and students to be confined to tight classrooms with poor air circulation and outdated or nonexistent ventilation systems. Schools are built to be collaborative, and children learn best that way. The core of schooling involves students interacting with peers and teachers, looking at each other’s work, sharing materials, and socializing. Few people seem to understand that a return to in-person schooling during the pandemic looks drastically different from typical school (at least if it’s done safely). There will be no group work, middle-schoolers sharing snacks at lunch, high fiving. Students and teachers are cautioned to limit interactions. Students are restricted to one seat in one classroom and asked to engage via computers as much as possible. Why not stay remote in that case? As a middle school math teacher, the main benefits of teaching in person are circulating around the classroom to examine work and give feedback, working directly with students, and having students problem-solve together. Without these features, the value of physically attending school is significantly diminished.
Of course, the burden of returning to school isn’t equal across the state or city. Better funded schools in wealthier regions have more resources to invest in installing or updating air filtration systems. Their classrooms are larger with fewer students. More shared areas can be coopted to create larger learning spaces, compared to co-located school buildings that can house two or three separate schools at a time. In this regard, school reopening both reflects and adds to the inequities across racial lines the pandemic has already unveiled. The coronavirus disproportionately impacts black and brown people and makes returning to school less safe for teachers, students, and families in those communities. In the spring, a number of my students lost family members, and I witnessed co-workers at my school become extremely ill due to the virus. We cannot trade lives to maintain any semblance of false normalcy because already too many lives have been lost. I don’t want my students to view school as a place of anxiety and fear because that takes away from learning. I also don’t want school for students to be a reminder of what they’ll miss out on — the assemblies, performances, dances, field trips — essentially the most fun parts of school, because they won’t exist even if school resumes in-person.
Under strict social distancing measures, a return for middle and high schoolers might actually be more manageable than a return for elementary school students. A friend of mine who teaches first and second graders says, “no one considers the fact that I wouldn’t be able to help kids button their clothes, open their lunches, make sure kids keep their mask on, and don’t hug their friends.” Young students at that age haven’t necessarily learned the basics of contagion and are asked to abide by rules that make school feel foreign for reasons that they might not fully understand. Yes, it is difficult to teach elementary school students, and all students, remotely. It is not the same. However, teachers would still have difficulty meeting students’ needs if we were back at school, especially depending on the level of support individual schools provide to teachers to return safely.
As parts of the country continue to navigate school reopening, our efforts shouldn’t be spent in an emotional and drawn out argument over what decision to make, but rather figure out how to strengthen education in a way that is safe for all students and teachers. For me, the best way to ensure safety and educational quality is to strengthen remote learning. That could mean developing infrastructure to share curricular resources, pooling teachers’ existing knowledge of remote learning best practices, or streamlining an approach to parent and student communication. Whatever it is, we need to stop focusing on the “which” and start focusing on the “how” and the “what.”
It’s time to put aside frivolous playground games and protect people fairly and equitably. Remote learning may not be a perfect option, but it’s the only one that doesn’t cost a single life.
