“We will not be bullied by the President of the United States and his Secretary of Education to open our schools before they are safe,” said Megan Tuttle, NEA-New Hampshire President. “No president should threaten the parents of children with higher taxes by de-funding public schools just because they want their children and the people who educate them safe and protected during a pandemic.”
“The President and the Secretary of Education are now demanding we place our students and staff into these COVID-19 incubators and are threatening to withhold funding if we refuse to do so,” said Tuttle. “Let us be very clear – We refuse to do so. Until we know our schools are safe, we will fight every effort to reopen them.”
Read the full letter here:
NEA-NH to DeVos: We will fight every effort to open unsafe schools
Don’t get me wrong. I want the schools to reopen. My own granddaughter struggles with remote learning; she needs to get back to a brick-and-mortar school. I get it. But this is a public health issue.
Our kids have been gypped with the loss of the in-person school experience — from being closer to their teacher, where they can be more closely supervised, to the social interaction with classmates, to activities like band, chorus and sports. It’s rough on the kids. It’s a challenge for the parents.
As much as our kids need these interactions, when the virus does come under control, they can make up for lost time. What they cannot makeup is the possibility of permanent health issues. School reopening needs to be done carefully and cautiously. It’s a matter of health, and maybe, of life.