PARTING SHOT THE FINAL RUMSFELD MEMOS

advertisement Back to School for All: A safe and welcoming Return, Recover and Reimagine school year for all

By Randi Weingarten, President By Randi Weingarten, President AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Schools must open this fall. In person. Five days a week. With the space and health safeguards to do so. And my union, the American Federation of Teachers, is committed to making it happen. School is where children learn best, where they play together, form relationships and learn resilience. It’s where many children who otherwise might go hungry eat breakfast and lunch. Parents rely on schools not only to educate their kids but so they can work. An astounding 3 million mothers dropped out of the workforce during the pandemic. The United States will not be fully back until we are fully back in school. And my union is all-in. I recently gave a speech detailing the steps necessary to return safely to full in-person learning, including building the support systems to help students recover socially, emotionally and academically, and overcoming the concerns and fears some parents have about sending their children back to school. We must address those fears. The AFT, with the NAACP and others, recently polled parents of public school students. Only 73 percent of parents—and only 59 percent of Black parents—said they are comfortable with in-person learning for their child this fall. But if the safety and education measures the AFT is calling for are in place, the comfort level jumps to 94 percent of parents, including 87 percent of Black parents. It’s clear that mitigation measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus create trust, as does collaboration between schools and families. COVID-19 vaccines have been real game-changers, and it’s great news that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for 12- to 15-year-olds. My union is all-in. We are pressing for those safety and education measures in schools across the country. And we are dedicating $5 million to a “Back to School for Everyone” national campaign to connect not just with teachers and school staff but also with families and communities, to build trust and confidence in children returning to school, particularly those who have been learning remotely. But we must do more than physically return to schools, as important as that is to create the normalcy we crave. We must also put in place the supports to help students recover—socially, emotionally and academically. And we must reimagine teaching and learning to focus on what sparks students’ passion, builds confidence, nurtures critical thinking and brings learning to life—so all children have access to the opportunities that give them the freedom to thrive. Here are 10 ideas to move us toward those goals: 1. Launch the AFT’s “Back to School for Everyone” national campaign to underscore the importance of in-school learning. 2. Form school-based committees of staff, parents and, where appropriate, students to plan for and respond to safety issues and to conduct safety

“walk-throughs” in school buildings. 3. Align health and pedagogical best practices by reducing class sizes to reflect the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention’s 3-feet social distancing guidance. Eliminate simultaneous in-person and remote instruction. 4. Offer “office hours” and clinics for AFT affiliates and others to discuss ideas and get technical support. 5. Roll out camps and summer programs that provide academic support, help students get back into routines and encourage kids to have fun. 6. Promote community schools to build trust and remove obstacles to getting kids and families the support and services they need.

7. Increase the emphasis on civics, science and project-based learning, to nurture critical thinking and bring learning to life. 8. Use funds from the American Rescue Plan to fill shortages of teachers, counselors, psychologists and nurses. 9. Launch a federal task force to rethink accountability—how we assess student learning and Readers of a certain age will get it when I say that teachers absolutely MacGyvered the last 16 months. For everyone else, I’m referring to the ways educators improvised using what 10. how to measure what really counts. Engage stakeholders—families, educators and community partners—to ensure funds in the American Rescue Plan and other federal funds for they had on hand, and their ingenuity, to complete schools are spent equitably and effectively. their mission—educating and connecting with their students during a once-in-a-century pandemic. We are all yearning to move forward after this difficult year. For our young people, that means being back in

Educators have been the first responders to students’ school, with their peers and caring adults, with all the needs—troubleshooting technological problems; supports they need. tending to students’ emotional needs; and helping them through the hurdles of online, hybrid and Despite all the divisions in our country, there is a in-person learning. And that can take a toll. consensus around the importance of strong public

In a recent survey, 78 percent of teachers reported frequent job-related stress—almost twice as many as schools. That is especially vital now, when we need our schools to provide access to a great, well-rounded most other working adults during the pandemic. And education to spark kids’ passion for learning and help teachers were nearly three times as likely to experience them recover socially and emotionally. symptoms of depression as the general adult population. We have a rare chance to seed a renaissance in

Educators have just been through the second-most American public education. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime challenging year of their professional lives. What’s opportunity not only to reopen and recover, but to the most challenging year? The one that starts this reimagine our schools in a way that makes every fall. Students will return to school with enormous public school a place where parents want to send needs. There still won’t be enough school counselors, their children, educators and support staff want to psychologists or nurses. Far too many schools still need safety improvements. And there will be work and students thrive. enormous pressure to make up for lost time.

But educators are preparing to be back in school in person, full time—because they know that’s what students need.

There are continued risks, particularly from the delta variant, which is causing alarming increases in infections in places with low vaccination rates.

Yet schools can fully reopen this fall in person—with ventilation upgrades; social, emotional and academic supports for students; and the resources needed to do all this. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance this week detailing mitigation measures schools should employ, recognizing that not everyone has been vaccinated.

With funding from the coronavirus rescue package and the American Rescue Plan, communities throughout the country are making schools safer. Last month, I visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus in New

York City with United Federation of Teachers President

Michael Mulgrew. We fought for years to get the ventilation system at MLK fixed. Now, with federal funds and help from outside experts the UFT brought in, the city has fixed it, and students and staff at MLK can finally breathe healthy air. As an asthmatic, I felt it immediately. But some families still have reservations. People whose loved ones have gotten sick or died Photo: Brett Sherman from COVID-19 may have heightened fears about sending their children to school. Families may be skeptical that safety precautions will be in place. If the bathrooms at their child’s school lacked soap before the pandemic or the ventilation was poor, it’s an even greater concern now. Their children may be too young or unable to be vaccinated. And some people worry about the safety of vaccines. Some concerns have nothing to do with COVID-19. Parents whose children have been bullied; have experienced racism, antisemitism or anti-Asian bigotry; or have not been well-served academically, may see remote learning as a refuge. These are all barriers we must overcome. The AFT is dedicating $5 million to a Back to School for All campaign, with members reaching out to families to stress the importance of in-school learning and build families’ trust and confidence in their children returning to school. The AFT has already made more than 40 grants to state and local unions totaling more than $3 million, covering 1,400 AFT local unions in 22 states. From small towns like Willmar, Minn., to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, educators are stepping up. AFT members in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, and throughout Massachusetts, are going door to door, visiting students’ homes to talk about the health and safety and education programs in place, to encourage families to send their children back for in-person learning. In some places, our unions are working to increase vaccination rates. Others are contacting families whose children had limited or no attendance last year. All have the goal of “back to school for all.” As much as we want to feel “normal” again, we can do better than the old normal of test-based accountability systems and vast inequality. As we return to full-time in-person schooling, we have a unique opportunity to pursue new initiatives to help all kids thrive. Reading really matters. That’s why the AFT is redoubling our work to help educators improve their instruction in research-based literacy, whatever their subject or grade level—with an emphasis on under-resourced schools. And we are working to expand community schools to connect students and families to vital services right in the school. When students return to school this fall, they will bring with them the scars of a long struggle we wish they hadn’t had to endure, and educators will help them recover and feel safe and welcome. But students will also bring with them their hopes and their potential. And teachers will get back to what brought them to this hope-filled profession—helping their students not only dream their dreams but achieve them. Photo: Brett Sherman

Educators are preparing to be back in The United States will not be fully back school in person, full time—because until we are fully back in school. that’s what students need.

Students in Carle Place, N.Y., share what they learned about owls Weingarten speaking at AFT headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 13. with Weingarten, foreground, on May 4.