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America’s Teachers Cry for Help, Say They Can’t Go Back to School Safely without Massive Federal Investment

WASHINGTON: The ditional $116.5 billion for inAmerican Federastructional staff, distance learntion of Teachers has ing, before- and after-school released a new study spelling care, transportation, personal out the level of investment reprotective equipment, cleaning quired to reopen schools in the and health supplies, health fall, as a Senate committee staffing, custodial and cleaning meets to discuss the crisis. staff, meeting children’s social The AFT’s “Reopening and emotional needs and addiSchools During a Time of tional academic support for Triple Crisis: Financial Implistudents. The average school cations,” published Wedneswill need to see an extra $1.2 day, sounds the alarm over the million, or $2,300 per student, scale of expenditure federal to open its doors. lawmakers must approve to That is in addition to funds ensure school buildings can reneeded to offset revenue losses open with health protections and address the cuts that have and learning layouts in place already cost local education for students and educators. systems 750,000 jobs, twice the If they fail to act, school buildnumber lost during the Great ings will stay shuttered and Recession. The House included America’s families will endure $57.9 billion in the HEROES another academic year of atAct, but more is needed, the rehome learning—with potenport shows. tially disastrous consequences The Senate Committee on for student achievement and Health, Education, Labor and emotional well-being. Pensions hearing on “Return The analysis costs out an ading to School Safely,” chaired by Sen. Lamar Alexander (RTenn.), will meet virtually and is expected to discuss strategies for reopening. However, the Senate has yet to consider either the HEROES Act or the possibility of a new round of fiscal stimulus. The committee convenes as states, cities and school districts prepare to enact the largest budget cuts since the Great Recession, with state shortfalls approaching a halftrillion dollars. If no new federal money materializes, states will be forced to make hundreds of billions in cuts to education—the exact opposite of what is required. AFT President Randi Weingarten said: “This is a fivealarm fire. Since late April we have been exploring ways to safely reopen school buildings in the fall. Our children need it, and our families deserve it. Our educators want it, and the economy won’t recover without it. But if schools can’t get the money they need to safely reopen, then they won’t reopen, period. “These numbers show the sheer scale of the effort required, and the fact that nei

ther the Senate nor the president has begun any negotiations on the HEROES Act is astounding to us. America’s teachers are sending an SOS because we know that if we don’t return to face-to-face learning, a generation of students will be added to the coronavirus casualty list. “America is facing a triple crisis: a health pandemic, a racial justice crisis and an economic crisis—and they’re all interrelated. Public schools are centers of their communities and essential to repairing our nation’s fraying social fabric. And the economy won’t recover fully unless school buildings reopen. “If we fail to act, we’ll forfeit our future—and teachers are going to fight tooth and nail until the disastrous ramifications of doing nothing become etched in lawmakers’ minds.”p

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