Teachers Respond: Should Schools Reopen?
I’m a Nurse in New York. Teachers Should Do Their Jobs, Just Like I Did.
Last week, Kristen McConnell argued that schools are essential to the functioning of society, which makes teachers essential workers.
“I can understand that teachers are nervous about returning to school,” she wrote. “But they should take a cue from their fellow essential workers and do their job. Even people who think there’s a fundamental difference between a nurse and a teacher in a pandemic must realize that there isn’t one between a grocery-store worker and a teacher, in terms of obligation.”
I don’t know why the idea of a labor union reserving the right to strike for the safety of its members is so objectionable. In July, our governor here in Oklahoma “strongly encouraged” schools to reopen in the fall and refused to make masks mandatory statewide, even while the state experienced a record number of cases. Clearly, we cannot be confident that every state government will keep its public servants safe without outside pressure.
The work that teachers do is important, but it is not worth the cost of people dying. As a young
