A national teachers’ union says its members can strike to ensure schools reopen safely.
The second-largest teachers’ union in the United States announced on Tuesday that it would support its 1.7 million members if they choose to strike in districts and states that move to reopen classrooms without adequate health and safety measures.
The union, the American Federation of Teachers, said strikes should be a “last resort.” But the resolution approved by the organization’s executive council gives educators and their union representatives additional muscle in negotiations over what would constitute adequate protection for teachers and school employees.
The union is pushing for schools to wait to reopen classrooms until coronavirus transmission rates in a community fall below 1 percent and average daily test positivity rates stay below 5 percent — something that very few places have achieved. A recent New York Times analysis found that only two of the nation’s 10 largest school districts could reopen under the latter threshold.
The union also wants effective contact tracing in place in regions that reopen schools, mask requirements for students and teachers, updated ventilation systems in school buildings and procedures to maintain six feet of distance between individuals.
We will fight on all fronts for the safety of our students and their educators,” the union’s president, Randi Weingarten, said in a speech at the organization’s annual convention, which is being held online this week. She said that if the federal government can support the cruise industry and hedge funds during the coronavirus crisis, “they sure as hell can help working families, and can help educators ensure our kids get the education they need.”
Some online activists have been pushing for even stricter guidelines than those recommended by the A.F.T., with some educators demanding that schools stay shuttered until there are no new cases in a region for 14 days.
Education leaders have said they need hundreds of billions of dollars to implement measures that would allow schools to reopen safely. On Monday, Senate Republicans introduced a stimulus package that fell far short of what Democrats and organized labor have proposed. The legislation would provide $70 billion for K-12 education, but condition two-thirds of that money on schools reopening at least partially in person, a priority for President Trump, who sees it as key to reviving the nation’s economy by allowing parents to work.
The A.F.T.’s authorization vote leaves it up to local chapters to make the decision on whether to plan a strike. The Florida Education Association has already sued Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials to prevent school buildings from reopening in that state, where virus cases are surging. On Tuesday, Florida again broke its daily record for deaths, reporting 186 fatalities. It also reported 9,230 cases.
(Sorry most of the links in the Times story did not come through. This is sometimes tricky on smartphone. I did make sure the original link and the one calling for no new cases in an area for 14 days before schools open are included.)
21 comments:
oh @rweingarten Just say DON’T OPEN THE SCHOOLS. Teachers and students are going to die across this country. Watching you on @MSNBC We must be remote until the country gets its act together.
This tweet is by the Westchester Deputy County Executive in response to a positive COVID case in a summer school program that did NOT require everyone who was in the classroom with the positive individual to quarantine. Subsequently, two more staff members tested positive after being out and about in their community over the weekend.
Once a student or staff member tests positive, the DOH takes over. The public must demand to see explicit and updated school specific guidance from the DOH regarding how positive cases will be handled once schools reopen. 
Good luck you all when school reopens.
lol
Not a word from the uft president.
Be prepared, fellow pedagogues...
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/28/aft-strikes-school-reopening-384133
The American Federation of Teachers adopted a resolution denouncing “unsafe and unsound plans” or “the faulty implementation of plans.”
CDC does offer plan. Scroll down to decisions tree. Immediate dismissal to clean and contact trace. Been in effect since March. Ignored in NYC. Guess NYT ignites is b/c, like Trump think it’s too expensive?
Mulgrew just sent us something in our gmails but again no support for a sick out.
On a depressing side note, both Lily Eskerlen Garcia and Randi Weingarten voted no on the DNC's amendment platform of Medicare 4 All. They can talk all they want about safe/unsafe schools, but a program that can help people financially in healthcare...NOT. Posers. Huge military budgets are fine with Dems, healthcare is not.
You're right that is a depressing side note.
P.S. How did they get a vote? And did they poll their members?
Again-the Taylor Law. I cannot afford two days pay for each day on strike. Plus-let’s just nullify any contract we have.
I can't afford to get infected and possibly die. Go Fu** your two days pay. Our lives are more valuable.
More than 1,300 Americans died from the virus yesterday, the highest one-day number since late May.
That is from the NY Times. But we gotta worry about two days pay or union dues checkoff if we refuse to go into infected schools. Are 75 more of us expendable in the fall? Contract isn't worth paper it's printed on anyway. This is our lives.
I think just take a leave of absence then. If you’re ok not getting paid, take a leave. I’m not saying I’m happy about going back under these conditions, but I myself plan on taking as many precautions as possible. I don’t think it’s wroth the nullification of our contract. At all. Working conditions when we return will be deplorable. And also-what happens if you simply cannot pay the two days pay for every day on strike?
This will force teachers to cross the picket line.
Some of you Unity assholes would have no problem crossing a picket line. Wildcatters would risk ourselves to save your asses from being infected with COVID-19. You are as bad as the guy here who opts out of the union every other day.
I'm an ATR and have a good mine to be a scab being that the union has done nothing to support ATRs. In a strong union the ATR wouldn't exist.
Again-what’s the problem with taking a leave of absence. Tons of people are back at work.
Tons are working from home and getting full pay.
Yes-but the majority of students do not even learn well in a remote situation. It sucked and will continue to suck. We are opening. The infection rate is below 5%. Long Island schools are opening (on an A/B schedule) near me. Again, leave of unpaid absence is better than striking. Then people who need $ go to work, and people who are scared are off an losing money anyway, just like they would as if they were striking.
Stop the madness please.
Daily News:
"NYC schools roll out plan for reacting to positive COVID cases in reopened buildings"
By MICHAEL ELSEN-ROONEY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
JUL 30, 2020 AT 7:09 PM
"Positive coronavirus tests in city schools this fall will trigger closures of classrooms or whole school buildings while investigators from the city’s Test and Trace Corps probe for evidence of a wider outbreak, officials announced Thursday night.
“We are doing everything in our power to keep kids healthy while ensuring they are getting the education they deserve. These rigorous test and trace protocols will keep our students and staff safe as we start off this new school year,” said Mayor de Blasio.
How city schools will respond to positive COVID cases is a lingering question in the city’s complex reopening plan. The plan, if approved by state officials, would send kids to school in-person on some days while maintaining remote learning on the other days.
Officials say the new regulations will provide clear ground rules for schools dealing with positive cases. Parents, students and staff can self-report positive coronavirus tests to school officials, who will relay the information to the test and trace corps.
If students or staff in the same classroom get sick, that classroom will shut down and transfer to remote learning while disease detectives investigate, and the classroom will remain closed for 14 days after the investigation.
If at least two people in different classes but the same school get sick, the entire building will be shut down for an investigation. The buildings will remain shut for 14 days if investigators can’t pinpoint where and how the cases were transmitted. If they do track down the links, only the classrooms of the infected students or staff will close for two weeks.
Education Department officials said the Test and Trace investigations usually last between one and three days. Families will be contacted by 6 p.m. each night about whether the school will be open the next day, officials added.
City schools staffers are expected to get a COVID test in the days leading up to the September 10 start of classes, and will get priority at the city’s 34 public hospitals, which offer free testing, officials said.
Each school building will be required to create an “isolation room” for kids or staffers who are feeling sick. Not all city schools have full-time nurses, but officials said the rooms will be staffed either by “health professionals” or a “dedicated staff member.”
There will not be a nurse in every school. "Not all city schools have full-time nurses, but officials said the rooms will be staffed either by “health professionals” or a “dedicated staff member.”
Well, I will not be a 'dedicated staff member'. This is only the cusp of what will be going on if schools are not entirely remote.
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