This news release from the American Academy of Pediatrics was sent out on Friday, July 10.
Science and community circumstances must guide decision-making; funding is critical
Washington, DC—The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA) and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, join together today in the following statement on the safe return of students, teachers, and staff to schools:
“Educators and pediatricians share the goal of children returning safely to school this fall. Our organizations are committed to doing everything we can so that all students have the opportunity to safely resume in-person learning.
“We recognize that children learn best when physically present in the classroom. But children get much more than academics at school. They also learn social and emotional skills at school, get healthy meals and exercise, mental health support and other services that cannot be easily replicated online. Schools also play a critical role in addressing racial and social inequity. Our nation’s response to COVID-19 has laid bare inequities and consequences for children that must be addressed. This pandemic is especially hard on families who rely on school lunches, have children with disabilities, or lack access to Internet or health care.
“Returning to school is important for the healthy development and well-being of children, but we must pursue re-opening in a way that is safe for all students, teachers and staff. Science should drive decision-making on safely reopening schools. Public health agencies must make recommendations based on evidence, not politics. We should leave it to health experts to tell us when the time is best to open up school buildings, and listen to educators and administrators to shape how we do it.
“Local school leaders, public health experts, educators and parents must be at the center of decisions about how and when to reopen schools, taking into account the spread of COVID-19 in their communities and the capacities of school districts to adapt safety protocols to make in-person learning safe and feasible. For instance, schools in areas with high levels of COVID-19 community spread should not be compelled to reopen against the judgment of local experts. A one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate for return to school decisions.
“Reopening schools in a way that maximizes safety, learning, and the well-being of children, teachers, and staff will clearly require substantial new investments in our schools and campuses. We call on Congress and the administration to provide the federal resources needed to ensure that inadequate funding does not stand in the way of safely educating and caring for children in our schools. Withholding funding from schools that do not open in person fulltime would be a misguided approach, putting already financially strapped schools in an impossible position that would threaten the health of students and teachers.
“The pandemic has reminded so many what we have long understood: that educators are invaluable in children’s lives and that attending school in person offers children a wide array of health and educational benefits. For our country to truly value children, elected leaders must come together to appropriately support schools in safely returning students to the classroom and reopening schools.”
About the American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org and follow us on Twitter @AmerAcadPeds
About the American Federation of Teachers
The AFT represents 1.7 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.
About the National Education Association
The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org
About AASA
AASA, The School Superintendents Association, founded in 1865, is the professional organization for more than 13,000 educational leaders in the United States and throughout the world. AASA’s mission is to support and develop effective school system leaders who are dedicated to equitable access for all students to the highest quality public education. For more information, visit www.aasa.org.
19 comments:
All this stuff we are writing means absolutely nothing. I hope you all realize that.
Andrew O'Hehir sums up the whole thing.
https://www.salon.com/2020/07/12/will-the-schools-open-behind-that-unanswerable-question-lies-a-national-catastrophe/
With the re-emergence of the Corona 18 virus later this year , our NYC school will become death traps. CHOOSE LIFE !
They can't learn if they are dead ��
#TBATs
We are Educators.
We believe in Science.
We believe in Compassion.
We believe in Stopping the Spread.
Dead teachers don't teach very well either 10:50.
HI James
this the article that Mulgrew needs to read and respond to his members about. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/health/coronavirus-airborne-aerosols.html?surface=home-discovery-vi-prg&fellback=false&req_id=389056378&algo=identity&imp_id=666850711&action=click&module=Science%20%20Technology&pgtype=Homepage.
How can anyone say going back into our poorly ventilated schools for 7 hours is OK as long as we have less students? The buildings we work in are "sick buildings" to begin with. Even if we got N95s , it is not feasible to teach 7 hours in those things. Lastly, if we are forced back, why is there no discussion or push for teachers and staff to be allowed to leave school once they are done teaching. I dont need to stick around for lunch, prep or my common planning prof period. Saying that we need to stay because parents are working and kids need a place to be is lame. What do parents who work until 5 or 6pm do about their kids who done with school at 3pm? They make arrangements, and that needs to happen in this pandemic era we are living in. The government needs to help support them with funds for those who need it. Best option --Stay remote!!
Words, just words. Cuomo will have the final say if NYC schools stay open. Seems to me the only thing he is looking at is the actual increase number of Covid cases rising across the country. (Which we all know is rising by the way) Atlanta just stated that they are going totally remote for the first two months of school. Other districts will follow. However, the big problem for NY is to see if Cuomo going for an "all or nothing" scheme for closing schools in our state. Will he just do full remote for certain districts? We shall see in the first week of August.
Like I said, all these comments are meaningless. Doe will open or not, we will go in if open. Nobody is listening to us. The Department of Education intends to violate the 65 sq ft per person social distancing guidelines.
+ They downgraded 6 foot social distancing from a requirement to a "strong recommendation". (July 2 PowerPoint to principals)
+ They sent out revised capacity estimates with exaggerated room sizes. They got every single room in my building wrong. I've heard similar things from across the city.
+ They are treating 65 sq ft per person as the maximum allowable space. They should treat it as the minimum.
45 - 65 sq ft/person ≠ 65 sq ft/person
Look at your school's capacity estimates by room. Tell me that this isn't so.
A Tennessee church that took temperatures, spaced seats, and designed a no-touch service but didn't require masks now has so many Covid-19 cases it can't count them.
"We were not being casual," its pastor said. "We had strong standards in place"
Walking outside today I saw ZERO teens wearing masks. Ideas for how to enforce mask-wearing if/when we return to school buildings
What happens when students refuse to wear a mask?
Nothing.
@9:03AM
If you have the proof of that -would you send it to the post or NY times.
its definitely headline worthy.
and it would spur action.
UFT earning those dues.
94% of American public school teachers report having to use their own savings to purchase basic classroom supplies. If sent back to school, those teachers will have to spend a great deal more money on supplies to attempt to ensure their safety and the safety of their students.
Public school educators are already criminally underpaid and undervalued. The overwhelming majority of them do what they do because they understand that the work they are doing is among the most important in the world. Going back to school before everyone's safety can be ensured will be taking advantage of the generosity and selflessness of so many of those educators, will be turning their financial needs (exacerbated by their being underpaid and undervalued for so long) against them, and will be putting a generation of children -- our FUTURE -- at risk.
I know there is no simple, easy, one-size-fits-all solution here. I know NOT going back to school means there will be a host of other problems to solve and disparities to address. But the work of educators MUST be respected, and their lives MUST be protected.
And the kids? Children are the most valuable thing on the planet. A society that doesn't do everything in its power to protect them, to nourish them, to prepare them for the future -- for THEIR future -- is a society that has failed them.
I’m not spending my money anymore. None. Not even on a pencil. We have to stop. If we don’t stop spending our money, then the system will continue to run over us.
The antibodies arent even permanent
I didn't allow the comments to go off the rails here and I won't. This is too important a topic to stray from.
Other topics are important too but not every posting here is related to crime. Start your own blog if that is what you want to talk about.
Public school teachers - DO NOT SPEND for supplies. Let parents and the government spend for supplies needed in the classroom.
Nice for pediatricians to have an urgency since they have receptionists, appointments, have screening, etc. Doctors do not want to see patients unless it is carefully monitored. No such thing in NYC public schools. SCIENCE and data.
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