Virus concerns nudge some teachers to weigh options
As pressure mounts for teachers to return to their classrooms this fall, concerns about health risks from the coronavirus are pushing many toward alternatives, including career changes, as others mobilize to delay school reopenings in hard-hit areas.
Among those opting for early retirement is Liza McArdle, a 50-year-old high school language instructor in New Boston, Michigan. She considered the health risks and the looming instructional challenges — trying to teach French and Spanish with a mask obstructing her enun- ciation, or perhaps a return to virtual learning — and decided it was time to go.
“We’re always expected to give, give, give. You’re a teacher. You have to be there for the kids,” McArdle said. “And now it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, now you have to put your life on the line for the kids because they need to be in school.’”
Te achers unions have begun p ushing back on what they see as unnecessarily aggressive timetables for reopening. The largest unions say the timing should be guided by whether districts have the ability — and funding — to implement protocols and precautions to protect students and teach- ers, even if that means balking at calls from President Donald Trump to resume in-person instruction.
On Monday, a teachers union filed a lawsuit to block the reopening of schools in Florida, where state offi- cials have ordered school districts to reopen campuses as an option unless local health officials deem that to be unsafe.
Educators in several cities have called for the school year to start with remote instruc t ion. Some have joined demonstrations in Arizona, where three teachers sharing a classroom during summer school tested positive for the virus and one died.
“The conversation is being driven by what they want to do for the economy,” said Regina Fuentes, a high school English instructor in Colum- bus entering her 22nd year of teaching. “Teachers and students shouldn’t have to go back to school just to save the economy.”
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said her union is focused on advocating for safety in reopening schools, though she isn’t ruling out the possibility of strikes.
“When I say that noth- ing’s off the table, it means that nothing is off the table in our focus and our push to make this safe,” she said.
A recent analysis from the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation estimated nearly one-quarter of the nation’s teachers — nearly 1.5 million — are considered higher-risk for serious illness from the coronavirus because of other health conditions or age.
In a Michigan Education Association survey last month of 15,000-plus educators, 23% indicated they were considering retiring early or leaving the profession because of COVID-19, and 7% said they were actually doing so, according to the union.
Not all educators are concerned. Karen Toenges said she is eager to resume faceto-face lessons with her elementary students in Orlando, Florida, and she disagrees with those contending it isn’t safe.
Even as cases spiked in the state, Toenges, 60, she said she hasn’t been wearing a mask and isn’t worried about getting COVID-19.
“It really has become a political issue, which really bothers me,” Toenges said. “But, you know, I’m a very small voice in a very large sea. And so I just go about doing my stuff, getting myself ready, preparing curriculum.”
But school reopening plans could be complicated by any widespread departures of those who are worried about the virus, or who are not eager to return for more distance learning.