Crosby Gersh,

February 22, 2021

Teacher Unions Need To Let Kids Get Back To School

Principal Hannah Kehn leads New Visions High School in Far Rockaway, Brooklyn. Similar to many schools across the nation, Principal Kehn’s school had stayed remote for the 2020-2021 school year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The main problem she faces reopening is the Teacher Unions, which have blocked any attempts of reopening schools without their approval.  Principal Kehn has worked with the Teacher Unions to get to an agreement on reopening, but progress has been slow. She hopes that once she can get just one student safely in person then other kids will be able to come as well until most of the kids that want to come back in the physical building can.

Teacher Unions were formed in the early 1900s to get better wages and improved working conditions for teachers. During Covid, most Teacher Unions wanted to be assured that when teachers went back in-person, they’d be safe from Covid-19. The downside is that kids don’t learn as well during online school, and feel isolated from their friends.  Many kids rely on schools for food and a safe space that they don’t have at home. The other main roadblock is Covid-19 positivity rates in the school area. If the positivity rate is too high, then students and teachers can’t come back in and give more power to Teacher Unions. This is because they can show that it is not time to come back in-person and push for more virtual learning. Schools are not being affected equally by Teacher Unions. A place that has more democrats usually has stronger unions and vice versa.  They both have to work together to get kids back into the physical building.

We need our leaders to work with Teacher Unions into letting kids back into school. Even if it is just 10 kids per school, that is better than none. They also need to support schools more, many aren’t able to get enough money to get the air filter and other supplies they need for kids to come back safely. As more people get vaccinated, it will be harder for Teacher Unions to say no to in-person learning. We should bring in kids who are in the worst situations first, kids who rely on school lunches or who have problems at home. If we are going to get kids back in-person, we need compromise between Teacher Unions and School administrators. This problem won’t be here forever, but many kids need it to be over soon so that they can get back into school, and start learning again.

Bibliography:

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“New York's Schools Are Reopening (Sort of).” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 8 Sept. 2020, www.economist.com/united-states/2020/09/28/new-yorks-schools-are-reopening-sort-of.

DeAngelis, Corey A. “COVID-19 Didn't Break the Public School System. It Was Already Broken.” Reason.com, Reason, 2 Nov. 2020, reason.com/2020/11/03/covid-19-didnt-break-the-public-school-system-it-was-already-broken/.

Chen, Grace. “Are Teacher Unions a Help or Hindrance to Public Education?” Public School Review, 14 Apr. 2012, www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/are-teacher-unions-a-help-or-hindrance-to-public-education.

“The Teachers Union Has Become a Public Menace: Opinion.” The Teachers Union Has Become a Public Menace | Opinion, 3 Feb. 2021, www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-teachers-union-has-become-a-public-menace-opinion/ar-BB1dlVRr.

Nierenberg, Amelia, and Adam Pasick. “Unions May Complicate Biden's School Plans.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/us/unions-may-complicate-bidens-school-plans.html?searchResultPosition=6.