In seven weeks, Minnesota's kids, teachers and support staff are due back in school. There is currently no real way to go back to school safely.
A thread. 🧵1/15
A thread. 🧵1/15
We know congregating indoors spreads the virus and returning to school risks the health and lives of educators and support staff, parents and grandparents, and the children themselves. 2/15
We are still learning about the virus and its impact on the health of children and precaution is required to keep them as safe as can. 3/15
We can’t ignore the consequences our kids will face if they lose a full semester of school, of socialization, and learning. 4/15
In a moment of critical focus on inequities, we have to acknowledge that a semester of distance learning would most certainly exacerbate these disparities and hurt kids of color. 5/15
While many of our elected officials have failed us, and others still have played politics, many, like Governor Walz, have made tough choices with limited options. 6/15
But in this case we don’t have to accept the impossible choices in front of us as if they are fixed. We can act together to reduce the risk and improve our odds. We can use the seven weeks to change the landscape. 7/15
We can wear a mask. All of us. Because it will protect our children and guard their future. Because it will give educators, parents, and policy makers better options. 8/15
We should wear a mask, every one of us. We should demand that Governor Walz issue a statewide mandate and we should comply with that mandate. 9/15
Acknowledging rightful concerns about how a mask mandate could lead to violence or unjustly profiling people of color, especially Black men, by police. The awful reality is that Covid & police violence both disproportionately impact people of color. We must address both. 10/15
The science around masks is clear- they slow the spread of the virus and save lives. But the science alone is not powerful enough to convince the unwilling and partisan opponents. 11/15
Changing hearts and minds, banking on our social compact, is important, but it is no match by itself for the virulence of the virus. Expecting the frontline of defense to rely upon individual choices isn’t strong enough to protect us. 12/15
We have seven weeks before schools are set to start. Time to prepare for our children’s safety and our future. Let’s use science, the power of a mandate, and our collective will over the next seven weeks to slow the virus down. 13/15
Let's permit our educators, administrators, and parents to put forth their best plans for our schools this fall- and give them the resources to make it work. 14/15
Let’s stop fighting each other. For our kids, let’s come together and do the easy thing, cover your face with a mask. 15/15
