Thread by @MarkTreyger718

Let’s not flip the script on educators and support staff. Many have died serving and defending their students. Gov’t is responsible for inadequate vaccines, for inadequate testing program where folks wait weeks for results, for inability to fully adhere to CDC guidance,

for pre-existing conditions that have long plagued schools such as: overcrowding, poor ventilation, inadequate tech/internet bandwidth, inadequate maintenance budgets & insufficient social/emotional support.

Some folks who have a lot to say about schools these days actively worked to cut funding to them or stood on the sidelines during prior budget fights. Other than students & their families, no one knows the value of in-person education more than educators.

They continue to speak up because they understand that they must first establish trust in the classroom and that all students are safe and supported.

Rather than scapegoating educators who continue to work their hearts out for their students under trying circumstances and have had to operationalize every change via tweets late at night,

let’s pour energy into holding gov’t leaders accountable for a functioning vaccine distribution plan and testing program, and for a well-resourced school system where teachers and students don’t have to be bundled up in winter coats in their classes because the open window

is the only source of ventilation. And the budget fight now and ahead isn’t only about safely reopening schools, but it is also about accounting for the generational impacts this has all had on students.

Educators I speak with have always centered that in my conversations with them and that’s why they continue to forcefully speak up. Teachers and school leaders have spent money from their own pocket to get their students hot food and adaptive tech for remote learning.

Students, teachers, parents, and all stakeholders deserve better than division and distortion. Call your federal officials to insist on more vaccine supply/greater testing capacity and that federal dollars for schools aren’t supplanted.

Call your state electeds to ensure no cuts in state aid to schools. Call your city electeds to ensure they prioritize school budgets for safe reopening and accounting for the needs of our students. That’s the energy also urgently needed right now.