Schools are closing because they don't have the staff to work. All the dedicated substitutes are covering long-term positions because educators have left because behavior has gotten so bad and COVID protocols require so much more documentation, and all their planning periods are gone covering staff who are out for doctor appointments, sick kids, family emergencies, flat tires, etc. Again, teachers teach because they want to help kids, not for the money. And Chicago isn't striking because they want more money, or even really because they feel threatened by COVID, but because their jobs have gotten so awful. Parents are suffering, kids are suffering, and teachers are suffering. Unfortunately your post, like almost every opinion I read, makes it seem like an all-or-nothing approach. I read a great article in The Atlantic today that described what we maybe should've been doing from the beginning, which is prioritizing families with high needs for in-person learning and sending others virtual. Wish we'd gone this way from the beginning... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/school-closures-america-britain/621168/
Schools are closing because they don't have the staff to work. All the dedicated substitutes are covering long-term positions because educators have left because behavior has gotten so bad and COVID protocols require so much more documentation, and all their planning periods are gone covering staff who are out for doctor appointments, sick kids, family emergencies, flat tires, etc. Again, teachers teach because they want to help kids, not for the money. And Chicago isn't striking because they want more money, or even really because they feel threatened by COVID, but because their jobs have gotten so awful. Parents are suffering, kids are suffering, and teachers are suffering. Unfortunately your post, like almost every opinion I read, makes it seem like an all-or-nothing approach. I read a great article in The Atlantic today that described what we maybe should've been doing from the beginning, which is prioritizing families with high needs for in-person learning and sending others virtual. Wish we'd gone this way from the beginning... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/school-closures-america-britain/621168/