The Truth About Fall Learning: a teacher's sugar-free take

I am an English teacher at Somerville High School. I have been a teacher for going on twenty-five years, three in Catholic school before returning to my alma mater in 1999. My husband (also an English teacher) retired from Somerville High School in 2003 and my father (a sheet metal teacher) retired from Somerville Public Schools in 1988. Both my husband and I are also adjunct faculty at a community college. Nearly every day, someone not in education asks me how I feel about going back to school. Frankly, I’m tired of listening to people like the commissioner of education in MA and the governor talk about schools in ways that belie the real issues. 

When I heard commissioner Riley say in a recent interview in the Boston Globe that “Some have questioned the motivations of the teachers unions,” it makes me bristle. To be fair, I’m not the biggest fan of MTA president Merrie Najimy because of how much she politicizes the work we do. But they both do it. Meanwhile, both are avoiding or outright ignoring the issues behind why so many of us are pushing to be fully remote. Riley implies that we just want to sit home and get paid, ignoring the plight of families, as if thousands of union members aren’t having the same struggles at home.

I do not have children. But I do have a husband having unplanned surgery next week when we start school. And I do have an autoimmune disease and have many medical appointments, including monthly IV infusions at home. The outliers in our profession who don’t want to work hard and brag about the summers “off” – don’t get me started on that argument – are just that: outliers. And guess what? They weren’t working hard when we were in person. Don’t we all have those co-workers? If Riley is concerned that these people will be doing a disservice to students, they are. And they have been. But there are very, very few of them in my experience. There’s a lot of accountability in the work we do and it makes people work hard and in the best interest of students and families. 

Here’s what missing from the discussion: talk about infrastructure. The current MA dept. of education’s answer (in its Frequently Asked Questions document) states that “If a student shows symptoms, he or she will be quarantined away from all students and staff until a parent or family member is able to pick him or her up.” Has the commissioner ever considered how many students in a given day and in a given school have symptoms that are consistent with COVID? Kids sneeze, cough, and sniffle their way through school all the time. I send one-two students per class period every day to the nurse. They don’t tell me why they want to go (nor should they). And once there, the nurse has to make the determination if the student should be tested.

Let’s say that ten students a day have some kind of symptom that warrants a test. I don’t know of ANY school that has ten empty rooms to send kids to until a parent/guardian can pick them up. We don’t have ONE extra room, let alone ten. Now let’s think about the nurse’s office itself. That student goes to the nurse where there are already other kids there. Some don’t feel well or are there for other reasons: headache, bloody nose, medication dispensation (which is done through the nurse because they aren’t supposed to be carrying meds around with them), allergic reaction to something, etc. Now all of those students are exposed to student A coming in. Let’s assume the best scenario, that the nurse stops that student before entering, makes a quick assessment, and finds space to isolate the child until pickup happens. Now that nurse has been exposed and yes, is wearing PPE, but has to return to tend to the other students who need attention. Also, that’s where the additional PPE is to change into and to clean up. Student A gets picked up. Who is going into that isolation room to clean it? The same nurse who is seeing other sick students. I assure you the custodians want no part of this. It’s not their job any more than it’s the teachers’ job. And that’s just dealing with student A’s situation. Meanwhile, those other nine students are coming in over the course of the day. See the problem? 

I’ve listened in on every virtual school committee meeting in Somerville since this started. At the July 27 meeting, one parent identifying as a medical professional said something along the lines of “there is not one documented case of a child transmitting the disease to an adult.” Huh?? Here’s another: “I work with COVID patients every day. Neither I nor any of my colleagues have gotten sick. That’s because PPE works.” Yes. PPE does work, but in a medical setting. Hospitals have the structure in place to handle this. And she is dealing with a far smaller number of patients each day. High school teachers see up to one hundred students a day in their classroom, not to mention how many we interact with in the hallways. We have two school nurses for twelve hundred students. Even cutting those numbers in half to account for what many school districts are doing means I still see more students outside of those structures that hospitals and doctors’ offices have than a doctor or nurse does in a day. 

Now let’s think about this statement from the DESE: “We have the benefit of learning from school re-openings in a number of countries.” Yup. We do. And those are all countries that took far greater measures than this country has, all except Brazil. Are we using their model? No. Why? Because they are just like us. The places that were doing the right things at the national level are the ones we’re comparing ourselves to. The problem is we’re not doing anything else that those countries are doing, which, incidentally, is why we aren’t allowed to travel pretty much anywhere outside our own borders. Just as there are the anti-maskers and the COVID-is-a-hoax contingent in the “real world,” those people have children. And they will send their kids to school without masks. I don’t feel comfortable policing kids to wear masks.

Then there’s this from the FAQ doc: “Will schools have new practices in place for cleaning the school? Yes. The federal and state governments have made money available to schools for COVID-19-related costs, including more thorough and frequent cleaning of the school building.” HA! Wave a magic wand and it’s done. Nope. So many problems here, not the least of which is the assumption that custodians and/or cleaning crews are willing to absorb this new risk. Their unions have legitimate claims here. And let’s say that they all say, “Ok. We’re in. We don’t mind.” Now what? Are they coming into every classroom in the four minutes between classes to disinfect so another batch of twenty – thirty can come in? Because I’m not doing it. OK, let’s say we give the kids fifteen minutes between classes to allow for cleaning time. Where are the students going during this time? They’ll be congregating nearby, waiting. AND we’ll have to extend the school day because we’re not meeting the time on learning requirement. And that’s another problem for every single union: teachers and counselors, custodians/cleaning crews, cafeteria workers, secretaries, and administrators. This is getting exhausting, isn’t it, thinking about all of this? I know I’m tired. But then, we (teachers) have been doing all the thinking for the commissioner and the governor. Apparently, they are willfully ignorant. 

Lastly, let’s talk about ventilation. We have two schools in Somerville that do not have air-conditioning or any kind of ventilation. Other school systems have far more than that. Opening windows for circulation is a fallacy. Also, because the MA public sector works on a “lowest bidder” model, how many public buildings that do have air-conditioning have been properly maintained, do you think? When compressors die, do they get replaced? How often do you think filters are changed? How often are these systems maintained? The answer to most of these is no or not often. Equipment fails, contracts lapse, and/or old systems use equipment that isn’t available anymore or isn’t supported anymore. Why? Because when taking the lowest bidder is the law, that means procuring inexpensive equipment and systems to begin with. It’s like Marshall’s, only for whole building projects. 

Aside from infrastructure, there’s the social-emotional piece. That is a very real concern and I don’t have a good answer for that other than to say that every family has to weigh which is worse, little to no peer interaction or potentially being exposed to a deadly virus. If you can access this thread on Twitter,  emergency psychiatrist, pharmacologist, and suicidologist Dr. Tyler Black addresses this very issue: https://twitter.com/tylerblack32/status/1286713750624641027 

Parents and guardians, justifiably, have concerns about virtual learning because of how it all played out in the spring. Then, virtual attendance was optional, doing work was pretty much optional, and in Somerville as in many, many communities, no one could earn less than a 60 for the fourth quarter. Computers and/or the internet were not as ubiquitous as the situation demanded. We weren’t reaching all families and it was a scramble to remedy that. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Every single person was dealing with too many variables with the disease as the constant. Normally in a crisis, people look to the leaders in a particular area for guidance. In this instance, the leaders (not talking about the president because that’s too big of a failing to even get into) didn’t have pandemic training, understandably. And again, it’s rare that something that affects the “little people” hits the “people at the top” as well. 

Now, though, things are different. Teachers (in Somerville, anyway) have been working tirelessly since the day the book on School Year 19/20 closed. Hundreds of us took part in committee work and/or professional development to make this year the best it can be. The committees have worked on equity, engagement, communication, and much more. The professional development has helped us learn how to teach synchronously and asynchronously, what platforms work best and which ones we should use to simplify things, and again – always at the forefront – equity and inclusion. The central office has held community meetings in six languages to get input from families. The School Committee continued to meet over the summer, even though they usually don’t. The unions have stayed engaged over the summer to work on memoranda of agreement (MOAs) to accommodate the changes so there will be no interruption in learning. Meals and social-emotional supports remained in place over the summer, and summer programs ran virtually. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Mayor Curtatone who has continued to champion safety, even against the wishes of a governor who talks a lot about the “facts on the ground” while choosing which facts he can ignore. Mayor Joe is the reason why Somerville’s numbers are excellent.

When students return to school (again, in Somerville, since I can’t speak for other districts), we will be fully remote. At the high school, we will be remote until we move into the new building. Grades will count as they always have. Attendance will count as it always has. However, there are far more social-emotional supports than there were. The first week or so with kids will focus heavily on community building and less on academics before we move toward more rigorous learning. The staff has been trained to provide rich instruction virtually. There are new student dean positions whose job it will be to look closely at all students’ progress and intervene at the first signs of a problem and I don’t just mean academics. We are in a much better place than we were when we (and all districts) were asked to change public education on a dime. 

Will students get a good education? I think so. Authentic learning will happen. What is lost for some will be gained for others. There will still be kinks to be worked out, ones that haven’t been seen yet. But all in all, kids will learn. 

Please know that I love my job and I understand the position this puts families in, and that it is hardest for those in poor communities, multi-ethnic communities, and more. I understand that so, so many families rely on schools for meals, support services, health services and so much more beyond “just” education. But I also know that too much is being asked of schools right now. When offices are telling employees to expect to work from home until next June, like Mass General has, or next September (as in the case of my friend’s son in the finance sector), why do we think it’s ok to say, “Ok kids! You’re going back”? Asking schools to bear the burden of the systemic problems that make families so dependent on schools is a bridge too far. 

~~

Lisa Brewster-Cook has been teaching for going on twenty-five years, three in a Catholic school before returning to her alma mater of Somerville High School in 1999. She comes from a family of teachers; her father (a sheet metal teacher) retired from Somerville Public Schools in 1988 and two of her cousins are public school teachers. Also, her husband is a retired public school teacher. Both she and her husband are also adjunct faculty at a community college.