Twin Cities educators on Friday called on Gov. Tim Walz to delay a return to in-person instruction in the fall, saying the risks of reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic are too great.
The St. Paul and Minneapolis teachers unions organized a march from J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School to the governor’s residence. Walking alongside parents and students, some carried signs that read “I can’t teach from a grave” and “Exactly how many dead kids is acceptable?”
Educators are demanding the state continue with distance learning until it meets a series of public health and safety benchmarks. They also want the hiring of more staff, economic and health support for families and schools, and improvements to school buildings.
“With the school year approaching, SPFE and MFT know that these conditions cannot all be met and are calling for distance learning to take place at the start of the year,” the unions said in a joint statement.
Their petition is approaching 10,000 signatures, St. Paul union president Nick Faber said.
Education Minnesota released a survey of teachers union members Thursday that found 49 percent of educators statewide want to start the new school year working from home.
Walz and his education department will announce Thursday whether Minnesota’s schools can reopen in the fall and under what conditions.
The American Academy of Pediatrics last month endorsed a return to in-person instruction.
But U.S. coronavirus case numbers are accelerating, and many parents are reluctant to send their children back to school. Thirty-six percent of parents responding to a recent state Department of Education survey said they’re uncomfortable or unsure about sending their kids back to class.
A separate survey of St. Paul Public Schools families found 26 percent plan to choose distance learning if schools open back up, and another 43 percent are undecided.
Minerva Cotorra, a mother of two students in the Minneapolis district, said reopening schools is too risky without a full two weeks of declining coronavirus cases and access to adequate personal protective equipment.
“This is not a game,” Cotorra said. “It is a virus that thousands of people have died from. I do not want our children to be part of these statistics.”
Intensive care nurse Mary Turner pleaded for decision makers to put the health and safety of staff and students first, saying she began treating elderly patients with COVID-19 in March but since has seen younger and younger patients.
“Please, please do not let the next trend that I see in my ICU be our teachers, our front-line school workers and, God forbid, our children,” she said.
