Perhaps the effects of a year of Zoom school are overstated. I can buy that. But couldn’t you also argue that the dangers of teaching in the classroom right now also might be overstated? My local mom-groups are convinced anyone who sends their kids back to school is actively trying to murder teachers.
How many teachers have been contact-traced and been showed to have gotten infected with COVID by a student in school? Of course that number gets higher if we force everyone back to school but nobody is advocating that. But the option to return to school with the current situation of plexiglass around teachers, limited movements in hallways, masks required, most classes less than half full, etc... isn’t any more dangerous than the situation restaurant staff, airline workers, grocery store cashiers, and dozens of other occupations are currently facing. Is teaching less important than any of those occupations?
There is certainly some level of danger there. There is risk. But the same can be said for lots of other industries who are currently back in work because the work needs to be done.
And it’s not a case of me constantly bitching about the education system and suddenly needing it. I’ve probably given more rep to Larry Spider over the years than I have to any other poster. I respect teachers and I love reading his insight to the system and correcting our assumptions about it. I have donated many hundreds of hours in my kids’ schools over the years. I respect the profession. But I also see my kids’ struggles right now with virtual school. It’s hard to accept that and to chalk it up as necessary to keep teachers safe when I’m back at work in crowded public spaces and seeing others all around me also back at work in jobs far less important than teaching.