When school buildings reopen, many teachers might not be there.
About 18 percent of all teachers are . That age group in the United States due to COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although adults who are 65 and older are most at risk. Teachers with underlying medical conditions, such as asthma or diabetes, are also at high risk for severe illness caused by the coronavirus.
Teachers are in close quarters with dozens of students throughout the school day, and new studies have suggested that . As the national conversation on safely reopening schools accelerates, experts have said that the best way to protect vulnerable teachers might be to not have them in school buildings at all.
鈥淢ost teachers care about the kids and their learning鈥攖his is a huge priority for us, but we鈥檙e also individuals and have our own health concerns,鈥� said Dawn, a math teacher with asthma who requested that her last name and name of her school not be used. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 sign up to be nurses on the front lines.鈥�
President Donald Trump twice in recent days, saying at a virtual town hall that while he thinks students will be fine when schools reopen, the 鈥渂igger problem鈥� will be teachers who are older or have underlying medical issues.
鈥淚 do worry about teachers at a certain age,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淪tudents are going to be fine. 鈥� But if you have a teacher that鈥檚 65 or 70 years old and has diabetes, that one, I think, they鈥檙e going to have to sit it out for a little while unless we come up with the vaccine sooner.鈥�
In addition to age, the CDC lists asthma, chronic lung disease, diabetes, serious heart conditions, chronic kidney disease, severe obesity, immunocompromised conditions, and liver disease as .
Think tanks and teachers鈥� unions alike have floated proposed solutions to keep vulnerable teachers safe, such as offering them early retirement, reassigning them to virtual jobs, or letting them teach remotely while their students are in the school building supervised by another staff member. But as states and school districts begin to conceptualize what reopening schools in the fall will look like, high-risk teachers are left anxious about their health and what it means for their jobs.
鈥淲ith all the uncertainty about what school might look like in the fall, the idea that I and 800,000 other older teachers might not be there had not registered for me,鈥� said Larry Ferlazzo, a 60-year-old teacher in Sacramento and an . 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a good feeling to think that I might not be in the classroom in the fall. It鈥檚 certainly not what I signed up for.鈥�
But at the same time, he said, he wants to stay healthy. Ferlazzo said he鈥檚 waiting to hear what his district leaders are planning in terms of safety measures for students and staff鈥攁nd he hopes teachers will be consulted.
鈥楲ots of Sleepless Nights鈥�
Cossondra George, a middle school math teacher in Newberry, Mich., has asthma and will turn 59 in August. The thought of returning to school in the fall has led to 鈥渓ots of sleepless nights.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 really concerned about my health, I鈥檓 concerned about my students鈥� health,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 just feel like opening schools back up has to be a really well-thought-out process.鈥�
But so far, when it comes to maintaining social distance in the classroom, 鈥渢here are so many more questions than there are answers in my mind,鈥� George said.
She鈥檚 worried about how to keep six feet of distance between everyone in a crowded classroom, and how to make sure her 7th graders comply with the safety measures. At the same time, continuing to teach remotely isn鈥檛 an appealing option, either: She has been frustrated with distance learning, and said she doesn鈥檛 feel like it鈥檚 the same quality of instruction that she can provide face-to-face.
Even so, 鈥淚鈥檓 not ready to retire, I鈥檓 just not,鈥� George said. 鈥淚 love what I do. ... I don鈥檛 want somebody else to make that decision, and I don鈥檛 want my health to make that decision.鈥�
Offering early retirement to at-risk teachers or staff has been proposed by the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank in Washington. , this could also be a cost-saving measure for districts, which are expected to face steep budget cuts that could lead to teacher layoffs.
鈥淵ou want it to be one option among multiple options,鈥� said Frederick Hess, the director of education policy studies at AEI and one of the authors of the report. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 really want to see us pushing educators out of the profession. That鈥檚 not preferred.鈥�
Ideally, he said, districts could reassign at-risk teachers to jobs that could be done from home, such as one-on-one remote tutoring or mentoring. This might mean changing teachers鈥� job descriptions, which could require negotiations between the teachers鈥� union and the school district, said Hess, who also writes an opinion blog on edweek.org.
Still, early retirement would be 鈥渂etter than layoffs,鈥� Hess said. And the priority, he said, should be on reopening schools quickly.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to argue that kids and families should have their schools remain closed when 75 to 80 percent of adults are not at risk,鈥� he said.
鈥業鈥檓 Trying to Weigh My Options鈥�
Already, Nampa Christian School, a small private school in Idaho, . Teachers who are at higher risk for illness are continuing to teach from home, while students in their classrooms learn via Chromebooks under the supervision of a substitute teacher.
When more schools reopen, it will likely be in a hybrid model, with some remote learning still happening, said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers. Schools might adopt a staggered scheduling approach, in which groups of students take turns coming to school to make it easier to maintain social distance, and vulnerable teachers could deliver remote instruction to the students at home.
At-risk teachers also could remotely teach the students who are staying home because they have high-risk medical conditions, or who have been exposed to the coronavirus and are in quarantine. Weingarten said early retirements could also be an option, as long as teachers鈥� pensions are protected.
鈥淚n a situation where people carry the virus asymptomatically, ... we鈥檙e going to have to have all these different options for kids, as well as teachers,鈥� Weingarten said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 not put people who may be immunocompromised in a scary or threatening position.鈥�
School districts for employees with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and underlying health issues could qualify right now, she said.
However, the ADA does not require employers to provide accommodations for employees who live with someone in a high-risk group, and teachers who fall in this category would not be legally protected from refusing to work. Those teachers might be able to take paid or unpaid leave, AFT has said, depending on their collective bargaining agreement, state executive orders, and their employer.
This has left many teachers worried about not just themselves, but their loved ones.
Julie, an elementary school computer science teacher who requested that her last name and the name of her school not be used, said her husband is 57 and has an upper respiratory disease. If he contracted COVID-19, he might not survive, she said.
The thought of returning to her job in an elementary computer lab keeps her awake at night. She sees more than 400 children a week, and 鈥渢hey touch everything.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to weigh my options,鈥� she said. 鈥淚s the risk worth my husband鈥檚 health and well-being? 鈥� I don鈥檛 know how I could do this job remotely. It鈥檚 really a personal decision I鈥檓 going to have to make.鈥�
