
15 tweets about reopening schools you should read right now
By Robin ZlotnickUpdated
While Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos try to force schools to open in the fall, teachers, parents, and almost everyone else think it's a terrible idea. We have not curbed the spread of COVID-19...at all...so it's unclear why they think it will be safe for hundreds of young germ machines plus teachers and administrators and support staff to pour into stuffy buildings with no plan to keep everyone safe.
It's going to be a disaster, and people are doing whatever they can, including tweeting, to spread the word about how dangerous reopening schools will be. These tweets prove that it's absolutely too dangerous to open schools and that if we do so, we'll be putting the lives of adults and children in danger.
Schools will cancel over the threat of bad weather but they expect your kids on the bus during a global pandemic.
— 🌊🇺🇸MIKE CHANEY 🇺🇸🌊 (@ChaneysPunkRock) July 25, 2020
Some schools cancel even if there's the chance that there might be snow because someone could get hurt on the way there or home. But now that a global pandemic has hit, the president wants to force students and teachers back in the classroom even though there is pretty much the certainty that that will result in multiple deaths.
Here...here is why teachers are scared. pic.twitter.com/SFbpqBWpgr
— Dave Gorman (@_davegorman) July 12, 2020
We haven't done anything to meaningfully "flatten the curve." If we closed schools at the beginning of the pandemic when things were just ramping up, it makes no sense to send everyone back in the lion's den now that things are way worse.
Kids cough like this in public and the government thinks it’s a good idea to open schools back up. Yeah ok pic.twitter.com/ySh1vJJdFa
— K!M 🕸 (@Kimberlyquin98) July 9, 2020
Have you ever been around children? They's supremely gross. They never remember to cover their faces when they cough or sneeze, and many won't agree to wear masks all day. The common cold spreads like wildfire in schools. COVID-19 will spread even more rapidly.
The fact that going back to school in a month has encouraged me to finally finalize a will...
— Wait...what? 😒 (@TeachingHS) July 12, 2020
What the actual fuck, @BetsyDeVosED, @FLOTUS, and @realDonaldTrump? #backtoschool2020 #ReopeningSchools
Teachers around the country are anticipating being forced back into the classroom, so many are finalizing their wills in case they die. It is absolutely psychotic that this is happening in the U.S. We don't value teachers; we don't consider them full human beings with lives.
Hmmm that’s a tough one? Can l use a calculator? #ReopeningSchools #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/V3WIs4jrh9
— Toby Price (@jedipadmaster) July 11, 2020
Does Betsy DeVos know how schools work? Kids don't sit in one spot all day and only come into contact with a limited number of people. Kids filter through different classrooms all day. They pass by hundreds of kids and teachers and staff members in the hall and the cafeteria and different classrooms. It's impossible to keep people socially distanced in a school that's operating normally.
My high school couldn’t even keep soap and toilet paper restocked. You really think they’re going to be able to sanitize schools properly to reopen?
— Haley (@Winklahh) July 9, 2020
Before the pandemic, many many schools did not have enough funds to keep their facilities properly stocked and cleaned. Without extra support, how does anyone think these processes are going to be able to change?
It’s good to know the powerful United States economy depends on public schools.
— Michael Smith Supt (@principalspage) July 8, 2020
Now explain why public schools have to hold fundraisers, bake sales, and have students donate Kleenex.
This! This! This! Schools are massively underfunded. If they had a fraction of the support that oh, I don't know, police departments do, maybe schools would have a chance of being able to plan to keep everyone safe. But that's not happening.
The speed we went from “Teachers are underappreciated, we should pay them triple!” to “Get in the classroom and watch the children so we can get back to work, even if it kills you” is quite breathtaking.
— Mattie B 🏳️🌈 (@stoodle) July 8, 2020
Teachers are under-appreciated. They are underpaid. They deserve so much more than they get. And now, the president is basically saying that he doesn't care whether or not they die on the job. If they weren't getting paid enough before, they definitely do not get paid enough to risk their lives.
Can’t keep 900 baseball players safe with almost unlimited resources but sure we can protect millions of kids jammed into schools where teachers have to raise money on GoFundMe for like pencils and shit.
— Joshua Holland 🔥 (@JoshuaHol) July 27, 2020
The MLB attempted to protect their players and open up, and they experienced COVID-19 outbreaks. Schools definitely don't have the resources of the MLB, which is comprised entirely of adults. It's going to be so much harder to keep millions of kids safe. It just won't work.
Something that has become so disappointingly obvious as we try to safely reopen schools is the # of people who seem to think teachers are just cogs, as opposed to human beings with families, needs, and fear about the future. The school reopening debate needs to be about them too.
— Richie Taylor (@richietaylor) July 29, 2020
This is huge. Many people, Betsy DeVos included, are using the argument that kids don't get COVID-19 at the rate that adults do, so most of them will be safe when schools reopen. Even if that's true (which it very well may not be), no one is considering the teachers, administrators, and support staff that are in school with kids every single day. What about their health and the health of their families?
School districts after the U.S. government advises them to reopen schools pic.twitter.com/ZGoN5hZSv6
— Christian Alsis (@christianalsis) July 28, 2020
Betsy DeVos is consistent...ly terrible at her job. If she makes a suggestion, you can pretty safely bet that the best thing to do is the opposite of whatever she said.
school board: it’s completely safe for kids to go back to school
— Laurazepam (@andlikelaura) July 17, 2020
teachers: so you met in person to discuss this
school board: lmao what are you nuts of course not
School boards are meeting over Zoom to talk about schools reopening in person. Do you understand how ridiculous that is? They won't even meet in person. What makes them think throwing open school doors for in-person learning will be safer?
We closed schools and made everyone except essential workers stay home. Kids didn’t get COVID. Once again, many assumed this meant they *couldnt* and now kids are sick & dying.
— Ellie Murray (@EpiEllie) July 25, 2020
We CANNOT keep making this mistake! We don’t learn what’s possible, solely from what has happened!! https://t.co/5RFRv9m1yr
This is a very important point. Kids haven't been getting COVID-19 at the rate adults have. Maybe that's because they're more immune somehow, or maybe that's because we closed schools very early and limited their exposure. Little kids are increasingly being infected with the virus and dying. There will be much more of that if schools open.
Could we stop saying “reopen schools” and instead say “reopen school buildings”? Because there were a lot of us teaching and guiding student learning, coaching, giving feedback...for months after buildings closed.
— Jennifer Ansbach (@JenAnsbach) July 9, 2020
Lots of teachers worked very hard to make sure they could provide some sort of remote learning once schools closed down in the spring. We could have invested resources into making that a more viable long-term option rather than just pushing for buildings to open. But most districts haven't even seriously considered that option.
so schools can’t force students to wear a mask... but they can force girls to cover up when they wear a spaghetti strap tank top??? ok.
— jocelyn flores (@notjoss) July 15, 2020
The mask debate is so strange. It's become a political statement to wear or require a mask when really, it's a less intrusive requirement than most school dress codes. Any parents who resist a mask mandate in schools but don't fight against sexist school dress codes have their priorities all muddled.