15 tweets about reopening schools you should read right now

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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? 

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 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?

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.

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.

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.