Texas AFT kicked off School Safety Week launching a petition drive demanding that the governor take action to let local health authorities and school districts make the ultimate decisions on what will be safe in-person instruction.
"Our key objections to reopenings are directed at Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Education Commissioner Mike Morath," said Texas AFT President Zeph Capo. "Our current policies do not protect Texans. The only way you can protect yourselves, and your family is to vote them and their friends out of office." Texas AFT is urging its members to vote early and elect supporters of public education that will keep them and their communities safe.
Historically, National School Safety Week (Oct. 17-23) has drawn attention to school violence. However, the pandemic has made forcing educators, employees, and students back into unsafe school environments the focus of the week.
"More than 2,300 reports to our COVID-19 tracking site, stopthespreadtx.school, tell a story of inconsistent safety measures and varying levels of enforcement for basic precautions like masks and social distancing," Capo said. "Gov. Abbott and the TEA have listened to indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton rather than the expertise of local health officials and public school employees," Capo added.
