Teachers in Minneapolis and St. Paul schools marched to the governor’s residence on Summit Ave. Friday afternoon to send a strong message: do not reopen schools.
“I would not want to put any of those families, any of those students in harm’s way,” science teacher and president of the St. Paul teachers’ union Nick Faber said.
Teachers rallying at JJ Hill School said not only do they fear for the health and safety of their students, their students’ families and their own, they do not feel prepared for whatever reopening schools may look like.
“Guess what? We don’t want to teach over Zoom,” Greta Callahan, kindergarten teacher and president of the Minneapolis teachers’ union, said. “We can’t wait to be back to in-person learning, but our students’ lives are too important to be sacrificed so that the economy can reopen.”
Callahan also said this fight represents a much larger one.
“Why on Earth would we go back and risk our lives for a system that has devalued and defunded public education for three decades,” she said to applause from the dozens of marchers. Dozens more teachers took part in a “caravan march” by car.
They’re calling for hiring more staff and investing in cleaning and capital improvements.
But teachers also criticized the highest levels of the education department in Washington for failing to listen to teachers and staff, connecting this latest situation to a longtime fight for resources in schools.
“We demand the federal government release our funding to better prepare and support our students, families and staff” Minneapolis School Board Member Kimberly Caprini said. “If you don’t want to lead, then give us the resources and get the hell out of the way!”
CDC guidance released Thursday called for students to return to school citing their emotional wellbeing and academic progress unless there is a high rate of cases in the community.