Teachers not only ones who had it tough

For the immunocompromised, life during the pandemic remains a nightmare, even with the COVID vaccine. While breakthrough cases among those who’ve gotten the jab have not been serious, that’s not the case for those with fragile immune systems. Extra caution remains the name of the game.

So it’s no wonder that educators in this subgroup of Massachusetts teachers would seek early retirement. We don’t know when the pandemic will end, how many more variants will spread, and what wild card effect the unvaxxed will have on further spread.

However, for teachers not in this category, those who are looking at another year’s slog, or longer at a pace dictated by the pandemic — you are far from alone.

Pass any hospital with doctors and nurses pulling ungodly shifts, tending to a fresh surge in COVID patients after a grueling year. Or have a chat with a delivery person — any delivery person — about fatigue and long hours. In that vein, retail workers, especially those who staffed grocery stores and kept the shelves stocked, could share some war stories.

But according to Massachusetts teachers, it doesn’t hurt to ask, even if they haven’t worked out the details.

As the Herald’s Alexi Cohan reported, dozens of Massachusetts educators of retirement age advocated for an early retirement bill during a Wednesday virtual hearing.

Teachers who struggled to adapt to remote work during the pandemic or who are at high risk for coronavirus complications pushed for legislation that would allow them to purchase years of service or age while also creating opportunities to usher in a new set of hires.

Jeanne DeRosa, a high school math teacher in Burlington, told the committee, “At the end of the school year, I’ll have five years left until retirement, and I honestly don’t know how I’m going to be able to continue teaching at this pace for five years. The pandemic is not over.”

Under the legislation, eligible teachers could retire early by purchasing up to five years of service or up to five years of age, or a combination of the two as long as it doesn’t exceed 10 years.

Questions about the cost of early retirement still hung in the air.

It’s not like Massachusetts teachers haven’t been driving the bus since the pandemic shuttered schools.

Last August, when it seemed viable to return to classrooms in the fall, the focus was on social distancing and air quality.

As WCVB reported, schools around Massachusetts updated their heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Teachers unions called for regular and independent air quality checks.

School districts in Massachusetts turned to ionization equipment, HEPA filters and even box fans to boost air quality. Worcester Public Schools spent $15 million to upgrade its HVAC systems.

Yet schools continued either remote learning, or a hybrid model.

Then the dance between the CDC’s call for a return to school without teacher vaccination, and teachers’ stance on vaccinations began. First teachers said they weren’t necessary for a return, then they were.

The year may have been marked by a tough pace for teachers, but consider the upheaval it caused parents, who had to juggle work, if they still had jobs, with directing children’s studies at home. Those lucky enough to find time took to the streets to protest teachers staying out of the classroom.

Where is their sweet deal?