NEA asks governors to prioritize teachers for vaccination
The National Education Association has sent a letter to the National Governors Association urging governors across the country to prioritize teachers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
It’s a message that Michigan Education Association Local 1 President Mary Campbell agrees with.
“It’s a good plan. It’s very similar to what Gov. Whitmer is trying to do to make teachers a high priority,” Campbell said. “Gov. Whitmer already made teachers a priority, now they have to go to the states and the counties that aren’t making it a priority.”
Local 1 represents much of Macomb County’s school systems, including Anchor Bay, Armada, Center Line, Chippewa Valley, Clintondale, Fraser, Lakeview, L’Anse Creuse, Mount Clemens, New Haven, Richmond, Romeo, South Lake and Warren Woods as well as Grosse Pointe and Harper Woods.
“One hundred percent it would make your staff, your whole staff, feel more comfortable returning to school,” Campbell added. “Everyone wants to be back, we just have to do it safety. Nobody wants to teach in front of a computer screen. But we all need to be safe.”
“I strongly encourage districts to provide as much face-to-face learning as possible, and my administration will work closely with them to get it done,” Whit
mer said in a statement in January. “As rapid testing access expands, we have even more tools to makes schools safer for students, educators and other staff.”
The letter, which is addressed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, who is the chairman of the NGA, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the governor of Arkansas and vice-chairman of the NGA, asks governors across to the country to prioritize teachers to allow students to return to classrooms at a safe but faster pace. The letter is signed by Becky Pringle, the NEA president, and Kim Anderson, the NEA executive director
“The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to exacerbate the challenges facing K-12 public schools across the country. Throughout this crisis, educators have worked to ensure that students have access to the opportunity to learn — and there is nowhere that educators would rather be than in-person, working with and supporting students,” the letter reads. “Like you, we want to be sure that students, families and educators are able to trust that schools are the safest place in the community. In December, the NEA called for educators — including teachers and all staff working in schools — to receive priority in the vaccination process — we reiterated that call last month, and do so again today, to help facilitate a safe and equitable return to in-person learning. To date, several states have placed educators in a high-priority group, and we greatly appreciate both the effort and acknowledgement that ensuring educators are vaccinated is critical to the mitigation strategies
laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As leader of the National Governors Association, we urge you to urge all of your members to prioritize educators in your state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan.”
In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has set March 1 as a target date for state public schools to offer at least some level of in-person instruction for students in K-12.
Tuesday, the MEA also offered its support for the NEA letter.
“We support that. I believe the governor supports it as well,” MEA spokesperson David Crim said. “The quicker we can get all of our educators vaccinated, the more comfortable everyone would feel with inperson learning.”
Crim said the MEA membership, about 120,000 across the state, have concerns about returning to school, not just for themselves but other family members.
“A number of our educators across the state have pre-existing conditions or parents and grandparents who live with them. So it’s not just about the teachers themselves,” Crim added.
Macomb County schools have been all over the map in terms of in-person instruction. Some offered inperson instruction in September only to have it shut down in November as COVID-19 cases spiked in the state. In 2021, most school districts started at least some in-person instruction, with the largest school districts being the last to do so. Currently, most Macomb County public schools are offering at least a hybrid platform (in-person and virtual) that has allowed students to return to school buildings at least part-time. Warren Consolidated, with the third largest enrollment in the
county, was the last to resume in-person classes at its high schools this week.
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published revised guidance regarding COVID mitigation strategies and noted in those educators should be given high priority in early phases of vaccination distribution, in part due to their work being critical to the continued functioning of society and the potential occupational risk of exposure. Based on this latest guidance, the NEA told the governors with the proper mitigation practices consistently in place, schools can be safe for in-person learning.
The NEA asserted that while about half of the states have placed educators in the priority queue for vaccination, there’s still a great opportunity to build on that good work of prioritizing educators for vaccinations, to ensure a safe and healthy return to inperson instruction. In a recent NEA survey of educators, a strong majority (70%) indicate that being vaccinated will make them feel safer in returning to inperson instruction and that they would like to be vaccinated before returning to the classroom. The NEA did not provide data comparing Michigan to other states in the country regarding teacher vaccinations.
The NEA said almost that same number of educators (68%) indicate they face difficulty in scheduling a vaccination — in part due to state prioritization guidelines. It added the difficulty in access could be addressed by prioritizing educators for vaccination, which would also go a long way in combating the fear many have for their safety and the safety of their own families upon returning to in-person learning.
“We must work together to ensure accurate information
and access reaches educators regarding the vaccine separately, in order to build such trust among Black, Brown, and Indigenous educators – many of whom are hesitant to become vaccinated. We have to confront this issue and turn it around,” the letter said.
A survey conducted by the Michigan Education Association released earlier this month indicated Macomb County was lagging behind much of the state regarding educators receiving the vaccine. Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, while dedicating a community-based county COVID-19 vaccination site in Sterling Heights on Wednesday, reiterated senior citizens are the top priority in Macomb County. He said science and data have indicated senior citizens are the most vulnerable, with those 60 years of age and older accounting for 90% of COVID-19 deaths.
“Our focus in Macomb County will continue to be how do we get as much access to vaccines for senior citizens, because we do understand the data and the science,” Hackel said. “So it may cause concern for others who think they should be first in line because they have access because it’s been opened to them. And I get that. If we had more vaccines, we could make more opportunities for every category that is available. If we were to get 50,000 doses per week (county average is 5,000 per week), we could do separate clinics for teachers, for police officers and firefighters, people with disabilities, people that are Uber drivers. I’ve heard from all walks of life from people that want to be vaccinated. But for some reason, we keep walking away from the data and the science.The people who are
the most vulnerable are 60 years old and over.”
But Mike DeVault, superintendent of the Macomb Intermediate School District, said Tuesday his office is receiving numerous calls this week from educators indicating they have been able to make appointments to receive the vaccine as Macomb County received an increased amount of doses (7,000) for this week.
DeVault also revealed the MISD will be partnering with Henry Ford hospitals to deliver 200 doses of the Moderna vaccine to teachers from three school districts on Friday. The doses were offered to Mount Clemens Community Schools, Clintondale Community Schools, the New Haven Community Schools and some MISD special education teachers. All of the appointments are spoken for. DeVault hopes the program can be extended to other school district employees soon.
“We’re excited about it,” DeVault said. “Anything we can do to help, we will do.”
The letter concluded with the NEA asking governors to follow CDC guidelines to prioritize teachers for vaccination.
“Like you, we want educators to be back in school buildings, with our students — but we must do so safely, and the only way to do that is to fully implement the strategies identified by the CDC, including prioritizing educators for vaccination. We know we can count on you to take steps to ensure that students and educators are a high priority in every state. We thank the Governors who have done so thus far and look forward to working with all Governors in partnership with our state affiliates to get educators vaccinated for a safe, healthy return to inperson learning.