Union: Few teachers back full fall opening

A day after the governor told the public that 81 percent of public school teachers intend to return to in-class learning in the fall, a new teacher survey says most educators prefer a mixture of in-person and online learning.

“We need to listen to the concerns of our educators, parents, community members, and health experts during a life-threatening pandemic,” said Jeff Leake, president of the Connecticut Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.

The union polled around 16,000 members last week and found nearly three-quarters oppose a state push to fully reopen schools without what they consider the necessary protections for students and educators.

Lamont and Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona directed school districts to plan for a full reopening of school in the fall along with two alternative options based on the state’s COVID-19 infection rate at the time school resumes.

Many school superintendents have expressed concern that a full return to school may be impractical given space and social-distancing requirements. On Monday, both Lamont and Cardona seemed to acknowledge that many schools may have to open with a blend of in-person and at-home learning, at least to start.

Lamont, however, citing preliminary results of a Connecticut re-open survey said three quarters of students and 81 percent of staff were expected to attend.

That statistic left many teachers, Leake included, confused.

“Our teachers want to go back, but for us it is all about safety,” Leake said.

State officials on Tuesday would not say how the 192 school superintendents completing the state’s survey reached the conclusion that four out of five teachers are expected in the classroom in the fall.

The CEA survey found that as of now, 16 percent of teachers would prefer to return to school in the fall, 39 percent support a so-called hybrid approach, which includes a combination of inschool and distance learning, and 46 percent favor continued distance learning.

“We can’t expect to reopen our schools in a usual fashion,” Leake said. “Especially as new evidence demonstrates that school-age children 10 years and older spread the virus as readily as adults.”

After the state issued a 50-page reopening guideline for districts to follow in late June, the CEA countered with a plan of its own that called for schools to stay closed until public health and safety requirements can be met, all COVID-related expenses are covered and weekly COVID testing is conducted of students, teachers and staff.

Teachers surveyed want schools to have the options of a mixture of in-school and distance learning, or full-time remote learning depending on COVID infection rates.

A number of the more than 200 district plans submitted to the state on July 24, favor schedules that rotate students into school. Others would seem to require teachers to instruct students both in school and at home simultaneously.

Leake said 15,882 of some 40,000 CEA members completed the survey — a strong indication of the importance of the issue.

Of those responding, 97 percent want students and educators to be able to physically 6 six feet apart in classrooms, gyms and school buses.

Some 96 percent want everyone to wear masks, even though most suspect it will be difficult for students to keep masks on all day.

Ninty-five percent want there to be COVID-19 testing protocols at each school and nine in 10 want bus monitors hired to help enforce social distancing rules on school buses. The vast majority of teachers say school buses should run at half capacity.

Nearly two out of three teachers worry that their school’s ventilation system is not adequate.

Most teachers see distance learning as “somewhat” effective so far. All had to pivot to online learning without warning when in-person classes came to an abrupt halt in mid-March.

“We have to do a better job at distance learning than we did in March,” Leake said. “I think most districts are ready to do a better job but it all comes down do we have the devices out to the kids. We are still concerned.”

Nearly 30 percent of educators who answered the survey say the pandemic has made them consider leaving the profession.

On Thursday, the CEA is organizing car caravans through their local affiliates for teachers to drive through town in an attempt to urge the governor and state Department of Education to change their plans for the fall.