Page 2 - aruba-today-20210201

A2 UP FRONT
Monday 1 February 2021
Continued from Front hot spot for contamination; dangerous." She said the
If his reopening goal is re- and more parents have coronavirus is not predict-
alized, millions of students front-line jobs that could able and that dangers are
might still have to keep expose them, and, in turn, heightened with the spread
learning from home, possi- their children, to the virus. of new mutations. Infection
bly for the rest of the school But he said the major ob- risks increase when people
year. stacle to reopening city gather indoors for long pe-
California was an epicen- schools is political. "The riods.
ter of infection in the first teachers unions tend to be Randi Weingarten, presi-
part of January, and public pretty obstinately opposed dent of the American Fed-
health officials say many of to going back to school," eration of Teachers, said
the state's districts are in ar- Jeffries said. it could be safe to return
eas where transmission re- In Chicago, only prekin- to schools in the spring se-
mains too high to reopen. dergartners have been in mester with rigorous testing
But a statewide group school so far. This week, the programs in place and the
called Open Schools Cali- In this Oct. 6, 2020, file photo, Christine Free teaches a remote Chicago Teachers Union option for students and ed-
music class during the coronavirus outbreak at the Osborn
fornia is pushing for reopen- School in Rye, N.Y. voted to teach online only ucators to remain online if
ing as soon as public health Associated Press in a showdown with the they choose to.
standards are met. district over plans to bring "Teachers know how impor-
"I think that data will bear third of students in a sam- clude Clark County, Ne- students to school starting tant in-person instruction
out that the children who ple of 1,200 U.S. school dis- vada, which includes Las Feb. 1. The union has au- is, but we have to make it
have been most disad- tricts were in schools where Vegas; Kansas City, Mis- thorized a strike if school safe. Testing and vaccina-
vantaged are going to be classes had been held ex- souri; Boston and the big officials retaliate, but nego- tion, as well as masking and
low-income children, Black clusively online since last Ohio school systems. tiations are continuing. distancing, are crucial, as
and brown children, chil- March — many of them in Younger students in New Claiborne Wade, 31, has are accommodations for
dren with special educa- cities. By last week, more York City already have the three children in the Chica- educators at risk," she said
tion, learning differences, than half of students were option to attend school in- go Public Schools system, in a statement last week.
homeless and foster youth," enrolled in schools where person. Mayor Bill de Bla- ages 10, 9 and 7. Wade be- Keith Benson, president of
said Megan Bacigalupi, a in-person learning was at sio said Friday that he ex- lieves the district is not quite the Camden Education As-
mother of students in the least an option, according pects middle school and ready to reopen schools, sociation, which represents
Oakland public schools to Burbio, a data service high school students back and he favors distance teachers in a New Jersey
and one of the organizers. tracking school-opening in some capacity later this learning for now. city with a long history of
It's hard to tally exactly how policies. school year. Even so, he said minor- poverty, crime and high
many schools are open in For the first time since shut- Jeffries acknowledges that ity students in large urban dropout rates, said condi-
person now because of the tering schools in March, At- there are reasons it's hard- districts have fewer re- tions are different in the city
size and diffuse nature of lanta began returning the er to open schools in cit- sources for online learning. than outside it. The schools
the nation's school system youngest and special edu- ies: They're more densely He's seen students from there plan to keep build-
— and because districts' cation students to some in- populated, meaning the more affluent schools get ings closed until at least
approaches change fre- person learning last week. virus can spread faster; a laptop and a tablet, and April.
quently. Other districts planning to more people rely on public even a desk, while his kids "What keeps someone safe
By early January, about a reopen by early March in- transportation, a potential only have a laptop to work in a suburban area is not
with. Having both a laptop the same thing that would
and tablet helps because keep folks safe here," Ben-
the students can see their son said, adding that while
teacher on one screen and remote learning is not ide-
follow along with instruc- al, he believes students will
tion materials on another, be able to catch up even-
he said. tually.
"It's been going on for years, Dr. Lavanya Sithanandam,
even before the pandemic a pediatrician who practic-
hit," he said. "We've always es in the Maryland suburbs
been at the bottom of the of Washington, said she
totem pole, in receiving re- has seen a record number
sources that we need." of children and teenagers
Public health officials in- with mental health issues
creasingly say that virus since online learning be-
transmissions in schools are gan in her area more than
low, so long as measures 10 months ago.
such as mask-wearing and "Initially, many physicians,
social distancing are in including myself, were very
place — even if teachers hesitant about kids return-
and other school staff have ing to school," she said. "But
not received vaccinations. as the data evolved, many
On Jan. 21, Maryland Gov. of us have realized that
Larry Hogan, a Republican, school reopening is incred-
declared: "There is no pub- ibly important."
lic health reason for school Most of her patients are
boards to be keeping stu- children from lower-income
dents out of school. None." minority families. She said
This past week, Maryland students she sees from pri-
State Education Associa- vate schools where classes
tion President Cheryl Bost are being held in person
wrote to Hogan, saying tend to fare better than
his statement "would be their public school peers in
laughable if it were not so terms of mental health.q