Part IV: A new school year meets a new COVID variant
The 2021–2022 school year was supposed to be a return to “normal.” Then, the delta variant hit.
When I first set out to write a story about American teachers and the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2021, my aim was to accurately depict what life was like for teachers who worked through one of the worst health crises in living memory. At the time, this seemed like it would be a retrospective piece. Five months ago, the American government (prematurely) declared the pandemic was mostly behind us. Cases were going down. Vaccines were widely available for anyone over the age of twelve. Ditch your masks. Socialize freely with your friends. This dark chapter would soon be over. As a result, teachers largely expected the 2021–2022 school year to look a lot more “normal.” I feared that we would forget, or chose to ignore, how teachers struggled and suffered during the previous school year.
Then, the delta variant hit. And everything went to hell.
As the summer wore on and the delta wave intensified, it became clear the pandemic was far from over. Plans for a so-called “normal” school year went out the window. Or they should have greatly changed in response to the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. However, this did not happen. School mask mandates became a political cudgel employed by right-wing politicians in their ongoing efforts to deny the existence of the pandemic.
Unscrupulous Republican leaders went to war with school districts that sought to enforce mask-wearing, outlawing mask mandates, and threatening to withhold teachers’ paychecks in schools that required masks. Thousands of parents took it upon themselves to harass and threaten school board members throughout the country over mask mandates. Moreover, the largest teachers’ union in the country, the NEA, initially opposed vaccination mandates for teachers. (The NEA later amended its position, “offer[ing] its support to policies that would require all teachers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to regular testing.” The second-largest teachers’ union, the AFT, strongly supports vaccination requirements for teachers.)
Nearly two years into the pandemic and we’ve learned nothing. Actually, we’ve learned a great deal as to how to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in school, but many Americans are just refusing to do it. We should be employing every tool at our disposal to combat the increase in COVID cases, especially in children. Children under twelve are currently ineligible for any COVID-19 vaccine. Masks, social distancing, improved ventilation in schools, and vaccinations (for those eligible) are the only tools we have to protect students and their teachers. Since the school year began, pediatric COVID cases have exploded. The worst outbreaks taking place in states which, unsurprisingly, have the lowest vaccination rates and are not enforcing masks in school.
Perhaps the worst aspect of this disaster is that the teachers I interviewed predicted it would happen. A study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that pandemics are likely to become more common in the future. I asked the teachers if they thought schools would be better prepared for any future pandemics. The answer was a resounding no. Unbeknownst to me, that prediction would be tested far sooner than we anticipated.
When the pandemic first began, the public had nothing but praise for teachers. Parents suddenly found themselves in the position of impromptu substitute teachers and quickly realized just how difficult teaching is. Nevertheless, as the pandemic wore on these feelings changed. Quickly. Teachers went from being unsung heroes of our society to dispensable cannon fodder. To hell with safety; just open the schools.
How could the public have such effusive praise for teachers suddenly turn around and villainize them? This sudden one-hundred-eighty-degree transformation led most of the teachers I interviewed to believe that the public never really gained a better understanding of the teaching profession; they simply wanted their children back in the classroom at any cost: “It was nice having people appreciate [teachers], in general, at the beginning. The only reason there was a better public understanding though, was because parents were complaining so much about having to raise their own children. It’s a backhanded compliment, but we’ll take it.”
Many teachers reiterated this underlying belief: American society considers teachers primarily to be babysitters. When teachers are viewed through this framework, as childcare providers as opposed to educators, it gives the public permission to deride them as failing to do their jobs, if they work from home during a pandemic.
There’s the crux of the matter. Despite a once-in-a-century pandemic, society’s feelings towards teachers ultimately did not improve. We don’t hold teachers in high regard, so we didn’t ask for their input as to how to reopen schools safely. We didn’t ask teachers what they needed or how we could better invest in the educational system. We certainly don’t pay them what they deserve.
The COVID-19 pandemic could have been a catalyst to make long-term investments in the school system. To invest in what is arguably our most important public institution. We had the opportunity and we didn’t take it, just like the teachers predicted: “It will go back to the ‘it is all the teachers’ fault that my child is not learning’ and ‘you are not doing enough for them or your job.’ It is the pendulum swinging back again.”
I wish I could end this series on a positive note, but to do so would be to deny the current severity of the pandemic. I want to thank the fifty spectacular teachers that made this article possible. I hope that we as a society learn to value the experience and expertise of our teachers.
