Wisconsin Teachers Unions Plea For Virtual Reopening Of Schools

On Monday, the presidents of five teachers unions in Wisconsin penned a letter to Gov. Tony Evers imploring him to reverse course on recent statements that he would let individual school districts decide whether to bring students back into classrooms at the beginning of the school year.

The letter was addressed to Evers along with State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor and Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm.

In the letter, union presidents from districts in Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee and Racine asked Evers to take "strong and immediate action to keep Wisconsin students safe."

The unions cited recent statistics showing Wisconsin is the second-least restrictive state when it comes to measures preventing the spread of the coronavirus. State data on Wednesday showed 712 new confirmed cases of the virus and six additional deaths were reported.

The letter also cited a Kaiser Family Foundation Report that indicates one out of every four teachers, or about 1.47 million people in the United States, have a condition that puts them at higher risk of having serious complications from COVID-19.

The unions' presidents further pointed to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing people in certain racial and ethnic minority groups are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 or experiencing severe illnesses.

"And as districts serving majority populations of students and families of color, we cannot ignore the disproportionate impact of illness and death that COVID-19 has had on Black and Brown communities," the letter reads.

Earlier this month, The Cap Times reported Evers said he hoped to avoid further school closures.

“Hopefully if we’re in a position where the virus is being managed in the state of Wisconsin, that we would more likely see individual schools or maybe a classroom taking 14 days to self-isolate at home rather than a statewide shutdown,” he said, according to the report.

Further, Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction on June 29 published a report titled "Education Forward — Reopening Wisconsin Schools" detailing its intentions for schools to reopen in the fall.

In the report, State Superintendent Taylor wrote that decisions will be made based on risk mitigation and health factors and that schools should be prepared to offer on-campus and virtual education for students with health concerns or for students and staff who are quarantined after being exposed to the coronavirus.

The document recognizes, "deaths from COVID-19 are possible while the virus is in circulation, especially children and adults in high-risk categories."

The "Education Forward" report acknowledges schools could be required to shift from in-person instruction to socially distanced or virtual learning throughout the year. It does not lay out an explicit plan for virtual-only education models.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday announced it has delayed the release of its school reopening guidelines, saying the guidance is "likely" to be available by the end of July, CNN reported.

The unions' letter cited previous CDC guidance that encourages people to limit how long they are in contact with others: “and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of Covid-19 spread.”
"The 'lowest risk,' the guidelines say, would be for students and teachers to attend virtual-only classes," the letter states.

If state officials do not make a decision to delay the physical reopening of schools this fall, each district will decide when and how to reopen, as well as what its instruction will look like.

"Our fates as Wisconsinites are linked together," the letter reads. "We represent over 10,000 public education workers from across the state, responsible for educating over 160,000 public school students, and we are calling on you to guarantee a science-informed, safe and equitable school reopening for the 2020-2021 school year."