Who is Going to Speak Out for Our Kids and Communities?
A majority of voters support “safety strikes” by teachers to protect their communities
By Randi Weingarten President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Let’s make one thing clear at the outset: all of us want to get our children back to school. From concerns about learning loss, to widening achievement gaps; from unmet social and emotional needs to unattended mental health issues; from the damaging effects of hunger and family stress to the trauma children are absorbing - the entire education community is yearning for the ability to return to school, safely, and do what we've always done: take care of your kids and help them meet their G-d given potential.
But right now, we are hearing and heeding the concerns of the nation’s top public health experts. Parents and teachers are frustrated. From the beginning we knew we would need a plan and resources to get ready for this day. But instead, this Administration has delayed and created chaos, failing to get this virus under control and put a plan in place. AFT members have tried everything—reaching out to the White House, calling their Senators, holding townhalls with parents and school administrators, negotiating with districts, bringing in health experts, even litigation. But it’s August, and while districts are trying to figure this out with no federal resources, Donald Trump is tweeting, threatening federal funding; Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is trying to move public school money to private schools; and Mitch McConnell is still playing games withholding desperately needed aid for our states, cities, towns and schools.
AFT wrote a plan for safely reopening our schools back in April and as conditions have deteriorated, released an update to provide a roadmap to get back to school. Reopening School Buildings Safely makes it clear: neither COVID denial or magical thinking is going to get it done. We owe it to our children, our families, our educators, bus drivers, custodians and support staff, and our communities to get it right.
We need federal assistance to reopen our public schools safely - it will take more not less. More people. More cleanings. More equipment. More bus routes. More time during the week. More plexiglass and HVAC retrofitting.
And for the health and safety of everyone, nothing can be off the table.
So why all this talk about safety strikes? Well what would you have us do? Districts whose tax revenues have cratered are looking at layoffs. Teachers with medically fragile family members are retiring or finding new jobs. Insurance companies are letting schools know they won’t touch it - there’s no premium that could cover what they know will be an avalanche of lawsuits. And Mitch McConnell and the GOP are demanding that any aid package includes corporate immunity and sweeping liability protections for employers - because they know people will get sick—and people will die. Everything is coming before our students and the people who care for them. I keep asking myself, where are the adults?
The good news is that parents and adults taking care of kids share our concerns and are ready to make the demand for what our children need.
As part of a July survey, Data for Progress sought to gauge voters’ attitudes towards possible “safety strikes” by teachers and school support staff rather than return to in person school without the necessary COVID-19 protections needed by students and educators alike.
We find that 54 percent of voters think that teachers should strike rather than return to in-person school without appropriate safety precautions. Attitudes are loosely correlated with partisanship. An overwhelming majority (72 percent) of voters who self-identify as Democrats think that teachers should strike to help protect the community. Voters who self-identify as Republicans, meanwhile, are more split. Fifty-three percent think that teachers should not strike in this situation.
We then asked voters if they would support or oppose a possible safety strike that teachers undertake to protect themselves and their students. We found high levels of support for this. Among all voters, safety strikes enjoy a 34-percentage-point margin of support. Democrats back the idea by a 58-point margin while Republicans do so by an eight-point margin.
We then reasked voters if they would support or oppose safety strikes, this time providing them arguments both for and against. We found that, even when voters are exposed to opposing arguments, safety strikes retain considerable support from voters. Voters back strikes by a dramatic 31-point margin. Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, back the idea by a 61-point and six-point margin , respectively.
What these results make clear is that if teachers opt to strike to protect themselves and their students, voters will stand with them. Concern with the coronavirus remains high and there is support for dramatic action to ensure that teachers and students can be safe in the midst of this pandemic.
Ninety percent of American children attend public school. More than 6.6 million people work in public schools. And all of them have families and loved ones. Who is going to come forward make sure their safety and health are paramount to any considerations of returning to school? Who is going to speak up and demand that the federal government show responsibility and develop a resourced plan to enable our public schools to reopen safely? Why don’t Republican Senators and President Trump think our children are worth as much if not more than the $2.2 trillion in tax giveaways they gave the wealthiest Americans and corporations just two years ago?
Parents, grandparents and guardians get it. Teachers, support staff and other school workers get it. Voters get it. This is one of those things we have to get right. The costs of inaction have exacerbated this crisis; the failure to act now will forfeit the future of a generation of our youth.
Methodology
From 7/24/2020 to 7/25/2020 Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,318 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is +/- 2.7 percent
Full text of questions
Which comes closer to your view
Teachers should go on strike to protect themselves and their students if they are are given no other option but to return to in person school without proper safety measures against the coronavirus being put in place
Teachers should not strike and should return to work if the schools are reopened
Don’t know
Would you support or oppose teachers carrying out “safety strikes” if they and their students are given no other option but to return to in-person school without proper safety measures being put in place to protect everyone from the coronavirus pandemic?
Strongly support
Somewhat support
Somewhat oppose
Strongly oppose
Don’t know
Some teachers are considering carrying out “safety strikes” if proper safety measures against the coronavirus are not put in place that would protect them and their students. Supporters of these strikes argue that community spread of the virus must be controlled and safeguards put in place to prevent transmission and spread in schools. Teachers, students, and their families shouldn’t be forced back to unsafe schools and someone needs to stand up for them. Teachers are just following the safety advice of doctors, and the Center for Disease Control. Opponents argue that schools must reopen, because the harm to students from staying home is greater than the health risks of reopening. While teachers may claim they’re doing this for the benefit of students, going on strike in the middle of a pandemic is selfish and they’re just hurting students who are already behind after a spring of either online classes or missed school. Now knowing what you know now, would you support or oppose teachers going on strike to protest unsafe local conditions?
Strongly support
Somewhat support
Somewhat oppose
Strongly oppose
Don’t know