Threats to cut federal aid draw criticism from Michigan educators

DETROIT – School teachers are speaking out against the White House’s push for schools to be fully opened in the fall.

There is a growing ground swell of teachers who said they feel bullied into going back into the classroom.

As we’ve reported, almost a third of teachers and parents don’t feel safe returning to the classroom under any circumstances that don’t include a proven vaccine against COVID-19, reliable antibody testing and mass testing.

School, for many students, is the safest part of their day. It’s where they get food, protection, encouragement the education to potentially break cycles of poverty.

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reveals plan for schools to return to in-person learning this fall
• Michigan Republican legislators unveil plans for school to return this fall

But eight percent of Michigan’s teachers surveyed said they’ll quit or retire rather than be forced back into the classroom if they don’t feel it’s safe. The group By Any Means Necessary is starting a grassroots effort in Detroit to pull back in-person learning plans.

Michigan Education Association President Paula Herbart said that teachers and their union reps should be engaged right now with their school boards and administrators structuring terms in which teachers will feel safe to return.

President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are threatening to withhold funds to any school district that does not deem it safe to reopen fully.