In another rebuke of the Sept. 1 deal agreed between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and UFT President Michael Mulgrew on the physical reopening of public schools this fall, NYC School Workers Solidarity Campaign rejected the deal, issuing a lengthy statement on the matter on Sept. 2.

 

“The New York City School Workers Solidarity Campaign stands behind our educators. We are a coalition of parents, educators, nurses, union and community members, and we support school workers’ demands to not reopen in-person schooling until it is safe,” the statement read.

 

“The recent deal negotiated between Mulgrew and De Blasio does not in any way meet the standards for a safe reopening, including preliminary and regular testing of all school workers and students; ventilation; overall building safety; personal protective equipment (PPE); busing and commuting concerns; safe lunch plans; improvements to remote learning; and having no new cases in NYC for a period of at least 14 days.”

 

The group wrote that by opening for in-person instruction on Sept. 21, and requiring teachers and other staff to be present in school buildings on Sept. 8, Mulgrew and De Blasio were not addressing any of the underlying health concerns raised and were simply delaying the increased spread of the virus. “Our school staff, students, families, and communities are being put at risk because Mulgrew, De Blasio and New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza believe we should reopen the economy rather than protect the health and safety of New Yorkers,” the statement continued.

 

“De Blasio has suggested that he is pressing to reopen schools on behalf of a ‘silent majority’ of disadvantaged families. However, as a new poll conducted by Sienna College indicates, the families who have been most disadvantaged by educational inequities oppose reopening in the highest numbers. A majority of NYC respondents (54 percent) support a fully remote start to the school year and state-wide 56 percent of low-income, 63 percent of Latino and 65 percent of Black respondents support this measure. Already, close to 40 percent of families have opted-in to the DOE’s plan for 100 percent remote learning.”

 

The group wrote that the focus on reopening schools in the face of massive safety issues has come at the direct expense of funding and planning to improve remote learning and provide support to families. They wrote that this is despite the fact that all students, including those in the blended learning model, will spend the majority of their time learning remotely. “The staffing shortage created by the city’s hybrid plan means that remote classes may be as large as 64 students. Meanwhile, many families still lack access to broadband internet and devices. These realities guarantee that reopening schools in these conditions will not address but instead exacerbate existing inequities,” the statement read.

You sold us out and never consulted the rank and file. This plan addresses no equity issues. And we still have to report to unsafe buildings on 9/8. 10 days will magically make the buildings safer? Can’t wait to vote out Mulgrew in 22

— Meghan (@megsciann) September 1, 2020

In their statement, the group also cited comments made by public school parent, Kaliris Salas-Ramirez from Parents for Responsive Equitable SafeSchools (PRESS NYC), a group representing parents primarily, but which also includes some teachers. “This plan still does not address the longstanding inequities in our educational system that have been exacerbated by COVID,” Salas-Ramirez said.

 

“Black and Latinx students, ELLs and students with IEPs remain the most impacted. Ten days is not long enough to fix ventilation issues, provide broadband to every student who needs it, or expand our testing capacity — to name just a few of the many holes in the plan. While teachers and principals have been left to navigate and clean up this chaos, all they can do is forge on with little options or help. Ten days is not enough to make our schools safe. There are just too many deal breakers.”

 

The group added that across the state, the other largest New York school districts are opting out of in-person learning in favor of remote-only instruction. “Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester and Syracuse are all prioritizing their school workers and students; New York educators and families deserve the same respect and protection as their peers,” the statement read.

 

“Meanwhile, in New York City, the mayor and City Council have proposed massive budget cuts that will reduce school funding and possibly even slash 9,000 jobs from the department of education. A baseline of equitable, quality education is impossible without an adequate budget, and becomes even more precarious during a pandemic that warrants additional effective safety precautions. The department of education must be fully funded before the mayor decides to open in-person schooling. Our children need a millionaire tax (S7378, A10363) now!”

 

The group wrote that they are fighting to keep school buildings closed and to ensure that students are able to learn remotely in an equitable manner. “We have already lost 70 UFT members to COVID, and countless other school workers and community members who contracted the virus from inside a DOE building. Students whose communities have been most devastated by the virus also attend some of the schools with the least resources. These are the families who are most at-risk if there is a new wave of infections. There is no scenario in which reopening for in-person learning this fall does not result in more preventable deaths,” the statement continued.

 

“The NYC School Workers Solidarity Campaign will do everything we can to keep our school workers, students and communities safe, not just from COVID-19, but also from leadership that chooses to do the bare minimum even as our most impacted families, school staff and communities vocalize their justified opposition and evidence-based claims about the untenable nature of these plans. In the midst of a global pandemic and an uprising for Black lives, how can we celebrate a ‘delay’ that doesn’t address the issues that got us here in the first place?”

 

Also included in the group’s statement were comments from pediatric nurse, public school parent, and NYSNA member, Sean Petty, who wrote, “The simple fact is that the current deal to re-open schools in-person will result in the illness and death of numerous educators and public school family members. Given recent data on how this virus is impacting younger populations, especially Black and Latinx children, we now also have to consider serious illness of children, and even death, to be a significant risk.”

 

Petty added, “The city does not currently have the testing and tracing capacity to effectively identify and contain new outbreaks with hundreds of thousands of teachers, students and their families riding public transportation and interacting in enclosed spaces every day. And with $1 billion dollars being robbed from city workers in the current budget alongside impending layoffs in the school and hospital systems, I simply don’t trust the Mayor to provide the resources to keep this city safe. The only way to do this safely is to tax the rich, stop the layoffs, and scale up resources for testing, tracing, hospitals, and school infrastructure. Protecting the pockets of the 1% and political reputations of our so-called leaders are just not worth the lives being put at risk under the current conditions.”

 

The group’s entire statement was endorsed by PRESS NYC and by Democratic Socialists of America, NYC.

 

A representative for New York City School Workers Solidarity Campaign told Norwood News by phone on Sept. 2 that “Rallies for a Safe Education,” are planned for Friday, Sept. 4 in Brooklyn and in Manhattan.

 

A non-UFT member told Norwood News on Sept. 3 that to her knowledge, a vote had been taken by UFT members to allow Mulgrew to enter into negotiations with the City about the reopening plan but that no UFT members were consulted on the actual terms of the deal itself before it was struck. This would appear to align with some of the comments on social media by apparent UFT members with at least one person called Meghan saying she felt sold out by the union and was waiting to vote out Mulgrew as the union representative in 2022.

 

“You sold us out and never consulted the rank and file,” she said. Norwood News reached out to UFT for comment and received the following response from a UFT spokesperson on Sept. 3, “The union’s Delegate Assembly voted on the proposal Sept. 1, and approved the agreement by 82 percent.”