Teachers throughout California (especially in Los Angeles) have mobilized to demand vaccinations before school reopening. This, despite the emergence of powerful foes ranging from the local politicians, restaurant groups, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and the Los Angeles Times, calling for reopening before vaccinations are widely available.
Backed by parents, teachers have continued to demand a full complement of COVID safety measures. It should also be noted that the foes who opposed the teachers strike 18 months ago that transformed UTLA into a much stronger union and won important victories are the same foes opposing the union now.
On Feb. 20, the United Teachers of Los Angeles along with their allies led a 100-car caravan stretching through downtown Los Angeles. Those allies included Students Deserve, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Los Angeles Alliance for New Economy, Eastside Padres Contra Privatization, and Reclaim Our Schools.
Cars were adorned with bi-lingual signs saying” Not my child, Schools are not safe; End educational racism; Teachers lives matter; Don’t save the economy by risking a child’s life.”
A Feb. 17 Los Angeles Times editorial denounced the teachers for not returning to work without vaccinations and also attacked L.A. school superintendent Austin Buettner for not forcing the teachers back.
The editorial board accused also said “the union is jeopardizing its own popularity. If it continues to put the needs of students and families last.” Such hypocrisy from a newspaper that attacked the strike by teachers for improved conditions and reduced class size in the schools.
https://abc7.com/video/embed/?pid=10357860
As a 17-year veteran teacher I agree with other teachers by saying that we shall not lose our popularity by standing up for the health and safety of teachers, parents and students.
As teachers, we work closely with students, physically and academically. NOT vaccinating us before reopening is a recipe for disaster, teacher infection and hundreds getting sick. Would substitute teachers then accept such conditions with an infection rate of 30 percent Los Angeles youth?
In response to the scores, if not hundreds of letters, sent to the Los Angeles Times, Paul Thornton, the letters editor, was forced to respond, noting his shock at the number of teachers affirming their desire to return to work safely. He attempted to half-heartedly distance himself from the vicious editorial.
“We are in this together, and together is how we get through the pandemic,” Luis Mora, a Harbor Area teacher, said. “Schools are the community so protect them. We should be protecting everyone; all workers, servers, grocery workers, nurses, teachers, parents and children.”
Beth Clark of the Westminster Avenue elementary school, spoke on the importance of vaccination before reopening,
“We are out here to protest for my students and my student’s families,” Clark said. “We are not out of the purple tier. Teachers have not been vaccinated; and there is no proper ventilation in many schools. So we need to protect the 600,000 families.”
Other teachers spoke out, including elementary school special education teacher Wade Kyle.
“Reopening schools prematurely is irresponsible, Kyle said. “As a teacher, it would be my worst nightmare to learn “a student contracted Covid 19 from my class. Especially if that student brought the virus home and their parents were hospitalized. We can only open when it is safe for everyone.”
UTLA organizer Mario Valenzuela spoke passionately about reopening schools the right way.
“ Let’s be clear, our members have been working hard since the beginning of the pandemic and continue to do so, Valenzuela said. “We want to physically return to our classrooms ASAP as well, but only when it’s safe for all.”
Valenzuela noted that UTLA members serve vast communities that are disproportionately impacted and have disproportionately less access to vaccines and healthcare.
“We want to go back in when the infection rate gets us below the purple tier, when we have access to vaccines, and when we can all be guaranteed PPEs ( personal protective equipment), social distancing, well working ventilation systems and an effective cleaning and sanitation regimen,” Valenzuela said. “We also urgently need reforms to support students’ immediate needs for do’s stance learning and an end to educational racism.”
Parents also participated in the caravan including Jazmin Garcia and spoke to the assembled pre-caravan.
“We seek a safe environment in the schools. The virus has impacted the Black and Brown communities the most and a premature opening will negatively affect us,” Garcia said. “We say vaccinate teachers now. We reject Gov. Newsom’s plan to reopen without this. Black parent voices are being ignored. The rich and primarily white politicians are pushing for reopening. We are happy that school police are out of the schools, a victory we have won and more nurses in the schools won through the strike.”
Jsane Tyler, representing Powerful Parents of the LA, told this reporter, “As Black parents, we would love to send our kids back but campuses must be safe.”
Opposition to opening the schools without vaccinating teachers is not unique to Los Angeles.
The California Federation of Teachers released the results of a recent poll of 1,217 of its members who are educators and classified professionals across California. The poll found teachers and school workers are eager to return to in-person instruction and agree by overwhelming margins that vaccines and multi-layered mitigation strategies must be at the center of any effort to reopen schools for in-person instruction.
In the poll, more than 89% of educators and classified professionals rated as extremely important or important each of the following items when considering returning to in-person instruction:
- Ensuring a COVID-19 vaccine is readily available for all educators and classified professionals. (90% extremely important or important.)
- Having an adequate supply of personal protective equipment, or PPE, including masks, gloves, face shields, and cleaning equipment. (90% extremely important or important.)
- Having ventilation plans that take weather and air quality into account and maximize fresh air circulation. (90% extremely important or important.)
- Having regular testing available for all educators and classified professionals. (89% extremely important or important.)
“This poll confirms that, by overwhelming margins, educators and classified professionals agree on the safety measures that are essential to safely resume in-person instruction,” CFT President Jeff Freitas saiud. “We want to be back in the classroom as soon as we can do so safely.
“Safe, phased-in approaches that include vaccinations for school workers are already underway in districts throughout the state. These districts should serve as a guide for safe resumption of classroom teaching in districts across California.”
More vaccines on the way
Gov. Newsom just announced that California will be receiving 1.27 million doses of the vaccines this week. Yet, Newsom has repeatedly argued against guaranteed vaccinations for teachers before in-person education resumes, saying the state does not currently have enough supply to inoculate teachers without making older and vulnerable Californians move further down the priority list. The vaccines exist. Do the math. So, it clearly becomes a political attack on the teachers’ union not to vaccinate.
Solution, postpone over 65 vaccinations for one day and vaccinate all school employees statewide with the 200,000 doses available daily.
Because of political pressure and pushback by unions and parents, Newsom announced that 10 percent of the vaccines California will receive will be dedicated to teachers beginning March 1.
But why not vaccinate all the L.A. County teachers and school employees in a single day (about 40,000) and then begin the process of reopening after they receive their second dose, as I and others have called for?
Those who are pushing for school reopening without adequate safety measures cite the proclamations by President Joe Biden and the Center for Disease Control recommendations. But we must understand that the CDC is again under political pressure NOT to do what they scientifically know is right. Politicians are playing with our lives. And Biden does what big business advises.
With vaccine shortages, let’s mandate Moderna/Pfizer/Johnson & Johnson to share formulas with production facilities worldwide? They exist. Without real international collaboration, thousands will unnecessarily die.
Jonas Salk gave the polio vaccine freely to the world. Why are we hindered by the “Intellectual property” of big pharma; costing thousands of lives?
The World Trade Organization can authorize this right away—so can President Biden. Big pharma has been given hundreds of millions in our tax dollars to research and develop the vaccines. Why are the vaccines now only theirs to profit from?
There are 130 countries that have received NO vaccines at all. Ten countries (US included) have 75% of available vaccines according to a report on 2.24 Democracy Now interview with Mustaqeen de Gama, South African delegate to WTO. Johnson and Johnson, he reported, just contracted a South African vaccine producing facility to manufacture their vaccine—yet only 9% will be for South Africans.
