Cannot replace loss of a loved one | Washington Teachers Union wants policy changes following teacher death Delia Goncalves
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In response to the COVID-related death of a D.C. school teacher, the Washington Teacher’s Union is demanding changes at DC Public Schools.
Helen Marie White was a beloved cosmetology teacher at Ballou Stay Opportunity Academy, an alternative adult program. While it is unclear where or how the teacher contracted the virus, according to Ballou Stay Principal Cara Fuller, White was among the first volunteers to return to the classroom in the fall.
“She was excited and willing to come in to teach a craft that she loved,” Fuller said.
4:33 Tyrone Turner/WAMU/DCist
toggle caption Tyrone Turner/WAMU/DCist
A public health expert who spent two decades studying pandemic preparedness. A mother who makes DoorDash deliveries to scrape together extra money for her son s learning pod. A single-parent who worries no one can help care for her son if she becomes sick with COVID-19.
They all faced, in recent weeks and months, one of the most fraught questions confronting parents during the pandemic: should they send their children back to school for in-person learning, or not?
D.C. Public Schools started returning thousands of students to face to face instruction for the first time in nearly a year on Tuesday. The return, months in the making, has been beset with criticism from some teachers, families and education advocates who argue it is unsafe to return students to classrooms during the coronavirus pandemic.
Virginia is in the middle of a crisis and parents are the only ones who are acting like it, Purple Strategies Managing Director Rory Cooper tells America s Newsroom.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday reiterated that President Biden wants to see children back in classrooms, but would not commit to standing up to unions if forced to choose between the prolific Democratic donors and reopening schools.
Psaki also said that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky wasn t discussing official CDC guidance but rather new data as she s repeatedly said in recent days that teachers don t need to be vaccinated for schools to reopen in person.