No Reopening Schools

REALLY?? Amid a pandemic and the White House’s disastrous response to tackle COVID-19, this might seem like quid pro quo that uses the federal government’s education dollars as leverage to force states and school districts to reestablish normalcy, however unsafe the public health conditions. No Thank You.

May I suggest the following based on what a Georgia teacher posted 3 weeks ago-

No Reopening Schools until

1. A proven, effective vaccine for adults and children-maybe next year
2. A proven effective cure for adults/children-unlikely
3. No COVID19 infections or deaths x 1 month-not this year

This is the only science that we should consider as a bottom line

Everything else is based on doing the best we can under the conditions of 

1. No Public Health System nationally, and almost none left in any state or locally since we lost 100,000 public health workers since 1980, barely maybe have 100,000 left, probably less and need at least 250,000 based on a paper released in 2009
2. Can you imagine going to work anywhere, especially a school, if there were no flu vaccine-when a minimum of 30,000-60,000 children and adults in the US die every year from flu-most unvaccinated
3. at this point, covid19 is more infectious than flu has been for years (R0)>1.5-2
4. falling into the trap of trying to make schools safe places for covid19 will result in massive debates of whose plan is safer than whose when the majority of urban schools were not safe places before covid19: “How many angels can dance or stand on the head of a pin??"
5. how many schools have you been in where all sinks, faucets, soap dispensers (if they exist) etc are working, much-less having touch-less ones which are the only way to stop the transmission of any infectious disease that's why surgeons have them??
6. how many people think kids, teens, and adults will keep masks on-please raise your hand, etc. etc., instead we should be focusing all our organizing on #1-3 at the top of this email + vastly improving online teaching and learning + joining with social movements to stop rent, evictions, pay all families $1,000/week to stay home and take care of their kids, no shut-offs, food stamps for all families whose kids qualify for federal school lunch, etc., etc.

Finally if you are not familiar with the Precautionary Principle please read this and circulate

Be safe, be happy, be smart-

don’t play the capitalist racist games of either political party or their colonialist lackeys like the American Academy of Pediatrics

https://www.sehn.org/precautionary-principle-understanding-science-in-regulation

"When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.

In this context, the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof. The process of applying the precautionary principle must be open, informed, and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives, including no action." - Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle, Jan. 1998

Siempre Adelante y Venceremos!

by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.