Dear Friends –
Last spring, as the coronavirus and COVID-19 began to ravage our communities, the District made the tough choice to close our schools. Teachers opened their living rooms to students and turned their kitchens into science labs to facilitate distance learning so our students could continue their lessons.
We all hope to reopen our schools in the fall and return to normalcy. However, with the coronavirus on the rise across our nation, we know that we cannot. Some DC school systems have already announced their intention to continue distance learning in the fall and others, including DC Public Schools, have begun preparation for hybrid, in-person and distance learning for the fall.
The WTU supports the reopening of our schools, but they must reopen only when it is safe for our students, our teachers and our communities. Join with us in asking Mayor Bowser and DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee to work with us to ensure protocols are in place and fully met to ensure the health of our school communities prior to reopening our schools.
Please read the petition and sign below.
Interested in learning more? Click here to learn more about the MOA and read the WTU’s Teacher Reopen Taskforce Recommendations. WTU members who have questions about the proposed MOU, please contact us at [email protected].
To Mayor Bowser and DCPS Chancellor Ferebee,
It is your responsibility, during the current health pandemic, to ensure the health and physical safety of those you serve.
I stand with educators and the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) in their decision to engage only in distance learning until the health protections in the WTU Memorandum of Agreement and set by the CDC and OSSE are fully met and implemented in collaboration with WTU.
For the good of the community, DC must have clear protocols in place to protect the health of our students, teachers, school staff and communities as we reopen our schools to in-person learning.