Teacher unions across the US say they're 'extremely fearful' about in-person classes and demand states take more measures to keep them safe

• Representatives for teacher unions in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas told Insider they're concerned that schools could be opening too quickly.
• In Arkansas, for example, 90% of educators said they were concerned about student health, and 98% concerned about social distancing in school buildings.
• Union leaders told Insider that they're calling for a delayed start for in-person classes.
• They also want federal and state governments to issue guidelines and offer funding that could help protect students and staff from COVID-19.

Schools across the United States are gearing for classes to start back up again this fall, but teacher unions are hotly debating the wisdom behind holding in-person lessons.

In many states, the decision behind reopening public schools has largely been left up to individual school districts. President Donald Trump has urged schools to reopen in the fall, and even threatened to withhold federal funding if they don't.

But the reactions from states have been mixed.

As of last week, Texas decided to allow virtual classrooms to continue across the state. Georgia and Kansas's boards of education aren't delaying school openings, and are letting districts to figure out how to keep students and teachers safe.

Still, teacher unions are concerned with what could happen if students and staff returned to physical classrooms — and they want state and local governments to help prepare. In an ideal world, teachers would have access to PPE, space in their classrooms to social distance, and funds that could help alleviate issues with online learning if it's needed. But current plans are falling short.

Clay Robison, the spokesman for Texas State Teachers Association, and Doug Folks, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Education Association, told Insider that they would not hold statewide teacher strikes if schools do reopen. They said strikes are illegal in their states and are often left up to districts themselves, where teachers can better assess their risks and work with local governments to gauge their overall protections.

Still, there have been protests in multiple states, including Iowa, Arizona, Alabama, Florida, and Illinois in which teachers called for in-person school to be delayed. Teachers told New York Magazine earlier this month that they would consider striking in some states.

Robison said the idea of going back to school building "frightens" teachers, especially those with underlying health conditions. The state is dealing with one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country.

"One reason Texas is a hotspot now is because Gov. [Greg] Abbott reopened restaurants, hair salons, gyms, and other businesses too early in the spring," Robinson told Insider. "We cannot afford for that to happen in our schools."

Teachers are trying to figure out how to keep everyone safe

It remains unclear how opening schools — with social distancing measures put in place — could impact communities.

Some studies have found that children are at lower risk than adults of contracting the virus, as well as less likely to transmit it to others, while other studies show that children spread the virus more often than adults within households. Research on the subject is still ongoing.

According to Science Magazine, more than 20 countries around the world have reopened schools in recent weeks, including Finland, South Africa, and Israel. Most of the programs are keeping children in small groups, requiring masks, and urging social distancing.

But spokespeople for several teacher unions in the US told Insider that they're concerned they won't have space to socially distance and worry there won't be easy access to PPE for students and staff.

The Arkansas Education Association (AEA) recently conducted a survey that found 90% of respondents — which represented all state counties — were concerned about student health, and 98% were concerned about social distancing in school buildings.

More than 40% of teachers said they were retiring early or changing professions because of the coronavirus pandemic. Some teachers are even preparing wills.

Ben Linas, an infectious disease doctor at Boston University School of Medicine, told Insider that it's "theoretically possible" for schools to be open in some places in the US, but schools in COVID-19 hotspots should be careful.

"It goes without saying that all teachers those have the PPE they need at all times at every school in America," he said. "The same way that we would flip out if our hospitals ran out of PPE and we were asking healthcare workers to go in and take care of patients."

Florida's teacher union filed a lawsuit over the state's decision to reopen in-person classrooms on August 31

Some unions have taken legal action over school reopening plans. On Monday, the Florida Education Association filed a lawsuit to push against the state's plans to start in-person classes at the end of August. The association's president told NBC's "Today" show that he's concerned classrooms could become a "Petri dish" for America.

"We need a survival kit. We need our state government to lead in our issues," he said.

AEA Executive Director Tracey-Ann Nelson said in a statement on July 10 that delaying in-person classes is a "step in the right direction."

The AEA said it has formed a "Return to Learn" committee, in which educators across Arkansas have gathered to discuss what guidelines need to be in place and what expectations need to be met before students can return to class.

She's now calling on state officials to provide funding to districts so they can ensure cleaning standards will be up to par and PPE will be available to staff and students when school does start in-person.

"While some decisions may be more appropriately made at a local level, this virus does not know school district boundaries," she said. "There must be a detailed statewide plan that anticipates a number of scenarios to ensure student and school employee health and safety."

Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine and the director of ICAP at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, said schools should be screening for illnesses among students and staff, lower classroom densities, space out desks, and require face masks if they want to accurately adhere to public health measures.

But before that, she told Insider, they must evaluate the status of COVID-19 in their community and determine whether or not it would be a risk to reopen schools.

"The risk is dependent on transmission risk in the community and transmission risk in the school," El-Sadr said. "Schools have to take into account the situation in their communities as they decide what to do."

Teacher unions say they need more direction from state and local governments

On Thursday, Trump requested $70 billion in education funding as part of the next coronavirus relief bill, in hopes of assisting the reopening of in-person classes, according to a press release seen by Insider.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, too, recently urged schools to re-open, citing a "spectrum of benefits and risks of both in-person and virtual learning options."

But teacher unions say there needs to be more direction.

Alicia Priest, a middle school teacher in Yukon, Oklahoma, who's also the president of the Oklahoma Education Association, said members of her teacher's union feel "extremely fearful" about returning to in-person classes in August.

"Most of our schools don't have the resources to open safely, so until we see that our schools have all the Personal Protective Equipment, cleaning supplies they need, we have no business thinking about in-person schools," she told Insider. "Those supplies should not be purchased by educators, but supplied through a guaranteed and reliable, state-funded supply chain, and protocols put in place to keep our students and staff safe."

Priest told Insider that distance-learning is likely the best option for many school districts in Oklahoma, and teachers have been preparing to do so by learning new technology and taking trainings on new education methods.

But if schools do open, Priest has called on the state to develop state-wide policies for all schools when it comes to COVID-19 protocols.

"We need to be ready for an up-and-down year," she told Insider. "We truly hope we don't see schools bouncing back and forth between in-person to distance learning. And we expect schools to follow safety and health protocols like wearing masks, having plenty of cleaning and sanitizing equipment. It will be key in mitigating the back and forth for students and staff members to stay home if they have been exposed or if they feeling a little under the weather."

Linas told Insider that school districts, state governments, and the federal government need to work together to fund classrooms and create equity among all schools.

"I feel like when people say, 'Well it's up to the districts, or 'It's up to the states,' it's very often basically a euphemism for 'We don't want to find resources and we don't want to provide a plan,'" he said.