For Immediate Release
April 29, 2020
Contact:
Andrew Crook
607-280-6603
acrook@aft.org
http://www.aft.org
AFT Launches Landmark Plan to Safely Reopen America’s Schools and Communities
Union issues blueprint for imagining a new normal for public education, public health
and our economy in the age of COVID-19
WASHINGTON—The American Federation of Teachers has released a detailed road map that, in the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine, charts a path to safely and responsibly reopen school buildings and other institutions crucial to the well-being and economic vitality of our communities.
The 20-page, science-based “Plan to Safely Reopen America’s Schools and Communities” sprung from an intense collaboration of public health professionals, union leaders and frontline workers to prepare for what happens next in the period between flattening the curve and truly eradicating the virus.
It features five core pillars that inform our decision to reopen the country based on the science as well as educator and healthcare expertise—not on politics or wishful thinking.
To gradually reopen, we need to:
1. Maintain physical distancing until the number of new cases declines for at least 14 consecutive days. Reducing the number of new cases is a prerequisite for transitioning to reopening plans on a community-by-community basis.
2. Put in place the infrastructure and resources to test, trace and isolate new cases. Transitioning from community-focused physical distancing and stay-in-place orders to case-specific interventions requires ramping up the capacity to test, trace and isolate each new case.
3. Deploy the public health tools that prevent the virus’ spread and align them with education strategies that meet the needs of students.
4. Involve workers, unions, parents and communities in all planning. Each workplace and community faces unique challenges related to COVID-19. To ensure that reopening plans address those challenges, broad worker and community involvement is necessary. They must be engaged, educated and empowered.
5. Invest in recovery: Do not abandon America’s communities or forfeit America’s future. These interventions will require more—not less—investment in public health and in our schools, universities, hospitals, and local and state governments. Strengthening communities should be a priority in the recovery.
The blueprint acknowledges Americans’ eagerness to return to some semblance of “normal.” But to do so, we must meet an unprecedented challenge: figuring out how to reimagine our society and the physical places we hold dear—public schools, places of worship, workplaces, restaurants and more—in ways that put our ultimate priorities first: the safety and well-being of working families, especially frontline workers, and the economic health of society.
Our schools, in addition to educating students and acting as centers of the community, enable parents to work outside the home, meaning their safe reopening is a pivotal—if not the most pivotal—factor in remaking the country.
The comprehensive document addresses complexities and provides specific guidance for transitioning from lockdowns to other public health approaches. And it is the only plan we know of that marries the instructional and social-emotional needs of students and the logistics of programming in schools with the imperative to adopt public health tools that prevent viral transmission.
It shows how, in response to the crisis, we must plan and align logistics, educational strategies and public health approaches into one coherent response. And it is expected to evolve as the data, and the facts, change.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said: “America is staring down a singular challenge that will require all of us to come together and negotiate a safe path forward. By drawing on facts and science, and the expertise of educators and healthcare practitioners, we have drafted a bold five-point plan that aligns necessary public health tools, student instructional needs and logistics to gradually—but safely, equitably and intentionally—reopen our schools and communities.
“Our blueprint serves as a stark contrast to the conflicting guidance, bluster and lies of the Trump administration. The input of educators and healthcare workers, as well as parents, is crucial in making any reopening plan work. They are the eyes and ears, and are indispensable in making any plan work safely and effectively. We hope this blueprint will be the start of a real discussion on reopening schools, universities and other workplaces that allows our workers and families not only to dream of a safe and welcoming future, but to realize it.”
The plan can be read here.
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
The American Federation of Teachers is a union of 1.7 million professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do.
Randi Weingarten PRESIDENT Lorretta Johnson SECRETARY-TREASURER Evelyn DeJesus EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
Communications Department • 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W. • Washington, DC 20001 • T: 202-879-4458 • F: 202-879-4580 • http://www.aft.org
AFT Teachers • AFT PSRP • AFT Higher Education • AFT Public Employees • AFT Nurses and Health Professionals
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Trumpty Dumpty never negotiates a win-win deal. For him, in his twisted mind, he has to win and everyone else must lose. Even then, he often breaks the one-sided deals he signed and ends up in court if the person he cheated can afford to pay the lawyers to go up against Trump who will throw everything he can at the vicitm in an attempt to bankrupt the victim.
At this point, I do not think the country should consider opening until it has a president in the White House who is there to serve all of the people and not just Trump’s base of deplorable followers.
Wonderful write-up. Thanks.
This is an extremely thoughtful document. Kudos to Ms. Winegarten and the many collaborators on this for stepping into the yawning gulf provided by our lack of national leadership.
I wrote “gulf” when I should have written “abyss.”
And I wrote “stepping into” where I should have written “bridging.”
You wrote Kudos where you should have written Kudus. Well, it won’t start a stampede.
I keep telling myself, Roy, that I really need to edit posts more carefully before making them. Too much hurry flurry. Oh, and speaking of large herds of beasts, I just read that IQ45 is wants to hold a 25-thousand-person rally soon.
Trump plans to hold a rally in Arizona, then another in Ohio.
He also allowed federal guidelines on social distancing expire.
We will see how that works out.
Maybe he will pass out some Trump-branded Lysol inhalers at these rallies.
Or have UV lights shoved up their bums and down their throats to kill the virus that way.
There is a lot that is good, and I believe aft deserves praise for trying….I do wonder about number one:1. Maintain physical distancing until the number of new cases declines for at least 14 consecutive days. Reducing the number of new cases is a prerequisite for transitioning to reopening plans on a community-by-community basis.
How realistic is it to maintain physical distancing….to what extent? Would it not cause not enough room for all?
One suggestion the report makes is to have students come to school on alternate days, thus halving the number in classes. This still will not make a difference until there is sufficient testing and contact tracing to be able to test everyone fairly regularly. I don’t see this happening, but reopening school before this happens means that people will die who didn’t have to.
I know I’m about as popular as a skunk at a wedding on this topic, but the number of new cases is meaningless. It all depends on how many tests are being done and how accurate the tests are. Right now there are probably millions of cases that simply haven’t been confirmed. And even among people who have been tested, I’m hearing that there is a fairly high number of false negatives. At this point, number of new cases is far too easy to game depending on one’s political agenda.
The only metrics that make any sense at this point is new hospital admissions and hospital capacity, and those vary significantly region by region.
You’re right, Dienne. We have to have better testing. And that’s not happening anytime soon, I expect.
Students, and especially school staff, are sitting ducks if we open the schools too soon.
the chaos will go on and on: without a dedicated scientific approach, it feels like all we have is a game of roulette
A friend got a false negative. She was feeling very sick, so she got another test and yes, she had it.
My parents have a friend in Indiana whose doctor is convinced she has it, but her first test came back negative and she’s being told she can’t get tested again.
There is a significant percentage of false negatives.
This has become all too common in the American medical system: overreliance on tests that are highly unreliable — to the exclusion of patient description of symptoms.
To make matters even worse than normal, in this case, there is effectively no control over the quality of the tests.
Anyone who is even considering reopening schools in the absence of reliable testing (as Andrew Cuomo has been doing recently) is completely clueless and should have their head examined to see if there is anything inside.
Thank you, Diane, for this important post. As public education is in an existential crisis exacerbated by the COVID situation, I am glad to see the AFT stepping forward to be a part of leading us forward. With this document, my union holds out a hand and offers/demands to take responsibility in this perilous journey. This is life and death. We can’t win this war without the unions (NEA also) being part of the front-line leadership. And we certainly need, value, and must build on yours as well. Thank you, Diane!
Thank you, Kipp.
I agree with Kipp. Thank goodness for this vital document from AFT. I hope that CTA simply endorses it and protects teachers and students here in California