Teacher's union play a signficant role in deciding whether schools reopen for in-person instruction. | Stock Photo
Teacher's union play a signficant role in deciding whether schools reopen for in-person instruction. | Stock Photo
In many school districts in Washington, the decision over whether to reopen schools for in-person instruction will be made not only by administrators but by teacher’s unions as well, the Seattle Times reported.
Approval from teacher’s unions will be a “significant factor” in the decision to reopen, the Seattle Times reported.
Timothy Brittell, a 63-year-old teacher and prostate cancer survivor, is president of the teacher’s union in the Northshore School District. It was the first Washington district to shutdown due to COVID-19 last March. Brittell polled his fellow union members about their chronic health conditions and ages to determine who was most at risk.
Despite opposition from government officials, "We closed anyway closed anyway," Brittell told the Seattle Times. "The CDC had told us not to worry even as they transported (infected people) in hazmat suits."
Going forward, "buy in” from teacher unions will be a major factor as school systems decide when to resume in-person instruction, Brad Marriano, an education professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, told the Seattle Times.
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