Live updates: Psaki says vaccinating teachers not a requirement for opening schools safely

[DonViejo]

Source: Washington Post



1:56 p.m.

By John Wagner

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that Biden agrees with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that vaccinating teachers need not be a requirement for reopening schools safely, answering a question that other White House officials had dodged in recent television appearances.

“No, neither the president nor the vice president believe that it should be, that it is a requirement,” Psaki said during a White House briefing for reporters. “The CDC guidelines included a range of mitigation steps, including vaccinations as recommendations. But the mitigation steps also included steps like social distancing, the need for a smaller class sizes, the need for sanitation.”

She reiterated that Biden and Harris believe states should prioritize teachers when deciding whom to vaccinate.

“About half of the states in the country have prioritized teachers,” she said. “And they both feel that’s important, including child health-care workers.... So it’s not a requirement to reopen schools, but they believe that teachers should be prioritized.”



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/17/joe-biden-live-updates/

[questionseverything]

1. Super disappointed

[Magoo48]

4. Bad news.

[questionseverything]

9. We have waited eleven months for the vaccine and

Now that we have it the ptb don’t want to take the time to get it into teachers arms

We are so close why the rush to endanger teachers,administration,helpers and janitors?

[Mosby]

2. Grocery store workers aren't vaccinated either.

It would be great if someone cared about that.

Just know when you go shopping at your favorite store there are most likely covid positive team members working.

My Target is up to about 12 employees now, and its not a super Target.

One was hospitalized for several weeks.

[Magoo48]

3. I'm a life long union man.

I care about that. I believe everyone working in the food chain, from field to shelf, deserves hazard pay and vaccinations.

[Mosby]

7. +1

Thanks, that's nice to hear.

Target has given us a couple bonuses, the last one was $500 a few weeks ago. They are holdouts with mask compliance though, they need to bite the bullet and deal with it.

[oldsoftie]

6. I have teachers in my family. But sometimes it gets tiring.

I could not be a teacher; I could never put up with the kids & I dont think i'd be a good instructor. Most do great work. Our kids need good teachers & they should be paid well. In my area, they ARE paid well IMO. And school Boards should back them up to discipline bad students.
But the constant push for sainthood for teachers is getting silly. They get 2 months off here; not to mention all the other holidays during the school year. Yes, they do work at home. But these days most of us do. And you can also retire in your early 50s with very good benefits. Only the military offers that good a deal.
Our schools opened in August. We've had over 20000 in person students. And no major issues. The virus is NOT being ignored. But whatever our system is doing it seems to be working. We have had no teacher deaths or major spreads tied to any schools.
The kids NEED to be in schools. Many studies show that the shutdowns are having a terrible effect on them. Just do it right. There will always be a risk. But theres risk in everything

[keopeli]

13. Several misconceptions in your post.

Teachers are paid for the number of days they actually work. We do not get "two months off". We are not paid anything for those two months or things like Spring Break. We are simply not paid if we don't work. All other holidays are federal holidays that everyone is supposed to get.
There's a big difference between "sainthood" and "don't endanger our lives".
Teachers are historically underpaid by A LOT in some places (like where I work).
Retirement is based on years worked. Any good job offers the same. You can retire after 20 years of service, regardless of your age. That's hardly a benefit reserved for sainthood.
Your anecdotal evidence of having no major covid outbreak in your area does not prove anything. Schools NEED to be open of course, but safely.
Teachers should be treated the same as other frontline workers, i.e. grocery clerks, meat packers, etc. That means they should ALL be prioritized for getting the vaccine.
Finally, you say "just do it right". We've suffered through a year of not doing anything at all. It can not be made right in a couple of weeks, especially without funding. My Title I school is doing everything they can, but they can not make the building safe without much more funding. So, how can we insist teachers return to work when there is no possible way that we can "just do it right"?
I respectfully disagree with you.
Blessings!

[demmiblue]

16. Two guesses regarding that one...

1) He doesn't actually know any teachers, and 2) he probably would never support anyone with a certain letter after their name. He has been completely obvious for quite some time.

Thank you for your work.

[oldsoftie]

18. I guess a lot is different here than where you are.

Teachers can get paid over 12 months or 10. Its their choice. The pay is the same regardless. Some do other work during the 2 months, most dont. Depending on their degree, pay is anywhere from 40-70k+. I'm in Ga & that gets you a pretty good standard of living. You can buy a decent 1600 sq ft house here for 100-140.
I dont know any industry other than the military & maybe police where you can work 20 yrs & retire with full benefits. Thats a HUGE deal.
Like I said, our district opened in August and I guess it was under our state's guidelines.
The ones in my family & others that I know are fine with being open for the most part. The biggest gripe here is probably the biggest gripe anywhere; being backed up by superiors when you have a discipline problem!
But i also have no problem with teachers going ahead of me.

[Yeehah]

20. Which school system gives full retirement benefits after 20 years?

Not the one my mom worked in.

[oldsoftie]

23. The post i responded to stated that. I dont know of one.

[spooky3]

28. No, it didn't. Being eligible to retire is not the same as "full" retirement.

Defined benefit pensions are reduced for lower years of service. And in many systems 30 or more years, plus attainment of a certain age, at a minimum are required for eligibility.

There are/were two teachers in my family--a sibling and a parent. One retired at age 63 more than two decades ago, when many private sector workers retired earlier than 63. The other will be retiring at age 70. That's well above the average. If they could have qualified for such fabulous benefits as you describe at an earlier age, and could have afforded to do it, I'm sure they would have done so.

Your other post is disingenuous about spreading one's pay over 12 months vs. 10 months. Teachers are paid for 10 months of work. If pay is spread out, each monthly payment is lower.

Controlled pay studies show that teachers in general earn much less than do workers in other jobs with comparable levels of education, years of service, responsibility, etc. Look them up.

The $40-70K that you claim teachers near you earn should not be compared to the "average" worker, who does not on average have a college degree, let alone a master's degree, and may not be comparable in other ways. That average encompasses all levels of experience. As one comparison, I am a professor at a business school in a well-known university, and our undergraduates typically make more than that at their first job after graduation, with no prior full-time work experience.

If pay and benefits were so fabulous, people would be lining up to apply for those jobs.

[oldsoftie]

38. Our district always has far more applicants than positions. We're lucky in that.

And today, a Masters is the new Bachelors. Its ridiculous what some (non teaching) jobs are requiring as far as education is concerned. Some jobs require a degree in ANYTHING.
I know what GA teachers get in retirement. I have teachers in my family & know several who retired, fully vested, in their 50s. This is my age group. I know a lot of them.
Yes, obviously if you spread out pay over 12 payments its less per month than 10. But plenty of 12 month jobs are paid 40k as well.
Our state will also pay for your Masters if you agree to teach in Title 1 schools for, i think, 3 yrs. Maybe we're unique there, I dont know.

[keopeli]

30. Yeah, a little different

Last year was my 27th year teaching. I made about 32K for the year. Prices are cheap in NM but not that cheap. We're paid by the hour. If you want to do summer school, you can make extra. If you want to sell your half-hour lunch break and work instead, you can. I live in a 1500 sq ft house in a nice neighborhood that's worth 280K. You can't pay 100K unless you are willing to live in the neighborhood where I teach (I'm not willing). I'll give you that the retirement is a good benefit, but it doesn't make up for a lifetime of being underpaid. I love teaching and I don't complain. I choose to work in a Title I school with at-risk kids who need good teachers.

It's beside the point, though. There is no possible way that a public school in most regions of the US can effectively impose social distancing and masking and airflow and contact tracing requirements. It's just silly to discuss it like it's possible. But, if I were vaccinated fully, I'd be willing to go to what I can to help my kids.

The idea that we would send teachers into poor public schools without a vaccination when we HAVE vaccines available defies all logic, imo.

Sounds like you've got a nice spot for you in Georgia. I have family in Alabama that brings me there from time to time. It's lovely country!

Peace!

[spooky3]

31. A small point - I'm not sure what you mean by "good job" but defined benefit pensions are very rare

now, outside of the public sector, so they don't all "offer the same." However, the average monthly payment is much lower than a lot of people believe. Having "a" pension isn't the same as having one that pays a lot.

People who think the pay and benefits of teachers is so outstanding have a hard time explaining (a) why many districts can't hire enough good teachers, and (b) why they didn't apply for those jobs.

[masmdu]

15. Here are 700 plus teachers who have died....

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/educators-weve-lost-to-the-coronavirus/2020/04

[oldsoftie]

19. "196 were active teachers". The rest, retired. Nationwide over 10 months thats not much.

Of the 196, how many were teaching inside a reopened school? Not mentioned.

[Yeehah]

21. And you wouldn't give a shit if it was all of them

Peddle your wares elsewhere.

[oldsoftie]

24. You can go with the old "if it just saves ONE life" line i guess.

But thats not living in the real world. The post mentioned 700 teachers like they were all active. Misleading. But that was probably the point of the article; fear mongering.
Read up on all the studies showing how damaging it is to keep the kids out of school indefinitely. Its not good. Suicides are way up. Teachers can handle the kids & make them adhere to the masking rules and everything else.
Like flying, if you take a lot of precautions it can be very safe. 1/2 the eligible students are back in schools nationwide. I doubt the individual systems are just tossing everyone to the wolves. Its not happening here.

[keopeli]

32. "Teachers can handle the kids & make them adhere to the masking rules and everything else."

I just met with over 100 teachers. We were all laughing at this comment. (Not your specific comment, but the sentiment in general.) My friend, you have never taught Middle School.

[oldsoftie]

36. No. And as I said earlier I never COULD. I'd be awful.

But I know plenty of parents here who tell me the schools are NOT playing around with this and are constantly on these kids. One of them is an in school volunteer & she said they even watch HER.

[masmdu]

33. Wrong. The rest include working principals, coaches,

maintenance, councelors, other school staff, and retired teachers substitutes.

[oldsoftie]

37. The bold print says of the 740 "active & retired", "196 are active teachers."

"As of Feb. 9, 2021, at least 740 active and retired K-12 educators and personnel have died of COVID-19. Of those, 196 were active teachers."

And how many of those died when ALL schools were shut down for months? Many shown died during the summer months when schools are normally out anyway. And most all schools were shut down from March till start of this school year.

[masmdu]

39. And as you misrepresented earlier the "rest" are not all retired

but include current principals, coaches, maintenance, counselors, other school staff, and retired teacher substitutes.

Further, this is not an exhaustive list. There are several dead teachers in my area who are not included on this list.

[oldsoftie]

40. Were they in school teaching when they caught it?

[masmdu]

41. Yes

[oldsoftie]

42. I know its an awful way to go. I knew the 1st to die in our county.

Regardless, we've got about 4 million teachers in the US, so the numbers are very very low. And no way of knowing if it was caught in the schools either. Millions of kids are being affected in a bad way by staying out of schools. Suicides, depression, self harm, etc. Not to mention people having to stay home from work if they have young kids. The cost of staying closed is greater than the risk of opening. My area isnt some special place to live. We've been opened since the beginning of the school year back in August. Over 22,000 students. And I dont know of any teacher who has died; I'm pretty sure it would've made the news. So they're doing something right. Shouldnt be hard for everyone else to do it.

[onecaliberal]

5. Because we haven't sacrificed enough.

[Lonestarblue]

8. Disappointing. It is not okay for teachers to get the virus and take it home to families.

I feel like there’s a lack of direct knowledge of the conditions in schools. The CDC recommends good ventilation and opening windows. It’a been 5 degrees here! Children and teachers are expected to freeze? And what about schools that have windows that don’t even open. There are many of those, especially in areas that rely on air conditioning much of the time. It’s costly to upgrade air filtration systems. Where are schools supposed to find the money?

And what about special needs kids, as another DUer wrote about this morning? They can’t be expected to follow safety protocols when they have no understanding of what they are.

And how do you keep kids six feet apart in classrooms built for 30 students sitting in close rows?

Make an effort to quickly vaccinate teachers and then get schools open. Walgreen’s and CVS were sent to nursing homes. Send them the vaccine and let them go to schools and vaccinate teachers and staff. Since there’s a Walgreen’s or CVS in practically every community, it should not take all that long. I know the vaccine is scarce, but this is unfair to teachers to ask them to risk their lives or the lives of family members.

[questionseverything]

12. It's not just dangerous to teachers

If a young teacher has it w/o symptoms and a 16/17 catches it but shows no symptoms and carries it home to parents/grandparents......the elders might die or have long term disabling conditions

We are so close just be patient

[Dawson Leery]

10. Store workers are not a vaccine priority either.

With that said, it would be better for teachers to have the vaccine before re-opening.

[Jose Garcia]

11. Follow the science

[Fiendish Thingy]

14. Biden is wrong- prepare for mass walkouts. Nt

[OldBaldy1701E]

22. I know several teachers in three different states

who are already looking into other employment as well as possible legal action should their states try to pass legislation that says they have to report for work. The end result is that people are not going to like who these schools replace those teachers with, as there will be very few people out there willing to work in such a potentially dangerous situation, and those same legislatures should be wary of anyone who is willing to do so.

[HUAJIAO]

17. Dumb decision by the CDC... another one.

Teachers need to be protected. Did they ever think of that? No, of course not.

To say nothing of the kids,,,,

[AllyCat]

25. Sigh...it is a priority. This is disappointing.

[Evolve Dammit]

26. JFC. They are as "front-line" as you get. Are teachers expendable now?

[dchill]

27. Anyone whose job requires them to be cooped up with...

...the offspring of anti-maskers should first require and be required to get the vaccine.

Talk me down.

[appalachiablue]

29. Biden was supposed to be a friend of teachers

and education I thought, mainly because of Dr. Jill.

In some Nordic countries, teachers' pay is equivalent to that of doctors and engineers, ie they respect the teaching profession. Not here, it's 'womens work.'... This has to change.

[BigmanPigman]

34. When I was teaching most of my students

were from other countries and I preferred it that way. When I first started we were next to military housing and the kids and parents were not very respectful of teachers, the school and other students. Academically they were not remarkable. When the district changed housing boundaries the student population changed for the best. Parents and students were quite respectful and they were higher academically. The kids from Asian countries and India were usually the best students all around.

[LovingA2andMI]

35. Well Damn....

But the Vaccine is important, right? But not for Teachers???