Summary

The article discusses the contentious issue of reopening schools in Texas amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the tension between economic recovery and the safety of children and teachers.

Abstract

The push to reopen schools in Texas for in-person learning has sparked significant controversy, with many parents and educators concerned about the potential health risks to children and teachers. The state's leadership, including the governor and attorney general, are advocating for school reopenings despite the lack of a unified, science-based plan. This political stance is seen as prioritizing economic interests over the safety of the community, as schools risk becoming hotspots for virus transmission. The Texas State Teachers Association has called for the involvement of families and teachers in decision-making processes to ensure safety measures are in place. The situation is further complicated by the attorney general's recent actions, which restrict local health officials' authority to close schools and threaten funding for districts that do not comply with reopening mandates. This approach contradicts the guidance of health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, who emphasize the importance of local decision-making based on public health considerations. The article underscores the need for a cautious, medically informed strategy for school reopenings, learning from successful examples worldwide, to protect students and educators while managing the pandemic effectively.

Opinions

The article suggests that the push for economic recovery is taking precedence over the health and safety of Texas children and teachers.
It criticizes the lack of clear, coherent state policy and federal guidance on school reopenings during the pandemic.
The piece conveys a strong opinion that the decision to reopen schools should be based on scientific evidence and the advice of health experts, not political ideologies or economic pressures.
The author implies that the actions of the state attorney general in limiting local health officials' authority are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.
There is a clear stance that school districts should have the autonomy, with input from families and teachers, to make decisions about closures based on local virus transmission rates.
The article expresses that the current approach in Texas, which includes forcing teachers to teach from classrooms and the possibility of schools becoming breeding grounds for a new wave of infections, is not in line with the best-known science or the most prudent approach.
It emphasizes that successful school reopenings elsewhere have been achieved by following scientific recommendations, curbing community transmission, and implementing careful planning.
The author advocates for a unified, disciplined response in Texas that aligns with public health expertise to combat COVID-19 effectively and protect the state's children and teachers.

Welcome to Texas — Mess with my kids

“Don’t Mess with Texas,” takes second place when it comes to messing with Texas kids for the sake of economic recovery: The push from Washington to open schools for in-person classes puts children and teachers at risk of death and disease.

BY MILAN SIME MARTINIC

“You violated rule numero uno — You messed with Texas. Don’t mess with Texas.”

— Texas tough takeoff on SNL in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks on America

There is nothing light-hearted about what is going on in Texas education today. Absent federal guidance and a coherent state policy, Texas parents are wondering whether sending their kids back to school after the COVID-19 attack is a good idea or whether it is dangerously messing with their kids. The governor and state attorney general are pushing for an opening of schools but offering conflicting information and not a unified plan that incorporates their concerns. Kids are scared. Parents are scared. Teachers know their lives may be on the line. Allowing people to congregate has proven to cause spreader events. Yet the decision to put children in school is not based on the best-known science or the most prudent approach but on competing political ideas or gut-feelings based on a freedom without barriers concept.

As the environment has changed, school has changed; the political squeeze to reopen schools now raises concerns they might become breeding grounds for a new wave of cases that could infect children with a virus whose long-term effects are yet unknown, and at the same time kill teachers and adults at home.

Texas’ youngest and oldest citizens are at risk as government decisions do not come from a process of collaboration and are more weighed over how to balance the needs of the economy over the safety of the population, say advocates for teachers, pointing out that on average about 18% of the teachers fall within a vulnerable range. Children are less likely to die or fall severely ill, but they are still vectors for transmission who can infect teachers and take the virus to parents and grandparents.

“We trust health experts, not the attorney general, when children’s lives are at stake,” said Texas State Teachers Association, TSTA, President Ovidia Molina in a statement that calls for families and teachers’ involvement “to ensure educators and families have a voice in how the return to in-person instruction occurs and how necessary protections function throughout the school year.”

That is not the situation on the ground today. As Texas becomes the latest state to pass New York in the number of COVID cases. This week, State Attorney General Ken Paxton undertook action that undermined health authority recommendations, saying that local health officials do not have the authority to shut down all schools in their vicinity while COVID-19 cases rise at the peril of losing funding for the school district.

The move that contradicted what Texas Education Agency, TEA, had told school officials, puts an existential financial squeeze on school districts forcing them to choose funding versus lives. Now, TEA guidance says it will not fund school districts that keep classrooms closed because of a local health mandate, citing the attorney general’s letter.

Districts may stay closed for up to eight weeks, with some restrictions and receive state funding if they obtain TEA’s permission, said the new guidance in an about-face. Translation: Even if you must close, it can only be for up to eight weeks.

The one principle that is overriding is the safety and welfare of the children and the safety and the welfare of the teachers, says epidemiologist and Director of the National Institute of Health’s, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the last 36 years, Dr. Anthony Fauci. “If you are in a situation when you are in an outbreak mode, then you leave it all to the local individuals to making a decision based on the judgement of making sure that safety of children and teachers are paramount,” said Fauci in a PBS NewsHour interview.

The eight week cap and taking decision-making out of the hands of local health officials the authority to shut down all schools in their vicinity while COVID-19 cases rise flies in the face of the overriding principle of local authorities ensuring the safety of children and teacher. “Don’t mess with Texas,” does not seem to extend to a unanimous “Don’t mess with my kids.” Parents and teachers are expressing concern that kids — and teachers — are being thrown into the front lines by politicians that question Fauci, bureaucrats that questions doctors , and question science, and do not have things under control.

The people who go to work everyday and love their children and elders are asking for plans that comply with medical and scientific recommendations, and their non-partisan implementation.

At the current rate of infection, chances of at least one person being infected in each class are unacceptably high. “While local health authorities may possess some authority to close schools in limited circumstances, they may not issue blanket orders closing all schools on a purely preventative basis. That decision rightfully remains with school system leaders,” says Attorney General Paxton.

School districts from New Zealand to Uruguay have successfully implemented a mix of in-person and online education that aims at protecting teachers as well as students. In Texas, some school districts are forcing teachers to teach online classes from their school classrooms, an unnecessary heavy-handed measure in the midst of a pandemic that risks exposing teachers for little or no gain other than a show that government is leaning on teachers.

The adversarial approach is puzzling because it litters the process with uncertainly and danger. The world has learned how the COVID-19 attack comes — Transmission, infection, reporting, hospitalization, ICU, and death. We have also learned how to fight back — in unity, with a public buy-in, with leadership that follows scientific recommendations, with caution, with masks, with distancing, and deterrents, with following public health experts to get the pandemic under control in the community; waiting until transmission rates are low and going lower before cautiously opening a return which then has to be cautiously monitored and reversed if needed to stop a resurgence.

Schools have reopened safely elsewhere and in places that were absolutely devastated by COVID-19. This has been successful only where done after curbing community transmission, with carefully thought-out plans in place that comply with medical and scientific recommendations, and building on what works, adjusting as needed, closing back down under the advice of local public health officials if necessary.

There are enough examples around the world that teach us what must be done. As humans, we now know what must be done.

The question for Texas is, can the state live up to the greater meaning of “Don’t mess with Texas,” and be focused, united, and disciplined enough to say Basta! To stop inviting a desperate White House to mess with Texas kids for the sake of a half-baked idea of how economic recovery starts. It is high time to make the lone star shine forcefully against the politicians and the pandemic, to protect Texas kids and teachers, to be the independent people who do the right thing. And all it takes is to do what we already know to do in order to beat back COVID-19.

MILAN SIME MARTINIC is an author, researcher, and journalist working full time covering COVID-19 issues around the world and writing a book analyzing the effects of the pandemic.