Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) – School teachers may face tough road blocks ahead as schools in Syracuse plan to reopen. The city school districts draft plan for 10,000 k-8 students is to implement a hybrid program in which students alternate between going to school twice a week and learning online three times a week. Nearly all high school students will be online for the fall. President of the Syracuse Teachers Association, William Scott, said he thinks it will be tough to compensate all teachers.
“Once the state doesn’t have the revenue to fund schools, they’re certainly not going to have enough revenue to fund teachers,” said Scott.
The city’s Board of Education has not said any teachers will be laid off this fall. But Scott thinks non-tenured teachers, some of whom are younger, may find it difficult to keep their jobs because he thinks they will be the first ones getting laid-off in a time of economic crisis.
“You want to make sure that in midst of a crisis, you have your most seasoned, prepared people who kind of got this and know what they’re doing,” said Scott.
Scott speculates that teachers with underlying health conditions, which prevent them from coming into the school, will be evaluated and be among the first group of teachers who can teach remotely. He believes the second group will be teachers who may have someone living with them who has a pre-existing medical condition. What about the rest? Scott believes there’s a chance there won’t be the “rest.”
“It’s my understanding that in Virginia, the decision to do virtual learning ONLY was really driven by the fact that so many people opted out for so many reasons that they realize that if we don’t let everybody do distance learning, we can’t do this,”said Scott. “And I’m wondering if that will play out for other school districts.”
Scott said not everyone will be able to afford remote learning, even some teachers. He said not everyone has a computer or Wi-Fi in their house, especially young teachers, teacher assistants and families living in impoverished areas.
