My Take: Offer teachers vaccine to stem Michigan education crisis

According to experts, science and data — it’s safe for kids to be in the classroom.

We know, though, that despite the evidence surrounding student populations, teachers remain understandably concerned about their own health and safety.

We also know that Michigan’s code red education crisis gets worse every day that passes with classroom doors padlocked, and our kids may spend the rest of their lives paying the price.

So, what is Michigan going to do about it?

One proposal could bridge the political and policy divide, get kids back in the classroom, and protect our teachers.

With vaccines for COVID-19 coming online, let’s move teachers towards the front of the line with other essential workers and get them the vaccine as soon as humanly possible.

Make no mistake — teachers are essential workers. They pour their hearts and their minds into Michigan students every day they’re able. The work they do pays dividends today, tomorrow, and for years to come. Our kids are counting on them.

Let us ensure they have peace of mind. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Michigan’s education system is in crisis.

Students have lost hundreds of days’ worth of learning since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s first school closure order in March.

Those learning losses were exacerbated this fall when the governor demanded high schools lock the doors to keep students away. Across the state, over 100 other school districts opted on their own to close their buildings — including K-6 schools — to stop kids from entering the classroom.

School shutdowns are exacerbating racial and socio-economic inequalities, too. Students from families without the means to pay to send their students to a private school with open doors are falling farther behind their counterparts.

At the same time, the state’s biggest teachers union is fighting tooth and nail to take the governor’s unscientific COVID policy further, demanding she shutter the rest of the schools that remain open.

Disappointingly but not surprisingly, researchers found that school closing decisions aren’t actually being made because of science and data — they’re made because of politics. Our kids can’t afford those kind of partisan political fights.

They’re counting on safe classrooms. According to the experts, those are already available.

Just ask the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics or Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Just days ago, Fauci told policymakers that schools are safe, and they should be open for class.

“If you look at the data, the spread among children and from children is not really very big at all, not like one would have suspected,” Fauci said.

We know that doesn’t change the fact that many teachers understandably still feel unsafe without an immunization.

Michigan’s education system is in crisis.

Our students’ lives and futures are on the line.

We might not always agree on politics, but we all want what’s best for Michigan’s kids.

Let’s treat teachers with an extra measure of respect, move them towards the front of the line, and offer them the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s an investment in their health, in schools’ safety, and in our children’s future.

— Beth DeShone is executive director of the Great Lakes Education Project.