A safe and welcoming school year for all

Students in Carle Place, N.Y., share what they learned about owls with Weingarten, foreground, on May 4. By Brett Sherman
Readers of a certain age will get it when I say that teachers absolutely MacGyvered the last 16 months. For everyone else, I’m referring to the ways educators improvised using what they had on hand, and their ingenuity, to complete their mission — educating and connecting with their students during a once-in-a-century pandemic.
Educators have been the first responders to students’ needs—troubleshooting technological problems; tending to students’ emotional needs; and helping them through the hurdles of online, hybrid and in-person learning. And that can take a toll.
In a recent survey, 78 percent of teachers reported frequent job-related stress — almost twice as many as most other working adults during the pandemic. And teachers were nearly three times as likely to experience symptoms of depression as the general adult population.
Educators have just been through the second-most challenging year of their professional lives. What’s the most challenging year? The one that starts this fall. Students will return to school with enormous needs. There still won’t be enough school counselors, psychologists or nurses. Far too many schools still need safety improvements. And there will be enormous pressure to make up for lost time.
But educators are preparing to be back in school in person, full time — because they know that’s what students need.
There are continued risks, particularly from the delta variant, which is causing alarming increases in infections in places with low vaccination rates.
Yet schools can fully reopen this fall in person — with ventilation upgrades; social, emotional and academic supports for students; and the resources needed to do all this. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance this week detailing mitigation measures schools should employ, recognizing that not everyone has been vaccinated.
With funding from the coronavirus rescue package and the American Rescue Plan, communities throughout the country are making schools safer. Last month, I visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus in New York City with United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew. We fought for years to get the ventilation system at MLK fixed. Now, with federal funds and help from outside experts the UFT brought in, the city has fixed it, and students and staff at MLK can finally breathe healthy air. As an asthmatic, I felt it immediately.
But some families still have reservations.
People whose loved ones have gotten sick or died from COVID-19 may have heightened fears about sending their children to school. Families may be skeptical that safety precautions will be in place.
If the bathrooms at their child’s school lacked soap before the pandemic or the ventilation was poor, it’s an even greater concern now. Their children may be too young or unable to be vaccinated. And some people worry about the safety of vaccines.
Educators are preparing to be back in school in person, full time — because that’s what students need.
Some concerns have nothing to do with COVID-19. Parents whose children have been bullied; have experienced racism, antisemitism or anti-Asian bigotry; or have not been well-served academically, may see remote learning as a refuge.
These are all barriers we must overcome. The AFT is dedicating $5 million to a Back to School for All campaign, with members reaching out to families to stress the importance of in-school learning and build families’ trust and confidence in their children returning to school.
The AFT has already made more than 40 grants to state and local unions totaling more than $3 million, covering 1,400 AFT local unions in 22 states. From small towns like Willmar, Minn., to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, educators are stepping up.
AFT members in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, and throughout Massachusetts, are going door to door, visiting students’ homes to talk about the health and safety and education programs in place, to encourage families to send their children back for in-person learning.
In some places, our unions are working to increase vaccination rates. Others are contacting families whose children had limited or no attendance last year. All have the goal of “back to school for all.”
As much as we want to feel “normal” again, we can do better than the old normal of test-based accountability systems and vast inequality. As we return to full-time in-person schooling, we have a unique opportunity to pursue new initiatives to help all kids thrive.
Reading really matters. That’s why the AFT is redoubling our work to help educators improve their instruction in research-based literacy, whatever their subject or grade level — with an emphasis on under-resourced schools. And we are working to expand community schools to connect students and families to vital services right in the school.
When students return to school this fall, they will bring with them the scars of a long struggle we wish they hadn’t had to endure, and educators will help them recover and feel safe and welcome. But students will also bring with them their hopes and their potential. And teachers will get back to what brought them to this hope-filled profession—helping their students not only dream their dreams but achieve them.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.