Tug Of War

A tempest in a teapot. A mountain made out of a molehill. And other idioms that might be used to define exaggeration.
Hyperbole is a tempting avenue to follow in the current state of affairs. Newsweek ran an article about teachers in Texas writing wills in anticipation of schools opening in that state. Governor Greg Abbot has decided that schools will open on time in August this year. Schools in Texas will be required to provide in-person instruction five days a week. Parents do have the choice of keeping their children at home in distance learning. Teachers do not have this option. Texas is providing no additional funding for this grand experiment. Consequently, educators are making the high profile show of preparing for the worst.
I understand that there is a wide swath of public opinion, much of which insists that teachers are happy to stay locked into their extended paid vacation. Parents who have been forced by this circumstance to become teacher/caregiver hybrids are not anxious to spend yet another month or two or three or more while they are attempting to get their own lives back on track. Single mothers who rely on schools to teach and care for their children while they work outside the home need teachers to help them shoulder the load. We all have to do our part.
Meanwhile, teachers' unions respond in the way you might expect: fighting for their rank and file. Sending their members into a situation fraught with potential danger is not in their plan. Additional testing and precautions that are currently being argued for cost money. Money that doesn't exist because of the economic downturn caused by, you guessed it, COVID-19.
So while these anxieties feed the flames of fear and anger, there are a few quiet voices of reason. I have noticed them in the comment section of online meetings sandwiched between dozens of other less restrained suggestions. They are the voices of a community that is aware that these are not standard operating procedures. Teachers, parents, students and others continue to wait out the furious tug of war that goes on while it is obvious that the best possible solution is simply to put the rope down. Come together. The teapot is full of disease. It's best not to handle it without a mask. The molehills are full of plague-carrying insectivores. Probably a good thing to avoid them for the time being as well. This is most certainly a clever way to go about education in the age of coronavirus, but it probably won't be discovered by people who aren't looking for a mutually beneficial solution. For the record, I am anxious to get back to doing my job, the one for which I signed up. I teach kids, and it's much easier to do inside a school. Online learning is a lovely substitute, but I believe we all know the truth about substitutes. Even the best ones.
And get that mole out of the teapot, will you?