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NYC School Reopening Plans More Inconsistent than Those in England and Germany

Many New York City Public Schools students have not stepped foot inside a classroom for nearly a year, even as people continue to workout indoors and shop in stores. But across the Atlantic, European countries such as Germany and England are doing their best to ensure students receive a quality education throughout the pandemic — even if that means sacrificing certain luxuries like indoor dining and gym access.

Throughout the pandemic, the U.S. has consistently fallen short in laying out plans to reopen schools while England and Germany have proven more successful at keeping students in the classroom and equipped with necessary technology. And because of half-hearted attempts to return students to in-person instruction while not adequately preparing teachers, schools and students with personal protective equipment, education standards have fallen as students get shuffled between in-person and virtual classes. 

After spending the majority of the spring 2020 semester in virtual classrooms, New York City leaders announced last summer that public schools would partially reopen to students in the fall for those who wished to return to in-person instruction. The school year’s start date was pushed back two weeks to the end of September to allow for deep-cleaning and resource stockpiling, but all schools shuttered on November 19 regardless of the city’s efforts due to a three percent coronavirus positivity rate. Though some students in Pre-K, Kindergarten and those with complex disabilities did later return to in-person classes, over 350 elementary schools across the city have again shuttered and all middle and high schools remain closed. Months of online school have also taken their toll on children’s mental health. One-on-one interactions with peers and other students help children develop fundamental social emotional skills, and without those interactions more children might display delays in this type of learning.

On January 27, Mayor de Blasio announced that guidelines for reopening middle schools will be distributed in February, and that he plans on all city schools reopening at full strength in September. But even as he makes these assertions, the weekly coronavirus positivity rate still hovers above nine percent and two positive test results within a school can shut it down for 10 days. Though most city schools don’t have a concrete reopening date, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on January 29 that indoor dining at 25 percent capacity may begin again on February 14. However, gyms, clothing stores and indoor pools have been open at limited capacity for months now. So even as people workout, shop and dine, most students are still months away from returning to a classroom.

Countries such as Germany and England, on the other hand, have had more consistent plans that have aimed to keep schools open and businesses closed. As Germany closed down bars, restaurants and sports facilities on November 2, schools remained open until mid-December as Chancellor Angela Merkel called for stricter mask-wearing and smaller class sizes. To combat rising coronavirus positivity rates, which have topped 10,000 per day for about the last two months, schools will remain closed although some states have announced schools will begin to reopen in February. 

With the exception of kids of essential workers and those deemed “vulnerable,” schools in England have been closed due to high coronavirus positivity rates since the beginning of the year. However, students did return to the classroom for much of the fall semester and Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced at the end of January that he hopes to reopen schools on March 8. In the meantime, schools are expected to provide three to five hours of online education each day for all students. In New York City, students attend four half-hour-long class periods a day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Germany has been criticized for slow internet speeds and not providing laptops for every student in need during online learning. However, New York City has faced the same issues as over 100,000 students who are experiencing homelessness lack adequate internet access to attend class and tens of thousands of students are still without laptops or tablets. In England, kids without access to laptops are considered “vulnerable” and are allowed to continue to attend in-person classes. The digital divide still negatively impacts many low-income families, but there are at least options in place to help under-resourced students that do not exist in New York City.

Some discrepancies between school reopening plans in New York City versus those in England and Germany are due to unions’ strength in the U.S. In New York City, the United Federation of Teachers threatened to strike last fall when Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza announced schools would reopen. The union’s power was enough to delay the start date and keep many teachers and students at home while only a small cohort of students and teachers returned to school buildings. In Europe, however, unions are much weaker and have less money backing them. Many teachers in England believed the school reopening plan to be reckless, and that needs such as adequate testing and low positivity rates were not being met. However, unions were not able to leverage their membership to have an impact, and emerging research indicating that children were unlikely to die from the coronavirus prodded the public into favoring reopening schools. One poll conducted in England found that 71 percent of teachers were looking forward to going back to school while a similar poll in the U.S. found that 82 percent of teachers were concerned about returning to in-person classes. While unions’ power in the U.S. perhaps spared some lives by keeping people home, the U.S. ultimately failed to properly lay out consistent plans that would have helped ensure more students were receiving a quality education. 

Due to the competing forces of city leadership and unions, New York City has been unable to adequately lay out plans to safely reopen schools. As a result, students lose out as elementary schools close down nearly every day after reported coronavirus cases, and middle and high school students continue to sit at home and attend classes via their laptops. Instead of half-heartedly attempting to reopen schools, city leadership should have appeased the UFT, completely shut down schools and prioritized how to best conduct classes online. England and Germany are combatting their own issues associated with reopening schools, but, unlike the U.S., keeping students in the classroom while sacrificing other industries has remained their priority. 

Photo credit: JONAS GÜTTLER/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES, https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/reopening-puts-germany-s-much-praised-coronavirus-response-risk

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