密歇根新闻广播 教师们的担忧

 

I’ll start my 28th year teaching in a few weeks. But will I survive it?”

Last week, the state’s largest teacher’s union said it would stand behind any teacher who didn’t want to return to an in-person classroom setting. Many teachers have expressed concerns about health risks, both for kids and for themselves, as well as the lack of funding to create safer conditions at schools.

Keith Kindred is one of those teachers. He teaches social studies in South Lyon and wrote this essay for Stateside.

I’ll start my 28th year teaching in a few weeks, but will I survive it?

I know that sounds dramatic. Silly, even, in a typical year. But these are not typical times.

I’m in pretty good shape for 54, but I also have asthma¹. That puts me at high risk if I catch the virus. Several of my colleagues have elderly parents or family members who live with them and have health concerns that make them a much higher risk than me.

I’m not exaggerating when I tell you some are terrified they will bring the virus home. Kids may not be as susceptible² to the virus as older people, but studies show they are potent³ carriers of COVID-19.

And there are a lot of kids in a school.

We live in the midst of a slow motion catastrophe⁴, vacillating between scenes of apparent normalcy punctuated⁵ by the surreal. I looked up at the grocery store the other day and was unexpectedly jolted⁶ by all the masks, plastic dividers, one way traffic lanes, and the like. It felt like a dream.

I’m still not used to the new normal.

I’m also grappling with my new found status as an essential worker. We teachers—no, our very profession—has been under attack for so long. The debate about defunding the police brings a weary expression to our faces, half grin, half scowl⁷; we’ve been defunding schools for decades!

But now I’m valuable, a front-line worker. The economy must function. Parents need to be able to work, for goodness sakes!

Most teachers don’t disagree with this reasoning. But must we be thrown into this pandemic fire without reasonable protections? Six months into this crisis and we are repeating the same mistakes we made with doctors and nurses at its outset.

Can’t we learn from those mistakes? The lack of leadership at the federal level has put states in a bind⁸, and wishful thinking seems to be spreading faster than the virus. Opening schools and opening them safely are two very different endeavors.

We are doing the former, folks, not the latter. And it won’t just be educators and support staff who pay the price.

I love my district and the students I serve, but so far it looks like all we are going to get is masks and halfway⁹ measures. We surveyed our community and close to 90 % of parents and guardians¹⁰ want to return to in-person schooling¹¹, five days a week. Many adults won’t wear masks, or just as important, wear them properly, for 20 minutes in the grocery store, but I guess a class of 25 third graders will all day.

Well, teachers can figure that out, right?

Sadly, this is not the first time in recent years teachers faced the prospect¹² of serious risk at work, even death. School shootings mean I’ve been trained how to confront an intruder with a high powered assault rifle and take a bullet, if necessary.

And you know what? I would do it. You may think that’s bravado¹³, but I know I would. I know most teachers would. Some already have.

But this is different. Billions of dollars have been spent on school safety in recent years, from cameras, to locked doors, to training and more. But state and federal governments have provided limited funding, at best, for making sure schools can operate safely. Other countries who opened schools have limited class sizes for social distancing, provided plastic dividers, extra funding for teaching remotely, testing that is widely available, contact tracing, and more.

But not in America. Good luck educators. Here’s a mask, some rubber gloves, and an alcohol solution for cleaning the desks between classes. Oh, and guess what? Pay cuts and layoffs¹⁴ are coming soon.

One of the things that has struck me about this pandemic is that we are getting a lesson in the crucial role of workers who haven’t traditionally been treated in a way that reflects their real value. If I had to choose right now between a grocery store clerk and a stock broker¹⁵, it wouldn’t take me a nanosecond to decide.

Teachers don’t want to be called heroes. We aren’t asking for pay raises and better benefits, or to have our profession treated with more respect. It’s not unreasonable¹⁶ to ask for those things, but not now. It’s a pandemic, a crisis like none we’ve seen in our lifetimes.

We get it.

But it’s ironic¹⁷ we are being told now that schools are critical to the functioning of our society and that we are essential workers. We’ve been telling you that all along, and it didn’t seem to resonate. We’re so glad you now see the light.

1 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

2 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

3 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

4 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 punctuated   

v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物

参考例句：

• Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause. 她的讲演不时被阵阵掌声打断。
• The audience punctuated his speech by outbursts of applause. 听众不时以阵阵掌声打断他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 jolted   

（使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。

7 scowl   

vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容

参考例句：

• I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
• The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

8 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

9 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

10 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

11 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

12 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

13 bravado   

n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能

参考例句：

• Their behaviour was just sheer bravado. 他们的行为完全是虚张声势。
• He flourished the weapon in an attempt at bravado. 他挥舞武器意在虚张声势。

14 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

15 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

16 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

17 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。