MTA blasts DESE guidance on COVID-19 supplies for schools

MTA President Merrie Najimy released the following statement today in response to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s recent “Guidance on Required Safety Supplies for Re-Opening Schools.”

Our first and most vehement point of opposition to the guidance is that the department is making each district responsible for purchasing its own COVID-19 personal protective equipment for reopening schools. That is far too much like President Trump telling states they had to buy their own ventilators and testing supplies rather than using the centralized authority and purchasing power of the federal government to protect public health and safety by making vital equipment available. 

It will be communities of color — which have been historically subjected to structural racism through disinvestment in their public schools and other crucial services — that will be the least able to afford PPE and will be once again disproportionately impacted.

"The assumption that students will bring their own face coverings to school, with the school supplementing those with one disposable mask per child per week, is also tone-deaf."

There are other things that render this plan impractical. To name just a few, the staff-to-student ratio of 10:2, while necessary, requires reducing class size by at least half — and in many instances even more than half. This will necessitate at least doubling the number of staff, even as public schools are on the verge of issuing large numbers of layoff notices, or pink slips, to educators.

The assumption that students will bring their own face coverings to school, with the school supplementing those with one disposable mask per child per week, is also tone-deaf to families who do not have the means or ability to live up to the expectation of providing their own. Added to that is the impracticality of expecting young children to be able to follow this guidance, including remaining six feet apart, washing their hands frequently, and keeping their face masks on all day.

None of this can be accomplished safely if school budgets are cut and staff are laid off, leading to larger classes and less ability to achieve physical distancing, perform deep cleaning, and implement the other health and safety measures required. As the guidance itself states, “Successfully implementing 6 feet of social distancing will require significantly smaller class sizes and reduced staff-to-student ratios."

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