This post contains a detailed statement by one of the #LR69 teachers who has asked to remain unnamed here.
Background
Little Rock School District (LRSD) made national news again this week when 69 teachers protested dangerous school conditions by offering only virtual instruction to their students on Monday, September 28. This work action took place against a backdrop of rising COVID numbers, with dire predictions updated and published by the University of Arkansas Medical School on September 23.
Despite the alarming increase in active COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, Governor Asa Hutchinson has not altered his mandate that all schools must remain open for in-person instruction five days per week.
Since LRSD is still under state control, only the governor and his appointees can mitigate the risks to which LRSD students and teachers are exposed daily. There is no school board to purchase safety equipment, consider the possibility of outdoor classrooms, or close schools during an outbreak.
To get the governor’s attention, 69 teachers from the Little Rock Education Association (LREA) notified their principals that they would be teaching online-only on Monday, because that they believe the COVID positivity rate should be under 5% for 14 consecutive days in order for schools to hold classes in person.
LRSD Superintendent Mike Poore treated the job action as a “no-show, no-call” absence, and immediately punished the participating teachers. In addition to receiving no pay for their Monday work, the teachers of #LR69 have been suspended without pay for 3-5 additional days.
To support these teachers, please consider donating to the LREA Member Care Fund. For a list of LRSD School Board candidates endorsed by the LREA for election in November, read to the end of this post.
Here is one teacher’s story, in her own words:
On Monday September 28, 2020 I woke up and went to work. I gave a test to my some of my students. I facilitated discussions with all my students. I taught students a new format for completing open responses. I answered student questions about missing assignments. All in all, it was a very normal, productive day. Except that I was working from home.
Now, just a few days later, I am sitting at home on a 5-day suspension without pay as a result of that one day’s action. For these 5 days, I am expressly forbidden from going on campus or completing work of any kind. I am prevented from working with students because I was willing to call the district and state leadership out for putting students and educators in an unsafe work environment.
It is readily apparent that schools are not safe, and COVID-19 is spreading in Arkansas. On October 1st Arkansas had 1,124 new cases of COVID-19. Models from UAMS predict these numbers will continue to go up. Since the start of the school year Dunbar, Parkview, Southwest, Gibbs, Roberts, Stephens and Central have all had to either fully or partially close to face-to-face instruction and offer virtual classes only because of COVID-19 outbreaks. Week after week, evidence has mounted demonstrating that schools are not being cleaned, masks are not consistently worn properly, and the Ready for Learning plan released by the district is not being followed.
On September 24th, when members of the Little Rock Education Association (LREA) voted to participate in a job action to stand up for our students and demand virtual only instruction, I was resolute. Of course, I would rather be able to offer in-person learning, but I know that the schools are not safe. I know that because I have been at school every day since August 11. I have seen first-hand the efforts of people in the school doing what they can, but the fact of the matter is that significant gatherings in the middle of a pandemic will never be safe, regardless of what precautions are taken. Add the facts that class meetings are indoors, in closed rooms often with older ventilation systems, for hours at a time without adequate space to insure even six feet of distance, with kids who sometimes have trouble following instructions, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Last weekend, on Sunday I went to bed with a feeling of peace I have not felt since August. I knew I was going to be able to teach my students without putting them or myself in danger. I knew I was doing the right thing because ultimately, people’s lives and safety are more important than anything I can teach in a classroom. Throughout the day on Monday, I felt this same peace teaching my students. There were some struggles due to virtual interactions, but there was nothing I could not monitor and adjust to remedy.
When my last class finished and I logged into Facebook, I saw for the first time Michael Poore’s comments and the reports that only 69 members of the LREA actually took part in the action. This was shocking, since far more than 69 people voted for the action to take place. I knew then that the action would not be sustainable in the face of political opposition, and I was concerned that the reaction would be harsh.
All of the 69 teachers who participated in the action received an email Monday night saying disciplinary action was pending. I was one of those teachers. We were told to report to the LRSD Instructional Resource Center on Tuesday to pick up disciplinary letters. While there is no way currently to verify what that disciplinary letter would have said, I have it on good authority that the plan was for Mike Poore to fire the 69 teachers who participated in the job action. That meeting was postponed a little over an hour before it was scheduled to begin. Instead we got a letter from Mike Poore saying he was “greatly disappointed” in us for our decision to teach virtually.
There are many statements in Poore’s letter that are incredibly problematic. After noting that he was “prepared” to “take very strong disciplinary action,” Poore explains it was “necessary to assure our teachers would be present for instruction.” He then chastises those of us who taught virtually on Monday for leaving our “students, fellow educators or… community in a bind.” That statement is ridiculous. I taught at home for one day. I told the administration I was doing this ahead of time. My students had work to do, and whoever sat in my room that day to observe them while they worked did nothing. My students told me he didn’t even tell them his name.
Now, I’m at home for five days where I am not allowed to interact or help my students at all. How is that not putting these same people “in a bind?” How is my five-day suspension, and a similar suspension for the other 68 teachers, not completely out of line and inconsistent with the stated justifications for the “very strong” response? Being forced not to teach for five days has to place a greater burden on others than teaching virtually for one.
Poore characterized our decision to teach virtually as being inconsistent with the “right decision,” which would have been “to educate all students.” Nonsense. I took great care to educate all my students on Monday. I taught every single student, both those who were in person at school and those at home. They ALL participated. They ALL turned in assignments. I never decided to stop educating all my students. I just want ALL my students to be safe while I am educating them. And frankly, my safety matters too, as does the health and well-being of every other teacher in the district.
Poore also says, “the decision to have schools open for in-person instruction is not up for debate.” To this, I say, “Why not?”
I know we are under a mandate from Asa Hutchinson to teach in person 5 days a week. However, just as Martin Luther King said, “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” No one from the central office has said schools are safe. They’ve said they “have taken several steps to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our students and staff,” but even they must know that the schools are not actually safe. If a law, or in this instance a mandate from the governor, asks me to do something that I know to be unsafe for me or others, do I have to do it? No. In fact I believe I have the obligation to object and oppose that course of conduct. That was the action the LREA voted to take, and the action that 69 hard-working, caring, professional educators took last Monday. That was an action I believe I was morally obligated to take, and to follow-through upon.
I have no shame or regrets over the action I took. Even though Poore may be “disappointed” in me, I know I did what I had to do. I felt significantly happier with my actions Monday than with my return to the building on Wednesday (before I was suspended). Since then, Central High School has announced that they will be fully virtual through the end of next week. As a result, those students are now in the very environment to which I and the rest of the Little Rock 69 advocated transitioning.
Poore ended his letter saying, “we must ensure that all of our students receive consistency and dedication for the rest of this school year.” Switching schools back and forth from in-person to virtual as outbreaks occur is in no way “consistent,” and in fact makes it much harder for teachers and students alike to thrive in these very challenging times. It is the opposite of the consistency that Poore claims is essential. A predictable, rational, planned response is the appropriate reaction, and I am saddened that the state appears to be rejecting that path.
The fact is that I personally know the 69 teachers who took action on Monday, and we are all dedicated to teaching our students. We just want those students to be alive and healthy, and we deserve policies that give us a safe working environment as well.
Little Rock will be electing a new school board for LRSD next month. In support of this teacher, and all LRSD teachers, the LREA has endorsed the following candidates:
- Zone 1 – Michael Mason
- Zone 3 – Evelyn Hemphill Callaway
- Zone 4 – Leigh Ann Wilson
- Zone 5 – Ali Noland
- Zone 6 – Vicki Hatter
- Zone 7 – Ryan Davis
- Zone 8 – Greg Adams
- Zone 9 – Dr. “Bao” Vang-Dings
Thank you for taking your action. You are on the moral high ground. I am so sad that only 69 teachers took this action. I am in awe of your courage and commitment.