Letters to the Editor: L.A. teachers will go back to the classroom when they’re vaccinated
To the editor: The Times Editorial Board misrepresents the state of online learning in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Quoting statistics based on a survey conducted in part by the anti-union Educators for Excellence is very misleading.
The very next day, buried in a different article, you reported the results of a survey of United Teachers Los Angeles-represented employees: About three-quarters of them want to continue online learning.
Teachers need to be vaccinated before we resume in-class instruction. The situation is so bad that even Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s 9-year-old daughter contracted coronavirus. Germany had students in class when it had one-eighth the death rate of the U.S.; schools were once again closed when nationwide COVID-19 fatalities hit 22,000.
It will definitely not be enough for us to simply change course on schools once we drop out of the worst tier of transmission. If we want to save lives, we should consider reopening schools once our transmission rate is similar to what Germany’s was, or when teachers are vaccinated.
Curt Coutin, Long Beach
The writer is a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
A cure for the common opinion
Get thought-provoking perspectives with our weekly newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
