LETTER: Teachers are “nonessential”?

In response to the Jan. 20 letter from John A. McDonald arguing that Nevada teachers have rendered themselves “nonessential”: There are several indicators that Mr. McDonald is not in tune with today’s world.

Teachers have no say in whether classes are held virtually or in-person. It is also, unfortunately, not our intelligence that is being tapped to figure out how to teach in-person. Most telling is the ludicrous idea that third-graders can learn anything by being lectured.

While teachers are exposed to the same people every day, it is categorically false to imply this makes them less vulnerable to the virus. All of us are exposed to the people we see and to everyone they have seen. Compounding this for elementary teachers, children have minimal reliable hygiene practices, are hard to keep apart and are together in a poorly ventilated, windowless room for more than six hours a day. An asymptomatic student in this setting can potentially infect others who will then take it home to their families.

Teachers are concerned about everyone, not just themselves.