Education
999 (3/6) MI school reopenings
8 March 2021
999 (3/5) Las Vegas school reopening update
8 March 2021
999 (3/6) Standardized testing during pandemic
8 March 2021
999 MI school reopenings
6 March 2021
Build rank-and-file committees in all Philadelphia schools to oppose unsafe conditions!
Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 6 March 2021
We call upon all educators, parents and students to join our committee as the only organization fighting to oppose the deadly reopening of schools negotiated by the unions and the Democratic Party.
Colleges and universities in the US once again emerge as COVID-19 hotspots
By Emily Ochiai and Genevieve Leigh, 6 March 2021
Campuses across the United States are seeing COVID-19 outbreaks in the tens of thousands as students return to campus for the spring semester.
Suburban teachers strike
Chicago Public Schools prepares for next round of students to return
By Kristina Betinis and Alexander Fangmann, 6 March 2021
CPS reported 21 confirmed cases at 20 schools and 86 quarantined in 10 schools. At 10 of the schools where cases were confirmed, zero were reported quarantined.
No to school reopenings! Build rank-and-file committees to save lives!
Education Rank-and-File Committee (UK), 6 March 2021
The fight against school reopenings must spearhead a broader struggle against the pandemic and the deadly profit drive of the ruling class.
Los Angeles school district, teachers union press forward with school reopenings
By Dan Conway, 6 March 2021
The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) is working to deliberately isolate and break the unity of Los Angeles teachers seeking to oppose the murderous practice.
Australian state Labor government’s disastrous Shepparton super-school plan
By Karen Maxwell, 6 March 2021
Teachers, parents and students have all borne the brunt of the school amalgamation “transition” in a regional Victorian city.
Grandmother denounces Shepparton school amalgamation
By Sue Phillips, 6 March 2021
“What the government wants is a bunch of robots who don’t think for themselves.”
State University of New York system surpasses 3,000 COVID-19 cases one month into semester
By Alex Findijs, 5 March 2021
In just one month of in-person classes into the new semester, some SUNY schools have seen more than three percent of their campus populations infected.
999 (3/3) MI school reopenings
5 March 2021
California counties move to reopen schools and businesses despite pandemic risks
By Kevin Martinez, 5 March 2021
Despite having the most COVID-19 infections and deaths in the United States, a growing number of counties in California are beginning to reopen businesses, schools and other public venues like theme parks and museums.
Canadian authorities risk lives of staff and students by reopening Newfoundland schools despite spread of UK variant
By Janet Browning, 5 March 2021
The rapid spread of the highly-contagious COVID-19 variant was made possible by large outbreaks in schools and workplaces, and exacerbated by widespread poverty and cramped living conditions.
999 US University COVID outbreaks
5 March 2021
999 PA R&F statement opposing Philly school reopenings
5 March 2021
New York City educators call for action to stop in-person schooling and save lives
New York City Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 4 March 2021
Under conditions in which the New York B.1.526 variant of COVID-19 is spreading throughout the city, the drive to reopen all schools will only lead to further infections and deaths.
999 Walkout in suburban Philly schools
4 March 2021
999 Interview with Alabama teacher
4 March 2021
United Teachers of Los Angeles colludes with state Democrats in school reopening drive
By Marc Wells, 3 March 2021
The UTLA has accepted the basic framework that schools must reopen and is working with Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and other state officials behind closed doors to prepare a deadly return to school.
Union-sponsored deal announced in Philadelphia to reopen elementary schools on Monday
By Samuel Davidson, 3 March 2021
With the collaboration of the teachers unions, Philadelphia schools will begin in-person classes for about 3,000 kindergarten through second grade students Monday, despite the spread of new and more infectious coronavirus strains that are making their way into the population.
“The kids will bring it home to their parents and grandparents”
Co-organizer of walkout in suburban Philly school district explains opposition of parents and teachers to school reopenings
By Douglas Lyons, 3 March 2021
Downingtown parents and teachers have organized a walkout today to protest the reopening of the Downingtown Area School District, which covers 12,000 students.
UK teachers denounce National Education Union’s refusal to oppose schools reopening
By Tania Kent, 2 March 2021
The response by the teaching unions to Johnson’s announcement that this will the “last lockdown,” despite resulting in “more infections, more hospitalisations and… more deaths” is to enforce it!
Dr. Mateus answers teachers’ questions about ventilation and COVID-19 at Alabama rank-and-file meeting
By Our reporter, 2 March 2021
Educators from across Alabama and several other states asked questions at the meeting, which was chaired by an Alabama public school teacher.
Major US school districts reopen despite spread of more contagious and lethal COVID-19 variants
By Evan Blake, 2 March 2021
Numerous school districts began reopening Monday as part of the bipartisan push to resume in-person learning at all schools, with the fulsome support of the teachers unions.
999 (TBD) Planned walkout in suburban Phily school district
2 March 2021
999 Report on Alabama Educators R&F meeting with Dr. Mateus rebutting CDC
2 March 2021
“Something needs to change, and we need to act”
Teacher in Nashville speaks out against the unsafe reopening of schools
By Isaac Finn, 2 March 2021
A Nashville charter school teacher spoke to the WSWS about all grades returning to in-person instruction this week.
Australia: Walgett teachers walk off the job over staffing shortages
By Kaye Tucker, 2 March 2021
The walkout in a remote rural town is a sign of deepening discontent among teachers nationally over unfilled vacancies and soaring workloads.
São Paulo teachers continue strike against deadly school reopenings despite union sabotage
By Gabriel Lemos, 1 March 2021
With Brazil and the state of São Paulo reaching the worst moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pseudo-lefts have advocated ending the teachers strike.
As schools reopen, UK educators among top groups at risk of catching COVID-19
By Margot Miller, 1 March 2021
Schools and colleges reopen next week, beginning March 8, forcing millions of pupils and workers, including teachers, support staff, dinner ladies and caretakers into a highly dangerous environment.
999 Report on Alabama Educators R&F meeting with Dr. Mateus rebutting CDC
1 March 2021
With a halt in the decline of COVID-19 cases in the US, CDC director warns “the virus is not done with us”
By Benjamin Mateus, 28 February 2021
For more than a week, the seven-day moving average in new cases of COVID-19 has stalled. Health officials are sounding the alarm that states are moving too rapidly in lifting restrictions.
Thousands of students return for in-person schooling in Chicago
By Kristina Betinis, 28 February 2021
An estimated 37,000 K-5 students will return to buildings this week as negotiations with the Lightfoot administration and the Chicago Teachers Union begin for the return of high school students in the spring.
New York City Schools chancellor resigns as middle schools resume in-person learning
By Robert Milkowski, 28 February 2021
The new chancellor, Meisha Porter, stated during her first news conference Friday that the city is “ready to go” on reopening high schools.
Form rank-and-file committees to oppose school reopening drive!
Los Angeles educators must learn the lessons of the sellout by the Chicago Teachers Union!
Los Angeles Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 28 February 2021
The central task which educators confront is to unite and mobilize support across the US and internationally in opposition to the drive by the world’s governments to sacrifice workers’ lives for profit.
Australian university workers and students face new wave of job cuts and “commercialisation”
By Mike Head, 28 February 2021
Academics are being forced to fight each other for their jobs via a Hunger Games -style “spill and fill” process.
Resistance builds to school reopenings in Seattle-Tacoma metro region
By Kayla Costa, 28 February 2021
In addition to the surrounding districts, Seattle Public Schools has called for roughly 700 educators to start returning to classrooms by March 8 as part of a rapid “phased-in” approach to reopen public schools as quickly as possible.
San Francisco Bay Area school districts push to reopen schools
By Angelo Perera, 27 February 2021
On February 7, the United Educators of San Francisco union reached an agreement to allow “limited instruction.”
“Since school has been remote, no teachers have died.”
Montgomery, Alabama uses CDC guidelines to unsafely reopen schools
By Emma Arceneaux, 27 February 2021
The district’s announcement, and the CDC guidelines they cite, blatantly ignore one of the most important factors in determining the safety of a building: ventilation and air quality.
Restrictions placed on student gatherings after massive COVID-19 outbreak at the University of Virginia
By Dan Goranson, 27 February 2021
Cases have skyrocketed in the two weeks following the reopening of the sprawling University of Virginia campus for in-person learning on February 1.
Michigan boy, 10, loses both hands, both legs to COVID-related MIS-C syndrome
By Zac Corrigan, 27 February 2021
Ten-year-old quadruple amputee Dae’Shun Jamison from Shelby, Michigan is just one of more than 2,000 children in the US to develop Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children after catching COVID-19.
British Columbia school officials order windows screwed shut to stop teachers from ventilating classes amid raging pandemic
By Alexandra Greene, 27 February 2021
The school sent contractors into the building who reputedly found “safety issues” with the windows and proceeded to seal them.
Michigan governor pushes for school reopenings as Ann Arbor school board reverses decision to remain virtual
By Sheila Brehm and James McDonald, 27 February 2021
In a press conference Wednesday, Democratic Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer announced that 85 percent of Michigan school districts are currently open for in-person learning and that she is “pleased that 97 percent of the school districts will be reopened by March 1st.”
999 (2/25) Reopening of middle schools in NYC
27 February 2021
Major school districts press to reopen throughout Washington D.C. metro area
By Harvey Simpkins, 27 February 2021
The return to schools follows separate announcements by the governors of Virginia and Maryland calling on all schools to reopen in March.
UK government declares testing and wearing masks “not compulsory” in reopened schools
By Robert Stevens, 27 February 2021
Teachers, in poll after poll and on social media, have voiced their opposition to returning to work under unsafe conditions, but are up against trade unions who are colluding in the government’s plans.
US universities have cut 650,000 jobs, a 13 percent workforce reduction, since the onset of the pandemic
By Alex Findijis, 26 February 2021
Thousands of adjunct faculty members have seen their courses canceled and their paychecks eliminated as programs are consolidated and courses move online.
The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof demands immediate reopening of schools
By Evan Blake, 26 February 2021
The purpose of Kristof’s article is to pollute popular consciousness and pressure local Democrats tasked with enforcing the homicidal policy of reopening schools.
999 Montgomery, AL schools push to reopen as cases spike
26 February 2021
999 11-year-old suffers amputations after contacting MIS-C
26 February 2021
999 UK government to push through longer hours and summer schooling in back to school agenda
26 February 2021
999 (2/25) Reopening of middle schools in NYC
26 February 2021
999 Michigan school reopenings (focus on Ann Arbor)
26 February 2021
No to school reopenings in Turkey before the pandemic is contained!
The Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education in Turkey, 26 February 2021
We call on all educators, parents and students who support this initiative to contact us to establish rank-and-file committees for safe education and to expand this struggle, which is vital for public health.
San Diego school districts move to resume in-person classes
By Kevin Martinez, 26 February 2021
Despite opposition from parents and the community, the San Diego Unified School District is planning to reopen schools by April.
San Francisco school board pauses reactionary school renaming campaign to focus on forcing schools open
By Renae Cassimeda, 26 February 2021
Despite widespread transmission of COVID-19 and news of more infectious and deadly variants of the virus within San Francisco, the school district alongside the educator and school worker unions are pushing ahead with reopening plans.
For a full investigation of those responsible for the disaster in Texas!
Texas Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 25 February 2021
We demand that every individual, politician and corporation responsible for the social disaster in Texas be criminally prosecuted and that all workers be made whole.
West Virginia Senate outlaws public employee strikes as state demands schools reopen
By Nick Barrickman, 25 February 2021
On the third anniversary of the historic 2018 West Virginia teachers’ strike, the state senate passed a punitive bill codifying anti-strike measures into state law.
COVID-19 cases in New York colleges rise as state changes guidelines to keep schools open
By Alex Findijs, 25 February 2021
Facing an impending wave of temporary schools closures due to growing COVID-19 outbreaks, the New York government and the SUNY system have altered university guidelines to keep schools open despite rising case numbers.
Australian universities rush to enrol students and disregard COVID dangers
By Jack Turner, 25 February 2021
With the help of the unions, university managements are returning to face-to-face teaching and expanding class sizes amid the continuing global pandemic.
German federal and state governments’ plans for reopening schools threaten thousands of lives
By Gregor Link, 25 February 2021
Unless the working class intervenes independently to close factories, offices, schools and day-care centres, hundreds of thousands of deaths loom in Germany alone in an even worse wave of the pandemic.
Chicago elementary teachers begin returning to classrooms under near-total media blackout
By Alexander Fangmann, 24 February 2021
While local reporters and the Chicago Teachers Union maintain a wall of silence over the dangers facing educators and students, schools have become the number one potential exposure locations in the state, according to contact tracing.
Michigan teachers, students face double threat from school reopenings: contaminated water and COVID-19
By Sheila Brehm and James MacDonald, 24 February 2021
With the Democratic Whitmer administration pushing for a March 1 reopening date for public schools, teachers and students face not only the danger of the coronavirus, but lead and legionella bacteria from unflushed water systems.
999 (2/22) Educators oppose drive to reopen schools
24 February 2021
999 Bill banning strikes in WV
24 February 2021
Los Angeles Unified School District moves to reopen schools for in-person instruction
By Peter Ross, 24 February 2021
Officials in Los Angeles announced on Monday that some in-person instruction will resume next week, with a full reopening planned for next month. The announcement comes amid reports that a more contagious variant of COVID-19 has become the dominant strain in California.
Philadelphia teachers union endorses bogus claims of school renovations as cover for reopening schools
By Douglas Lyons, 24 February 2021
The PFT, while posing as “concerned” about certain elements of the reopening plans, claims falsely that schools can be made safe through updates to decrepit school buildings, in particular, improved ventilation systems.
Corporate media and both big business parties press to reopen schools in California
By Melody Isley, 24 February 2021
Despite the capitalist propaganda, parents have expressed overwhelming support for online learning, which they know prioritizes the health of their families, school workers and educators.
999 Pseudo-left and Chicago school reopenings
23 February 2021
999 (2/22) Educators oppose drive to reopen schools
23 February 2021
999 Macron doubles down on political censorship of French universities
23 February 2021
Montgomery, Alabama schools moves forward with plans to convert public schools into privately-operated charter schools
By Shelley Connor, 23 February 2021
The Montgomery Public School Board, a focal point of months of protests by teachers over COVID-19 deaths, is turning over three schools to charter operators.
UK Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee opposes unsafe school reopenings
Our reporter, 22 February 2021
The UK Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee held a lively online meeting on Saturday, just days before yesterday’s unsafe reopening of schools across Scotland and Wales, and as the Johnson government moves to reopen all school on March 8.
Teachers in US resist demand to accept “reasonable risk” of dying
By Jerry White, 21 February 2021
The Biden administration, the corporate media and the teachers unions have ganged up against educators who are refusing to risk their lives.
Reports of spread of British B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in Michigan
Demands intensify for resumption of in person learning in Michigan by March 1
Phyllis Steele, 21 February 2021
Michigan Democrats, backed by the corporate media, are ramping up pressure to reopen schools by March 1.
Ontario reopens all schools, delays March break ignoring warnings of a third COVID-19 wave
By Jake Silver, 20 February 2021
The growing opposition among teachers must find independent political expression in a struggle to shut down all in-class learning until the pandemic is brought under control.
UK academics face investigation, prison for China-linked “military” research
By Julie Hyland, 20 February 2021
The “investigations” are politically-motivated propaganda aimed at justifying economic and military aggression against what they regard as a strategic competitor.
CUNY breaks faculty and staff contract, withholding promised pay raises
By Elliott Murtagh, 20 February 2021
Depression-like cuts are devastating the largest urban university system in the US.
999 (2/19) Texas R&F statement on Chicago & crisis in TX
20 February 2021
Learn from the CTU’s betrayal in Chicago! Build committees nationwide to stop school reopenings!
Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 20 February 2021
The effort to reopen schools in Chicago was aimed at setting a precedent for reopening districts everywhere and shifting the relationship of class forces in the US as a whole.
Stop the deadly reopening of Philadelphia Schools!
Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 20 February 2021
Our committee unequivocally demands a stop to the drive to reopen the Philadelphia public school system amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
999 Pennsylvania Educators R&F statement on Philly schools
20 February 2021
Opposition mounts to unsafe opening of schools in Spain
By Alice Summers, 19 February 2021
There are growing calls by educators and parents to close schools, and strikes have broken out among students as infection rates in education centres soar.
School and day-care centre openings in Germany—a murderous herd immunity experiment
By Gregor Link, 19 February 2021
The federal and state governments are systematically creating conditions for a third wave of the pandemic. This can be seen especially in plans to rapidly return to in-person teaching.
Teachers and health workers strike amid back-to-school campaign in Brazil
By Eduardo Parati and Brunna Machado, 19 February 2021
Faced with enormous opposition from teachers, the Brazilian ruling class fears that the return to classes will provoke a nationwide wave of struggles beyond the control of the unions and pseudo-left parties.
999 Pennsylvania Educators R&F statement on Philly schools
19 February 2021
Drive to reopen schools deepens across Los Angeles as pandemic continues to rage
By Hong Jian, 19 February 2021
Despite the fact that over the past week Los Angeles County averaged 2,339 new cases and 123.1 new deaths per day, officials throughout the region are pressing to reopen schools.
Australian educators support locked out Coles workers
By Our reporters, 19 February 2021
Teachers have spoken out in support of the locked out workers at the Smeaton Grange warehouse in Sydney, and have condemned the United Workers Union’s attempts to impose a sell-out deal.
Attend online meeting on Saturday to organise fightback!
Prime Minister Johnson backed by Scottish and Welsh governments in deadly school reopenings
Thomas Scripps, 19 February 2021
The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee calls on workers who recognise the grave danger posed by the school reopenings to attend our online meeting on Saturday to discuss the fightback
Philadelphia postpones public school reopenings to March 1
By Douglas Lyons, 18 February 2021
The decision to push back reopening is an indication that both the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the school district recognize they need more time to bring the opposition of teachers under control.
Teachers in US state of Georgia herded back into unsafe classrooms
By Kranti Kumara, 18 February 2021
In spite of four teacher deaths and strident opposition, the state of Georgia is denying educators vaccinations and sending them back to unsafe schools.
São Paulo’s municipal teachers strike grows despite union sabotage
By Tomas Castanheira, 18 February 2021
A survey by rank-and-file teachers indicates that the strike has spread to hundreds of schools in the city, preventing many of them from reopening.
Biden falsely downplays dangers of COVID-19 in schools
By Evan Blake, 18 February 2021
At a CNN town hall event Wednesday, Biden made his most direct intervention into the campaign to reopen schools, falsely claiming that children and their families are not endangered by the reopenings.
UK government to appoint “free speech champion” to spearhead right-wing offensive at universities
By Thomas Scripps, 17 February 2021
That the most right-wing forces feel able to posture as defenders of democratic rights is thanks to the role played by the pseudo-left and identity politics on campus.
CDC school opening guidelines ignore the critical role of ventilation and infection control in classrooms
By Benjamin Mateus, 17 February 2021
The CDC has downplayed the role of ventilation in making schools safe for reopening. Efficiently operating HVAC systems are an important part of infection control for airborne pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2.
Philadelphia Teachers Union promotes pseudo-science as it prepares deal to open schools
By Douglas Lyons, 17 February 2021
The PFT is hoping to stymie any opposition from educators and parents who have compelled the district to backpedal in reopening several times already.
SUNY colleges face rapid spread of COVID-19 just weeks into semester
By Alex Findijs, 17 February 2021
Just two weeks since in-person instruction began, more than 1,200 students have tested positive for COVID-19. Such rapid transmission is a stark warning of what may come with the spread of more contagious variants of the virus.
Los Angeles officials press to reopen schools, citing bogus “threshold”
By Tom Hall, 17 February 2021
The campaign to reopen schools in the US reached its next phase Monday night, when Los Angeles County officials declared that the second-largest school district in the country has been “cleared” to reopen.
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