We’re not your babysitters. We should no longer be expected to die for a job we can no longer perform.

Hello all. I’m a veteran middle school English teacher in Georgia who’s done with being expected to do anything but teach at this point. My grandparents died in December because of Covid. My aunt died in February. I’ve had Covid myself, and my partner is immune compromised. I’m terrified to have to return to a poorly ventilated school room filled with students from all over town this fall. I’m going to have to resign, and lose my career. My district has decided that we should have in-person instruction so we can be childcare for parents who have to work. We’re not childcare. Many of us are risking our lives to teach.<br><br>I still want to teach. I love teaching. But now we have to be responsible for more than just teaching. We have to be the crossing guards, the cafeteria workers, the school bus drivers, the librarian, the principal, the vice principal, the school counselors, the school nurses, and the janitors on top of being your child’s teacher. We’re not paid enough to risk our lives to teach, and certainly not paid enough to multitask. We also aren’t paid enough to pay the medical bills to keep us alive if one of your children brings Covid to school and infects us. I certainly don’t make enough to leave a medical bill as large as my student loans behind for my partner if I die. <br><br>School has become a pissing contest. Republicans want schools to reopen as usual because they think it will “boost the economy” and make people feel safe enough to vote for them. Democrats don’t want school to reopen because they don’t want to look “Irresponsible” and kill their chances at winning office. <br><br>In the end we teachers are the ones at risk. At risk of losing our careers, our health, our sanity, our lives, to people we don’t even know. <br><br><br>Edit: I have never, in 14 years, taken a sick day I didn’t need. I’m also not someone who calls in sick because I don’t feel like going to work. I’ve worked with the flu, a sinus infection, a broken wrist, a fractured ankle, and a sinus infection so bad my eye was swollen shut. So don’t blame the teachers for this problem.