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L E T U S K N O W W H A T Y O U T H I N K . We accept signed email and letters; we excerpt user posts from CTA social media
platforms and cta.org/educator. Content subject to editing for clarity and space. Photos must have permissions. Opinions
expressed by writers are not necessarily those of CTA. Editor@cta.org; #WeAreCTA
Get in
the Educator !
We regularly publish
members' opinion pieces and
stories in print and online at
cta.org/educator. Tell us about
your experience with students,
the art and science of teaching,
and being an educator in these
challenging times (no more than
650 words). We also welcome
relevant photos and videos.
Email editor@cta.org with " Your
Voice" in the subject line.
Safe Schools: A Difficult Decision
(Posted in mid-September on the "CTA Teaching, Learning and Life"
Facebook group.*)
Today is my first day of leave. I am at risk, and my school wouldn't work with
me. We had been distance learning, which was going well, but they decided
to go back 100 percent, and I couldn't risk it. ...
I had a student who had COVID-like symptoms on Friday. She wasn't
tested and is starting in-person school today because [students] can come
back if they are supposedly symptom-free.
This is a hard day for me. This isn't what I want, but it's what I had to do. I
love those kids and I worry about them. I worry I made the wrong decision —
but what happens to my own children if I die? I feel torn and like I let down
those beautiful children. I want to teach, I just don't want to die doing it.
TRACY WEBSTER
Sonora Elementary Teachers Association
No Plastic, Please!
Editor's Note: Our August/September Back to School Issue was polybagged in order
to enclose CTA membership cards (due to the pandemic, cards were not distributed
through chapters this year). Members spoke up.
I noticed that the latest edition of
California Educator arrived with a plastic
wrapping around it. I can't for the life of
me see the benefit of this for educators
who are trying to teach their students to
be environmentally responsible.
JEB GIST
Reed District Teachers Association
Please stop wrapping the California
Educator magazines in unnecessary
plastic. Save plastic for medical and
health reasons.
MARISSA GRUENWALD
Bellflower Teachers Association
* Editor's Note: CTA has called on state leaders numerous times to reopen schools only when it is safe to do so, and to
implement rapid, frequent COVID-19 testing of students and educators. We fully support our member's decision.
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