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Survey: Half Of Connecticut's Teachers Don't Believe It Is Safe To Return To Classroom

Eric E. Castro
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Two Connecticut teacher’s unions say many educators in the state don’t think schools are safe enough for children or themselves to be in as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

A new survey says about half of the state’s educators don’t want students to come back to the classroom during the pandemic. Mary Yordon is a teacher in Norwalk, and she’s with the American Federation of Teachers.

“Teachers do want to have a delay in returning from the holidays," Yordon said. "Many believe we should be going remote. Many want to get back to work as well, in person, as long as we can have the standards that are enforced and rigorous to keep us safe.”

Connecticut let local school districts decide whether to hold classes in-person for the fall semester. The state’s largest teachers union has asked Governor Ned Lamont to implement a statewide set of safety protocols or go fully remote. The survey was done by the Connecticut Education Association and the state chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.

Copyright 2020 WSHU

Davis Dunavin loves telling stories, whether on the radio or around the campfire. He fell in love with sound-rich radio storytelling while working as an assistant reporter at KBIA public radio in Columbia, Missouri. Before coming back to radio, he worked in digital journalism as the editor of Newtown Patch. As a freelance reporter, his work for WSHU aired nationally on NPR. Davis is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism; he started in Missouri and ended up in Connecticut, which, he'd like to point out, is the same geographic trajectory taken by Mark Twain.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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