It seems as if we have forgotten the most important aspect of attending school. We have become so concerned with school mask mandates that we have overlooked the quality of education our children are receiving.
Somehow many parents have equated education with mask-wearing in schools. Our kids have fallen behind in their education and we are arguing about whether they should wear a mask. Why? The mask is being worn to help reduce the risk of spreading covid and hopefully keep school open. That is a fact, and hopefully you don’t stop reading because of my belief of this fact.
What we need to do is stop arguing and use the covid money to hire more teachers ASAP. The federal covid funding is doing nothing for our kids if it remains sitting just out of reach of school districts in the state coffers. Currently, we have students sitting in study halls because of a lack of teachers, and educated teachers with no jobs because districts can’t afford to pay them. The lack of teachers caused by the lack of district money has an obvious fix: Use the covid money to hire more teachers.
Unfortunately, we have elementary kids that are very far behind also and we have local educators with no jobs. Enough is enough. The next generation deserves better from us. Let’s end the mask and vaccine argument and prioritize the children’s education by hiring more teachers everywhere now. Every day wasted is another day our kids fall further behind.
Ken Bach
South Huntingdon