DC teachers reach agreement on returning to schools

The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) last night announced an agreement with DC Public Schools on a Memorandum of Agreement that lays out conditions needed to return to in-person learning.
“DC teachers miss our students and recognize that many have struggled to adapt to distance learning,” said WTU President Elizabeth Davis. “Reopening our schools won’t be a return to normal; we are committed to finding ways to best support our students who have struggled the most during the pandemic.” The agreement is effective through the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year or through the end of the COVID-19 pandemic health emergency, whichever is sooner. It calls for increased transparency around facility walk-throughs, ensuring that Local School Advisory Teams (LSAT’s), bodies elected to represent school communities, and other members of local school communities are able to verify that facilities are ready to reopen. “The safety of our students, school–based staff, and communities must remain our top priority,” Davis continued. “As we move forward, it is critical that our individual schools are open about the work that has been done to ensure proper air circulation and other protections are in place in every school building before it reopens to in-person learning. We must take every precaution and build trust that we’ve done all that is possible to safeguard our communities.”