WASHINGTON (US) – Stacy Brosius, a third-grade teacher in Arizona, has been branded a “liberal socialist Nazi” and a “whiner and complainer” for being at the vanguard of car-based protests to delay reopening of school. She said she is doing so to save lives as the pandemic surges.
Gathering inspiration from the Black Lives Matter protest, hundreds of teachers in the state clad in red t-shirts are going around the city in cars sporting slogans such as “Remote learning won’t kill us but COVID can!”
The motor protests are spreading to other states, including Florida, while those favouring reopening of schools are holding counter rallies. The controversy over school reopening is becoming the new protest flashpoint of the US.
Teachers in Arizona want Governor Doug Ducey, who is a Republican, to postpone the start of in-person school to early October after a popular teacher died of the virus.
They say reopening of schools in the state puts at stake the safety of 1.1 million public school students and 20,000 educators.
“We don’t want any children to get this from us, because as a teacher, I don’t want to go to any of their funerals,” said Brosius, 47.
Reopening of schools has become a hot button after President Donal Trump urged returning to in-person learning while Democrats want reopening to be postponed indefinitely until the curve flattens.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field