Dave Grohl has penned an essay in support of teachers amid the ongoing debate over whether to reopen schools this fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a piece for The Atlantic, the Foo Fighters frontman writes that while he himself was a “terrible student” who dropped out of high school, he has a particular affinity for teachers, especially since his mom, Virginia, was a public school teacher for 35 years.
Recounting a recent conversation he had with his mother, Grohl relays that she believes that, given what would be required to keep not just students and teachers, but also nurses, cafeteria and janitorial staff safe, “remote learning for the time being” is the only way to go.
“Most schools already struggle from a lack of resources; how could they possibly afford the mountain of safety measures that will need to be in place?” Grohl writes. “Every school’s working faculty is a considerable percentage of its population, and should be safeguarded appropriately.”
Grohl urges politicians and policy makers to listen to teachers during this time.
“I wouldn’t trust the U.S. secretary of percussion to tell me how to play ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ if they had never sat behind a drum set,” Grohl writes. “So why should any teacher trust Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to tell them how to teach, without her ever having sat at the head of a class?”
“Until you have spent countless days in a classroom devoting your time and energy to becoming that lifelong mentor to generations of otherwise disengaged students, you must listen to those who have,” the musician continues. “Teachers want to teach, not die, and we should support and protect them like the national treasures that they are. For without them, where would we be?”
By Josh Johnson
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