In recent months, governors have issued numerous executive orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A key feature of these executive orders has been the Orwellian distinction between “essential” and “non-essential” industries. In his Executive Order of March 23, Governor Ducey began the ongoing, unprecedented sequence of quarantining healthy citizens and lockdowns of “non-essential” businesses. In so doing, he designated educational institutions as essential industries. Thus, teachers are “essential” workers, much like police, fire, sanitation, health care, construction, and grocery store workers, who have worked continuously during the lockdowns. However, unlike other essential workers, teachers have not reported to work to deliver in-class instruction.
The end result is that our children have been deprived of in-class instruction and other important ancillary services since March. Their social isolation and lack of exposure to culture and education has also been limited by the fact that public libraries and museums have also been closed. These closures have been especially hard for two types of children: (1) those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, who often live in cramped conditions in blighted neighborhoods and are victims of the “digital divide” (which means that each child does not have access to his laptop and high-speed Internet), and (2) autistic children and other special needs kids. For many poor kids, schools, public libraries, and public park facilities constitute a welcome refuge from the turmoil, chaos, and potential abuse they may experience at home (especially since many of their parents have lost their jobs). Stay-at-home orders for such children severely limit their much-needed access to these facilities, as well as social services, counselling, and extracurricular activities. It also makes them much more vulnerable to recruitment by gangs, human traffickers, and organized crime.
Autistic and other special needs children have been especially hurt by the lockdowns. For example, social interaction is a key aspect of treatment of autistic children and placing such kids under virtual house arrest has several deleterious effects. Routines are often important to autistic children. Accordingly, they despise uncertainty and restrictions on their activities. Any disruption in their routines can lead to belligerent and boisterous behavior. The bottom line is that kids with autism require highly trained, special education teachers and one-on-one attention, both of which cannot be provided effectively on virtual platforms like Zoom. As is the case for others who suffer from non-COVID-19 ailments, access to treatment for autistic and other special needs children has been severely curtailed.
Of course, there was never any need to “lock down” any of our children for any period of time. It is well known that children are at extremely low risk of contracting the disease and even when they do, they have the highest recovery rate of all. CDC data reveal that school-age children are more likely to be struck by lightning than to perish from the virus. While it is true that children could potentially infect their teachers, teachers are also generally young and at very little risk from the disease. The median age of public-school teachers in the U.S. is 41.
The time has come to end the ongoing abuse of our children. Leading infectious disease experts have concluded that schools must open ASAP. Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the CDC, was recently quoted as saying that the health risks of keeping schools closed exceed those of opening them. In testimony before Congress, he specifically mentioned the following detrimental effects: social isolation, suicide, undetected child abuse, and of course, delayed learning. The American Academy of Pediatrics reached a similar conclusion.
Unfortunately, teacher unions, unlike unions in other “essential” industries, are strongly resisting efforts to resume in-person learning. They are pressuring their members and more importantly, local school authorities, to keep schools closed. This is often accompanied by tangential demands relating to political agendas that have nothing to do with the educational needs of our children or safety concerns. Sadly, their allies in the media and government are also stoking the fire by whipping up hysteria about the “danger” of re-opening our schools.
It is time for Governor Ducey to exercise his executive authority to get our kids back into the classroom as quickly as possible, in order to stem the damage that has been done. He should issue an executive order mandating that Arizona schools be opened for in-person learning, subject to reasonable guidelines. For example, reasonable accommodations should be made for older teachers and others who may be at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19, due to pre-existing conditions.
Education is a vital public service and must be delivered on-site. Offering face-to-face instruction is an essential function in an essential industry. Resuming in-person learning is crucial to our children’s welfare and development. Governor Ducey has issued many executive orders mandating closures and lockdowns. He must now act in a similar decisive manner to ensure the much-needed, important opening of school districts across the state, which will ultimately ensure that our children do not fall further behind.
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Donald S. Siegel, Foundation Professor of Public Policy and Management and Director, School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University (Donald.Siegel.1@asu.edu)
David Waldman, Professor of Management, W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University (waldman@asu.edu)