On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being completely comfortable returning to in-person school, Nebraska-based art teacher Audrey* rates her current comfort level at a five. "I am lucky to work for a very progressive and well-organized district," she said, but with information around the pandemic being "so fluid," it's hard to feel entirely confident. What teachers are being asked to do, she told POPSUGAR, seems both "dangerous and not realistic."
"Of course, teachers and everyone that works within the school system want what is best for every student," she told POPSUGAR. "We want them to be safe and to be spared any long-lasting trauma that may come from being out of school," but it feels like an unreasonable ask. "No teacher, no matter how much they care," Audrey explained, "can realistically carry out the plans that I have seen."
With public educators already grappling with dwindling resources, Audrey feels like educators are being pushed beyond their limits. "My school's budget was cut by 25 percent this year. Teachers are being forced to spend their own low earnings to purchase materials to keep themselves and students safe," she said. "How much can possibly be asked of teachers?"
