DETROIT – A grim and dire picture is emerging from a survey taken by the representatives of the majority of Michigan’s teachers.
The Michigan Education Association today unveiled the numbers and they paint an image of teachers, exhausted, frightened, overworked and on the brink.
“Our educators are saying they are overwhelmed with extra work,” said Paula Herbart.
According to the survey of 4,700 teachers, support staff and additional public school employees who responded to the MEA survey, 84 percent say they are personally concerned about the safety of reopening for full in-person learning models. And while the Governor has mandated a three week pause for in-person learning for high schoolers, the MEA, based on survey responses believes that there should be a uniform, universal, statewide pull back of all face-to-face learning for all students for three weeks at the minimum.
“Get a handle on exactly what we need to be doing, how we need to be physically distancing, how we really need to prepare to come back face-to-face with the rising COVID cases that we are finding all across the state,” said Herbart.
Forty seven percent of those surveyed say they don’t believe they are being heard by their administration.
More than a third of those surveyed say they are forced to report to their workplace even when they could safely and effectively work or teach from home and 74% of teachers say, they believe the state needs to go to an all virtual learning model, or a hybrid model but not full time face-to-face learning.
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Michigan has risen to 272,034 as of Tuesday, including 8,128 deaths, state officials report.
Tuesday’s update represents 7,458 new cases and 79 additional deaths, including 24 from a Vital Records review.
How to track Michigan COVID-19 data
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Local 4 and ClickOnDetroit has been tracking the latest data to help better understand the situation across the state.
Our COVID-19 Data section tracks many of the key data points health officials are watching closely every single day.
Track key COVID-19 data points in Michigan: