Rest assured, though we are far and few between, there are Trump supporters in the education field. It's easy to hate on teachers, and I have done my fair share of it! Just know there are patriots who just enjoy what they do without pushing an agenda. (BTW I keep my political opinions to myself in the social studies classroom. My students would lose their minds if they knew my political leanings)

That being said, I am sure you all see how important it is that Trump is bringing up the next school year, as it will be the excuse to further push the corona-hoax to November, whether the students come back or not. I see two possibilities here:

A.) The students return to school, cases spike, the sky is now falling again in the media and we have another fake increase of cases like what is happening in Texas right now: https://texasscorecard.com/local/texas-new-coronavirus-criteria-could-artificially-spike-collin-county-cases/

B.) We continue the same 'online education' we had in the spring, which is the most likely outcome

I already see the astroturfing being done on the teaching subreddits that claim we are considered 'subhuman' for the way we have been treated by Trump, and to DEMAND that schools remain closed for 'muh students'.

Now do not get me wrong, this quarantine has been a sweet deal for me as a teacher. The expectation for students was to just be 'present' for the day to receive credit. Being "present" consisted of just going to the school's web page. Not doing any of the actual assignments. Just opening the page. So naturally, teachers were expected to just assign busy work each day so students would be legally counted as 'present'. Otherwise, it was a nightmare of students not 'showing up to class', parents being constantly called, parents then ignoring us, cops being called on the families, cops ignoring us, etc. (Yes, missing school is illegal and can land parents in court!).

You could see how this could translate to an easy end of the year for teachers like me, provided I made my classes seamless and accessible. And it was! I got to work in my shorts next to my dog. It was ass-easy. Any teacher who made it difficult for themselves was doing it wrong and the administrators probably hate them for it. So do not worry about teachers bitching on social media about it, they just like to complain.

But here's the thing, I was not thrilled about the whole work from home thing. I actually like working and not feeling like a useless piece of shit faffing about in front of a computer screen while the rest of the world grinds on. A medical professional still has to go to work, why not teachers? Other teachers may welcome the 'online school' for a myriad of both selfish and unselfish reasons, and that is fine. But it has been hilarious watching the teacher subreddits whine and complain about ‘online learning’ for the past 4 months, only to now defend it to the death just to spite Trump.

The point I am trying to make here is that teachers are a whiny bunch, but they can be bought. If the Trump campaign is listening, and they are serious about teachers going back to face-to-face interaction, they should offer some sort of incentive at a federal level: https://katv.com/news/local/governor-announces-bonus-pay-for-health-workers-at-long-term-care-facilities

Usually federal funds come with strings attached, as states fund their public schools. If there was some sort of no-strings-attached stipend that went directly to teachers, they would happily come into work. The PPP was such a success, so why can’t there be something similar for teachers? The next couple of months is going to be an uphill fight against unions, teachers, and students who do not want to return to the classroom this fall. Students and unions are gonna complain no matter what, but the teachers are your ‘weak link’ in this case. The schools NEED to be open if people want to go back to work. That way the families will not be worrying about their children not doing their work at home alone, or having to pay for someone else to watch them. This will never happen with the way the media skews the case numbers to further a point (Trump rallies increase numbers, but not nationwide riots).

I am really kissing good-bye and easy year by hoping this is the route the country takes, but somethings are more important than being selfish. The Trump team has poured so much time and energy into wresting control from people who do not want the country to succeed, that I cannot stand idly by doing literally next to nothing.