Cleveland Reporter

For C.L. Regan, an Ohio mother of three living in the Cleveland suburbs, the question of COVID-19 and schools is clear.

“I think the governor needs to get the kids back in school,” she told the Cleveland Reporter. “Schools are essential and need to be open.”

Gov. Mike Dewine has waffled on reopening schools, Regan said.

“He has never really put a heavy hand down one way or another on schools, but he's done so much to pump fear into people that they're too scared to make decisions that would be logical and rational,” she said.

Virtual learning is just not the same as in-person instruction, Regan said.

“When the schools closed down, the teachers had to quickly pivot to digital learning,” she said. “None of them were prepared for it. The learning was subpar. It's no fault of their's, but they were not prepared to teach digitally. “

Remote learning has left many parents doing the work of teachers to fill the void, she said.

“My kids are teenagers, so they were able to work with their friends, get online, do all those things,” said Regan. “But I know for many of my colleagues that I work with those that have toddlers, kids under the age of 11 and12, they were the ones that were teaching because you can't have, you know, a first grader learning on the web by themselves. So the teaching actually became the parent’s responsibility.”

She also disagrees with teacher’s unions who say returning to school is too dangerous.

“Well, throughout COVID-19, there've been many essential workers who have been going into the office every single day,” Regan said. “The grocery stores have been working throughout this. Those who are vulnerable and need to be protected should do digital teaching. Probably everyone else should be back in school teaching now. “

She also believes that if schools are not going to reopen, governments should given at least a partial refund on school taxes.

“If they're not going to open the schools and have the schools teaching our children, we definitely deserve a refund so that we can find ways to have our children learn in the ways that's best for them,” she said.  

The continued shutdown of schools hurts children physically and mentally, Regan said.

“With all that time on their hands, it's not good,” she said. “It exposes them to drugs. It exposes them to crime. It exposes them to depression and suicide. And if you look at drugs, depression, suicide, all of those things, they're very high right now. They need structure. They need to be in school.”