Education
Coronavirus in the UK: A poor schools’ pandemic
By Margot Miller, 2 October 2020
Private schools have no worries about supply cover or getting their pupils and staff tested for the virus.
Explosive outbreak of COVID-19 at British universities
By Simon Whelan, 1 October 2020
The government knew the start of the academic year would bring about a resurgence of the virus but continued nevertheless as part of its herd immunity policy.
Safety committee denounces reopening of New York City schools
Stop the spread of COVID-19! Build rank-and-file safety committees to save lives! Prepare a nationwide strike to close unsafe schools!
the New York City Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 1 October 2020
Hundreds of thousands of middle and high school students in New York City are being sent back to classrooms for in-person instruction today as the pandemic continues to spread throughout the school system and the city.
The deadly outcome of school reopenings:
Four US school employees and two college students killed by COVID-19 this week
By Renae Cassimeda, 1 October 2020
At least 30 school teachers and staff have died from COVID-19 since late July, when schools began to reopen en masse, sending millions back into unsafe classrooms across the US.
UK Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee hears report on Greek school occupations
By our reporter, 1 October 2020
The meeting heard how the Greek government was following the same “herd-immunity” policy of allowing the virus to rip through the population as others worldwide.
700 Greek schools occupied by students protesting unsafe return to classes
By Robert Stevens and John Vassilopoulos, 30 September 2020
Given that it is mainly secondary education impacted, more than one in five of the country’s 3,168 high schools have been occupied.
A wave of teacher protests spark staffing shortages and school closures across the US
By Emma Arceneaux, 30 September 2020
In addition to protests and work actions, states across the US are facing severe teacher and substitute shortages.
New York City resumes in-person schools as COVID-19 infections continue to rise
By Alberto Escalera, 29 September 2020
The reopening of the nation’s largest school district threatens to produce a catastrophe in a city where nearly 25,000 have already succumbed to the deadly virus.
Teacher protests surge in Southern California as schools reopen
By Kimie Saito and Marc Wells, 29 September 2020
In Orange County, California, educators in at least four school districts are taking part in courageous protests against returning to work under unsafe conditions in defiance of their own unions’ recommendations.
More than 2,000 schools in UK hit by COVID-19 outbreaks as thousands of children and staff sent home
By Tom Pearce, 29 September 2020
Thousands of children are being sent home to self-isolate, in some cases to isolate with vulnerable parents.
Vote “No” on the Detroit Federation of Teachers contract!
Unite educators, students and parents to protect our lives against COVID-19
the Detroit Rank-and-File Educators Safety Committee, 28 September 2020
The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) and the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) is seeking to ram through a one-year contract as part of the preparation for a return to full in-person learning.
Michigan State University pushes forward with football amid a mass spike in COVID-19 cases
By Luke Galvin, 28 September 2020
Since August 24, there have been 1,250 cases of COVID-19 linked to the reopening of the university.
Free Julian Assange! The political issues confronting educators in the fight for freedom of information
By the Committee for Public Education (Australia), 28 September 2020
“Teachers and educators are among those owing a debt to Assange and to the whistleblowers who courageously decided to leak classified information in the public interest.”
Brazilian educators call strikes against homicidal reopening of schools
By Tomas Castanheira, 26 September 2020
The efforts of Brazil’s ruling elite to reopen schools amid the catastrophic spread of COVID-19 are being met with a growing wave of resistance.
Thousands at UK universities infected with coronavirus as new term opens
By Simon Whelan and Barry Mason, 26 September 2020
The former regional director for public health in northwest England, Professor John Ashton, said it was “almost inevitable” that the return of students would lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
Detroit students stage sickout in opposition to the district’s back-to-school plan
By Genevieve Leigh, 26 September 2020
While the demands laid out by the students are limited to immediate measures, there is no doubt that they are motivated by much broader issues.
“Everyone I work with thinks that it is absurd to put us all in harm’s way”
Tennessee parents and educators speak out against unsafe school openings
By the World Socialist Web Site Educators Newsletter, 26 September 2020
The teachers and parents often shared similar complaints about the unsafe conditions in schools and pressure to accept the reopening policies.
Lessons of the University of Michigan graduate student strike
By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (US), 26 September 2020
Throughout the course of the strike, many students admirably asserted that their fight was not only about the health and safety of themselves, but of the community as a whole.
Student protests against herd immunity policy spread across Greece
By Alex Lantier, 25 September 2020
High school students marched in Athens and Thessaloniki Thursday as occupations of high schools and strikes by doctors, port workers and airline workers spread.
Brown University study used to downplay spread of coronavirus in US schools
By Bryan Dyne, 25 September 2020
While seeking to minimize the impact of school reopenings on the spread of the virus, the study implies that some 18,600 teachers and 115,000 students have already been infected with COVID-19.
Four Texas universities report over 1,000 COVID-19 cases each
By Chase Lawrence, 25 September 2020
A surge in COVID-19 cases in Lubbock and Brazos counties coincided with the start of fall semester at Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University which are located in those respective counties.
Report demolishes government claims that reopening UK schools reflects concern for disadvantaged children
By Margot Miller, 25 September 2020
The education of poorer children is of as little concern for the Johnson government as the health of the working class.
SEIU and Illinois Nurses Association announce tentative agreements with University of Illinois at Chicago
By James Martin and Marcus Day, 25 September 2020
Simultaneously with the announcement of the deal, SEIU 73 shut down the 10-day strike by 4,000 university workers without releasing the full details of the agreement.
Spanish pseudo-left covers for union complicity in back-to-school drive
By Alice Summers, 25 September 2020
The Morenoite Workers Revolutionary Current, and its daily publication Izquierda Diario, is refusing to oppose the return to classrooms, aiming instead to divert opposition to it into impotent channels.
Germany’s school openings throw fuel onto the pandemic’s fire
By Marianne Arens, 24 September 2020
Only five of the almost 300 German administrative districts currently report no new infections, as the number of people with COVID-19 rises rapidly.
Iran: Reopening of schools fuels resurgence of coronavirus
By Jean Shaoul, 24 September 2020
According to Iran’s health minister, as of August 22, at least 164 medical workers had lost their lives fighting the pandemic.
Teachers across the US engage in sickout strikes to close schools
By Emma Arceneaux, 24 September 2020
This week, educators in South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Wisconsin have responded to the unfolding crisis with sickouts, in some cases compelling entire school districts to suspend in-person instruction.
A twenty-year-old student dies from COVID-19 at California University of Pennsylvania
By Samuel Davidson, 24 September 2020
California University of Pennsylvania student Jamain Stephens Jr. died September 9 from a blood clot in his heart after he contracted COVID-19.
UK: Labour schools spokesperson confirms bi-partisan “malign neglect” policy on COVID-19
By Julie Hyland, 24 September 2020
Remarks by Labour Party education spokesperson Kate Green and the panicked response of her frontbench colleagues have underscored the policy of “malign neglect” shared by Tory and Labour alike on COVID-19.
Hundreds of Kenosha, Wisconsin teachers call in sick to force schools to close
By Renae Cassimeda and Evan Blake, 23 September 2020
Starting Monday, 276 Kenosha teachers engaged in a sickout strike in opposition to increasing COVID-19 outbreaks and deadly conditions in the school district.
Students occupy schools across Greece to protest unsafe return to classrooms
By Robert Stevens, 23 September 2020
Anger is erupting among youth in Greece at being forced back to school amid a raging pandemic of COVID-19.
UK Educators Rank-and-File Committee holds second meeting
By our reporters, 23 September 2020
The aim of meeting was to call on educators, students and parents to join and build rank-and-file committees “in your workplace, college or campus and communities.”
National Education Union letter to Boris Johnson: A total surrender to herd immunity
By Tania Kent, 23 September 2020
From the outset of the pandemic, the NEU has blocked all moves to combat the deadly consequences of the government’s handling of the virus.
Massachusetts education commissioner demands “low-risk” districts resume in-person learning
By Will McCallis, 23 September 2020
The letter warns that non-compliance with the “school reopening guidance" will be met with a potential loss of state funds.
Strike by 4,000 service workers at University of Illinois at Chicago enters its second week
By Andy Thompson and Fabian Salgado, 23 September 2020
To oppose the sellout being prepared, striking hospital workers must follow the examples of auto workers and educators by forming rank-and-file committees.
Form independent rank-and-file safety committees to oppose the deadly reopening of schools!
By the Sosyalist Eşitlik, 23 September 2020
The Turkish government is overseeing the resumption of in-person teaching amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the support of bourgeois opposition parties and trade unions.
The global campaign to reopen schools drives COVID-19 deaths past one million
By Genevieve Leigh, 22 September 2020
Underlying the reckless drive to reopen schools is a broader policy of “herd immunity” adopted by every major capitalist country around the world.
Whistle-blowers speak out as German authorities cover up coronavirus cases at schools and day-care centres
By Martin Nowak and Gregor Link, 22 September 2020
Despite hundreds of teaching and care facilities being infected, school and health authorities, as well as the federal and state governments, with the support of the trade unions, are doing everything in their power to continue reopening schools.
Spike in Canada’s COVID-19 infections exposes criminality of back-to-work, back-to-school drive
By Roger Jordan, 22 September 2020
The dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases is the direct outcome of the ruling elite’s criminal back-to-work and back-to-school policies, which are aimed at guaranteeing corporate profits regardless of the cost in human lives.
Youth in the US most likely to be low-paid ‘essential’ workers
By Melody Isley, 22 September 2020
Adding insult to injury, students, many of whom who are frontline workers and therefore unable to escape exposure, are being blamed for the explosion of cases on college campuses.
Opposition mounts at the University of Michigan as COVID-19 outbreaks emerge on campus
By Jesse Thomas, 22 September 2020
The possibility that the university administration delayed the public announcement of the cases until after the strike was officially smothered cannot be discounted.
“NTEU Fightback” aims to replace the discredited Australian university union leadership
By Jack Turner, 22 September 2020
These supposed “socialists” are seeking to keep workers trapped within the industrial and political straitjacket of the trade unions.
San Diego County seeks to exclude university outbreaks to undercount coronavirus cases
By Melody Isley, 21 September 2020
As COVID-19 cases skyrocket, San Diego County supervisors are lobbying to artificially lower case numbers by excluding the recent outbreak at San Diego State University.
Los Angeles educators form rank-and-file safety committee to oppose unsafe school reopening
the Los Angeles Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 21 September 2020
The Los Angeles Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee has been established to protect the district’s students, teachers and staff from the deadly virus.
New York City school bus drivers and educators face common struggle against unsafe openings
By A. Woodson and Steve Light, 21 September 2020
School bus drivers will begin transporting thousands of special education children today, as the nation’s largest school district prepares to restart in-person instruction by September 29.
Australian university staff and students confront job cuts avalanche
By Mike Head, 21 September 2020
The NTEU and other trade unions are doing everything they can to prevent a nationwide strike against the escalating assault on university jobs and basic conditions.
Casualties of “herd immunity”: Three new teacher deaths in one week as US schools reopen
By Genevieve Leigh, 19 September 2020
The deaths are a direct result of the criminal actions by Democratic and Republican governors, as well as the Trump administration.
As American Federation of Teachers shuts down UM graduate student strike
Campuses across Michigan see dramatic spike in cases
By Joseph Lorenz, 19 September 2020
The decision to open campuses is part of the drive by governments everywhere in line with so-called "herd immunity" policies.
SUNY-Oswego forced into temporary shutdown of in-person instruction after spike in COVID-19 cases
By Alex Findijs, 19 September 2020
The campus in upstate New York is the second state university to be forced into a temporary shutdown this month due to the spread of COVID-19 cases.
“This district is not ready at all”
Teacher in Vancouver, Washington speaks out on school reopenings amid wildfires
By Evan Winters, 19 September 2020
Despite weeks of unhealthy wildfire-fueled air quality, the Evergreen School District is preparing to reopen elementary schools for partial in-person learning.
Union shuts down nurses strike at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago
By George Gallanis and Fabian Salgado, 19 September 2020
The Illinois Nurses Association ended the strike without a new contract and isolating 4,000 staffers on the picket line.
Boston-area colleges and universities report COVID cases and outbreaks despite testing programs
By Andrew Timon and Will McCalliss, 18 September 2020
Colleges and universities across the Greater Boston area have made the reckless, profit-driven decision to reopen their campuses, endangering the lives of not only university students, faculty and staff, but area residents.
New York City Democratic mayor delays school opening a second time
By our reporters, 18 September 2020
Bill de Blasio, the “progressive” mayor of New York City, announced a new date for a ‘’phased reopening” of the city’s public schools.
Network of Action Committees for Safe Education holds first online meeting
Stop the dangerous “routine operation” of schools in Germany! Prepare a nationwide general strike!
By our reporters, 18 September 2020
In his report to the meeting, SGP deputy leader Christoph Vandreier noted that infections have already been reported at over 1,000 schools and 300 childcare facilities across Germany.
Over one million UK children kept off school in face of government threats and propaganda
By Harvey Thompson and Tania Kent, 18 September 2020
By Thursday evening, 1,118 schools had been hit by coronavirus infections, forcing many to close partially or fully.
Oppose the unsafe reopening of UK schools and universities! Attend Online Educators Rank-and-File Committee meeting
18 September 2020
We urge educators and students in Britain to register and participate in the online forum being held on Saturday, September 19 at 2 p.m.
British government and universities pursue reckless return to higher education under pandemic conditions
By Simon Whelan, 18 September 2020
Students now face a limit on socialising under the government’s arbitrary limiting of gatherings to six, yet can go to work and to campuses.
New Zealand: Auckland University backs away from resuming classes after mass student opposition
By John Braddock, 18 September 2020
More than 10,000 Auckland University students have signed petitions opposing the resumption of lectures and classes amid ongoing community transmission of COVID-19.
Military research at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
By Gregor Link, 18 September 2020
As Germany again takes up aggressive great power politics, German universities are once more serving the needs of war and dictatorship, just as they did before the First and Second World Wars. A major centre of German weapons research is the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
Reject the AFT’s rush to vote on sellout contract at University of Michigan!
By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at UM, 17 September 2020
Now is not the time to back down! The struggle must be broadened to include undergraduates, staff, faculty and workers in a common struggle.
American Federation of Teachers shuts down University of Michigan graduate student strike
By our reporters, 17 September 2020
The end of the strike occurred less than 24 hours after the American Federation of Teachers assumed control of negotiations and produced an agreement that was virtually identical to the one overwhelmingly rejected just a week ago.
“We’re going to keep fighting”
Opposition mounts as thousands of University of Illinois at Chicago nurses and workers continue strike
By Kylie Rose, 17 September 2020
The university administration and the Democratic Party are increasingly nervous over the support striking workers have elicited.
Students return to UK universities: Build campus safety committees!
By Danny Knightley, 17 September 2020
Campus safety committees must ensure safety procedures are put in place to protect the health of students and staff alike, and fight for increased testing on campuses.
Surge in COVID-19 infections as in-person classes resume at many Illinois college campuses
By Fabian Salgado, 17 September 2020
Illinois State University is experiencing a horrifying explosion in the rate of COVID-19 infection as in person classes resume at many of the state’s campuses.
COVID-19 outbreaks force switch to online learning at New Jersey schools
By Erik Schreiber and Robert Milkowski, 17 September 2020
At least eight districts have switched their entire district or individual schools to fully remote instruction after confirmed infections.
Who is on the University of Michigan Board of Regents?
By Matthew Brennan, 16 September 2020
The governing body of the University of Michigan is a nexus of powerful political, military and corporate interests
Schools at epicentre of UK’s coronavirus explosion
By Robert Stevens, 16 September 2020
The virus is resurgent in workplaces, schools, and communities, with the R (reproduction) value rising above 1 across the UK.
COVID-19 cases escalate with school re-openings: Build educators rank-and-file safety committees!
By Tom Pearce and Julie Hyland, 16 September 2020
With Labour Party support, the National Education Union is complicit in abandoning its 450,000 members and those they teach to the government’s policy of “herd immunity”.
France imposes return to school without protections against COVID-19
By Jacques Valentin, 16 September 2020
With over 1,200 schools and universities affected, France faces a resurgent pandemic provoked by the reopening drive by the highest state authorities.
“It’s immoral and irresponsible to bring students to campus and to conduct in-person classes”
NYU faculty and students denounce unsafe reopening of campus
By IYSSE at New York University, 16 September 2020
The reopening of NYU, the largest private university in the US, is utterly reckless and places the lives of students, workers and residents in the area in immense danger.
San Diego State University seeks to shift blame to students for coronavirus outbreaks following reopening
By Melody Isley and Norissa Santa Cruz, 16 September 2020
As the virus spreads on campus, students have watched in horror as peers are taken away to isolation dorms by staff dressed in hazmat gear.
“It is really up to the teachers to take their safety into their own hands.”
One-third of schools in Knox County, Tennessee have at least one positive COVID-19 case
By Isaac Finn, 16 September 2020
The growing spread of the deadly virus is the direct outcome of the “herd immunity” policies that have been pursued by every level of government in the US.
Reactionary Massachusetts ruling paves way for Andover public schools to open in-person
By Mike Ingram, 16 September 2020
The state Department of Labor Relations board ruled that Andover teachers had engaged in an illegal strike by refusing to enter school buildings
University of Michigan president seeks court injunction to force graduate student instructors back to work
By Sam Wayne and Genevieve Leigh, 15 September 2020
The University of Michigan is responding with a new round of threats and intimidation to the overwhelming vote Sunday by graduate students to extend their strike.
The University of Iowa and Iowa State University students and staff unite to oppose in-person learning
By Andy Thompson, 15 September 2020
The demands of those involved in the protest are to end all in-person classes and have all learning be done online until the pandemic is under control.
Mounting opposition to school reopenings as 55 New York City teachers test positive for COVID-19
By Alberto Escalera, 15 September 2020
Public school educators in New York City have conducted protests and written petitions in the last several days to oppose the reckless reopening of schools by Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Dangers mount as Detroit implements a “hybrid” return to school
the Detroit Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 15 September 2020
The re-opening of schools in Detroit is threatening the lives of teachers, support staff, children and parents.
Washington, DC mayor calls for reopening of public schools amid pandemic
By Nick Barrickman, 15 September 2020
The announcement comes despite a late-July decision banning in-person teaching throughout the fall.
Management and NTEU prepare to cut jobs and conditions at Australia’s Newcastle University
By John Harris, 15 September 2020
In Newcastle, as around the country, the trade union is stepping up its collaboration with the employers to impose deep cost-cutting measures.
University of Michigan graduate students vote to extend strike as opposition erupts at campuses throughout the US
By Genevieve Leigh, 14 September 2020
The reopening of campuses is driving an expansion of the coronavirus pandemic, with 19 of the 25 largest outbreaks in communities with colleges that have started in-person learning.
“A general strike is a must to stop this back-to-work and back-to-school madness”
Autoworkers support University of Michigan strikers
By our reporters, 14 September 2020
Like the herding of workers into the auto factories, the drive to reopen schools and colleges even as the pandemic continues to rage is entirely driven by profit interests.
University of Illinois at Chicago workers go on strike against low wages and unsafe conditions
By Kylie Rose and Andy Thompson, 14 September 2020
Workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have gone on strike against low wages and unsafe conditions as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads rapidly through college campuses.
More than 15,000 attend University of Texas football game amidst coronavirus pandemic
By Chase Lawrence, 14 September 2020
A UT Austin spokesperson confirmed that only 1,198 attendees were tested before the game. Out of these, 95 tested positive, or nearly 8 percent.
Stop the dangerous “routine operation” of schools in Germany! Prepare a nationwide general strike!
Set up independent action committees for the safety of teachers, pupils and parents!
By the Action Committees for Safe Education, 14 September 2020
The completely unsafe routine operation of schools threatens the health and lives of millions of educators, parents, children, young people and their families.
University of Michigan grad students set to extend strike as opposition grows to the US back-to-school drive
By Genevieve Leigh, 12 September 2020
Nineteen of the 25 hottest outbreaks in the US are in communities with colleges that have reopened for in-person learning, sparking growing anger over the homicidal back-to-school campaign.
University of Michigan strikers speak out: “We need to resist going back to normal. Normal no longer exists”
By our reporters, 12 September 2020
The strike is quickly turning into a focal point of a much broader opposition to the reckless reopening of both K-12 schools and college campuses everywhere.
“I don’t want to be a typhoid Mary!”
Jacksonville, Florida teacher speaks out against deadly school reopenings
By Nancy Hanover and Matthew MacEgan, 12 September 2020
A teacher in Jacksonville, Florida, reached out to the WSWS to speak about the spread of the coronavirus across the state just two weeks into the new school year.
Full classes, full buses—German schools are becoming a coronavirus trap
By Marianne Arens, 12 September 2020
With schools re-opening without social distancing and the wearing of masks, new infections are increasing. Throughout Germany, hundreds of facilities have been affected.
Infected students denounce administration guidelines, amidst rising COVID-19 cases at Southern California universities
By Melody Isley and Emiri Ochiai, 12 September 2020
Infected students report callous treatment from school administration, being thrown into isolation rooms without bed sheets, food or sanitizing equipment.
State University of New York scapegoats students for COVID outbreaks, prepares repressive measures
By Alex Findijs, 12 September 2020
Refusing to take any responsibility for this catastrophe, the SUNY system is punishing groups of students for gathering and laying the ground for further police repression on campuses.
University of Michigan graduate students take a stand for life against profit
By Joseph Kishore—Socialist Equality Party candidate for US president, 12 September 2020
Opposition to the resumption of classes at the University of Michigan is part of a broader struggle of workers against the homicidal policy of the ruling class related to the pandemic.
The human cost of school reopenings: Six teachers dead in the US in the past month
By Renae Cassimeda, 11 September 2020
All of these deaths were absolutely unnecessary and are the direct result of criminal policies carried out by Democratic and Republican politicians at every level in the interest of protecting the profits of the financial oligarchy.
Over 10,500 Florida children test positive for COVID-19 after schools reopen
By Matthew MacEgan, 11 September 2020
Cases of COVID-19 among school-aged children in Florida have increased by 34 percent since schools started to reopen on August 10.
“Practically all children, one way or another, will be infected”
Spanish government demands schools reopen as COVID-19 deaths surge
By Alice Summers, 11 September 2020
The PSOE-Podemos government is deliberately implementing a reckless and criminal policy that will lead to an explosion of cases and many unnecessary deaths.
State University of New York scapegoats students for COVID outbreaks, prepares repressive measures
By Alex Findijs, 11 September 2020
Refusing to take any responsibility for this catastrophe, the SUNY system is on a crusade to punish groups of students for gathering and lay the ground for further police repression on campuses.
University of Michigan graduate students take a stand for life against profit
By Joseph Kishore - Socialist Equality Party candidate for US president, 11 September 2020
Opposition to the resumption of classes at the University of Michigan is part of a broader struggle of workers against the homicidal policy of the ruling class related to the pandemic.
US universities emerge as battlegrounds as students and faculty fight back against reckless reopening plans
By Genevieve Leigh, 11 September 2020
Students and university workers are being thrust into a fight as outbreaks of COVID-19 spread across US campuses.
University of Michigan graduate student strike wins wide support
By Sheila Brehm, 11 September 2020
On Wednesday, graduate students rejected an offer from the university that met none of their demands and voted to continue their strike in the face of threats of retaliation.
University of Iowa students and staff respond to one-day sickout
By Brian Brown and Andy Thompson, 11 September 2020
University of Iowa faculty and students continue to protest against the administration’s reluctance to transition to 100 percent online learning, despite an additional 220 students who tested positive for COVID-19 in one day.
University of California, San Diego students, staff and faculty issue open letter opposing reckless reopening plan
By Peter Ross, 11 September 2020
The appeal calls on the university to cancel in-person classes, limit campus housing to those with no other viable options and cancel layoffs and furloughs.
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