?Morale is low?: US teachers push back on school reopenings amid Omicron wave

Many teachers across the US are resisting immediate school reopenings and asking for improved safety measures this month as a record number of Covid-19 cases have been recorded as a result of the spread of the Omicron variant.

A few school districts have opted to restart school after the winter break remotely for the first week or two, while most others are grappling with tightening or reinstituting Covid-19 safety protocols.

Several teachers who spoke to the Guardian expressed concerns over severe staffing shortages, a lack of adequate and promised personal protective equipment, difficulties in accessing Covid testing and worsening overall working conditions.

Rori Abernethy, a teacher in San Francisco, California, said teachers are being faced with severe staffing shortages that are forcing teachers to serve as substitutes during preparation time and are increasing their classroom sizes due to teachers and other staff retiring, resigning, or calling out sick.

"This is the hardest teaching year I've had in 20 years," said Abernethy. "Morale is low amongst teachers and it feels like the whole city is fighting over politics and no one cares about what teachers are going through in the classroom. If we do complain, people are cruel and tell us to quit or that we don't care about kids."

She also noted staff and students haven't received enough personal protective equipment such as proper masks, that Covid testing is difficult for teachers given stringent drop-off times and is not mandated or easily available for students, and that Covid sick leave for teachers expired at the end of 2021. According to Abernethy, four teachers at her school quit before winter break, and 25 staff were absent on the first day of school after the break, on 3 January, though student attendance was normal.

There were 575,000 fewer local and state education employees in October 2021 than in February 2020. Before the pandemic, teacher shortages were widespread and growing throughout the US, while many public school buildings were crumbling, in dire need of repairs, proper upkeep or replacement.