In March of 2020, the profession of teaching was changed. Schools shut down, teachers and students stayed home to learn virtually, and teachers and students had to learn side by side how to do school differently. It is with that, the state of Iowa gave schools the choice on how to teach to best fit their students and their families. 

     While we all have different professions, the one constant is that we all went to school. We all got an education. Our language and literature teachers taught us how to speak, read, and write. Our math teachers taught how to add, subtract, and how to read graphs. Our science teachers taught us about biology, physics, chemistry, and more. Our art and music teachers taught us the benefits of being creative and how to apply that to other aspects of our lives. The commonality of the school system is what connects us all.

     With SSB1064, the state of Iowa risks endangering an important infrastructure. Even though the bill allows families to choose 100% virtual learning, the students that will soon crowd the classrooms across Iowa and will endanger our teachers, staff and administrators. This is compounded by the fact that teachers are in the age range that will affect them greatly and that there is a sub shortage in the state of Iowa. The state of Iowa should make sure our teachers are properly vaccinated, to ensure their safety, before requiring 100% in-person learning. If the state requires in-person learning, schools will no longer be able to follow CDC guidelines to keep their staff and students safe: 6 feet space in-between all people, and making sure all students and staff are properly masked to reduce aerosol emissions. If you take away our teachers, you take away the fundamental mind shapers of the next generation. 

     There is one point that stood out during Governor Reynold’s Condition of the State address for the reasoning behind having 100% in-person learning: Not being in school negatively affects students and families of color. Though I will agree that making sure our POC population still has access to the education system, students can still carry COVID-19 to their family. With many low-income populations and populations of color are essential workers, this puts unneeded hardship on them: losing hours of pay, increased medical bills, possibility of losing their source of income, and more. It is with those risks that put our POC population in more danger than before. Governor Reynold claims to have the interest of our POC population in mind when this bill will do more harm than good. 

     It is with this that we ask the state of Iowa to throw out SB1064 to allow schools to continue in an educational modality that will best suit their communities to react to COVID-19.