NYSUT statement on state school reopening guidance

ALBANY, N.Y. July 13, 2020 — New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta released the following statement today regarding school reopening guidance:

“As we’ve said throughout this process, health and safety of students, families, educators and other school staff, and equitable access to a high-quality education must be the top priorities in reopening schools. What we’ve heard from Gov. Cuomo, Chancellor Rosa and the Board of Regents has us moving in the right direction. The fact-based, data-driven approach to reopening outlined today stands in stark contrast to the reckless approach that some other states and the federal government are trying to ram through. We will review in detail the final state health and educational guidance to ensure it does indeed balance the educational needs of our students with the advice of health care experts. But make no mistake, for schools to reopen the right way — with health, safety and equity in mind — we know that federal and state funding will absolutely be necessary. State guidance may be the road map for districts, their school staff and their families to work on reopening plans that are right for their communities, but nobody should be discounting the need for the resources to actually pull safe, equitable reopening off.”

New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.