Upcoming Tuttle Talks: Navigating the Safe Reopening of Our Schools


The next two Tuttle Talks will be devoted to safely re-opening our public schools

NEA has released internal guidance for affiliates on reopening schools for in-person instruction.

The guidance addresses four key dimensions of the reopening process:

  • How best to amplify educators’ expertise through bargaining and/or other collaboration structures to address COVID-19 issues;
  • How to ensure safe and healthy school operations, including contingency shutdown plans in the event of a resurgence of COVID-19 in a community;
  • How to manage continuity of education; and
  • How to address the significant changes in educators’ wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment that may be needed for schools to safely return to in-person instruction.

The guidance also includes useful resources, a two-page handout on First Amendment rights for advocates, and a list that can be to identify and prioritize key issues to be addressed in the reopening process.

On June 16, we are talking to Mark Jewell, President of the North Carolina Association of Educators, about North Carolina’s document that is being looked at by our DOE.

The following week, June 23, we are doing a deep dive into the internal NEA document and will have Donna Harris-Aikens, Director for Education Policy and Practice at NEA as our guest.