It’s expected Governor Tim Walz will announce later this week (Thurs) whether Minnesota students can be back in the classroom this fall, must continue distance-learning, or a combination of the two. Walz says, “We are struggling with and figuring out and we know we have to get our kids back in school. It’s the safest and the best place for them to be able to grow as people, and we need to make sure that that safety extends to their physical health.”
Teachers in the Twin Cities are pressuring the governor *not* to allow in-person classroom instruction — at least for the start of the school year. Nick Faber, president of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators says, “If you’ve ever tried to have 30 kindergarteners social distance from each other, and not share their crayons, and not put things in their mouth, and not… sneeze on each other, that’s pretty hard to do.” And Faber says for older students, class sizes are so large it’s nearly impossible to social-distance.