Schools are the definition of a necessary service. Our students face innumerable challenges on the best of days, and the Newark schools and NTU members are often the difference between hope and despair, success and failure, life and death for our students.
It is important to go into this conversation by making it very clear that no one is taking this lightly. Not the state, not the district, certainly not the NTU. We are in the schools and our families are in the schools as both staff and students. We are not going to let a single student or staff member be put in a position where they are exposed to unnecessary risk. There is no perfect solution out there, but we need to be in the best position to educate and protect our students.