'Disservice To Students': Teachers Voice Concerns About Dual Role Of Teaching Students In Person, Virtually Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Teachers across the state are voicing concerns about their dual roles of teaching students both online and in person, and some teachers are worried students are not getting the attention they need.
"We truly believe that this is a disservice to our students to have our attention diverted," said Diamonté Brown, the Baltimore Teachers Union president.
The union had the attention of state lawmakers Monday night. The remarks via a virtual meeting with lawmakers come one week after some students in Maryland returned to the classroom.
Brown described what she observed while visiting a school.
"In another classroom, this was in the same school, you could see students weren't projected on the screen, they were just on her laptop screen so she would have to go to her desk, look at the laptop screen and then also come and monitor the students in the classroom on their laptops," Brown recalled.
Teachers in Baltimore County have expressed similar experiences.
"That's been a concern from the very beginning, even before our educators went back because we knew that was probably going to be the ask for them. And yes, it is a concern. It is a whole new style of teaching educators have never been trained to do or had to do before." Cindy Sexton, the president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, said.
As more students return to in-person learning, many others are still at home. School districts will now have to keep an eye on the number of teachers who choose to quit because they are not comfortable with this unexpected double duty.
" I think that there are a lot of folks who are exhausted from hybrid and hybrid is harder," Dr. Sonja Santelises, the CEO Baltimore City Public Schools, said. "Our teachers have been in person since September. They told us it's harder, and so we're going to be tracking that as we go."
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
