Grand Canyon Times

Teachers who fear returning to the classroom may need to adapt to providing distance learning or find another job, Rep. Mark Finchem (R-Oro Valley) told the Grand Canyon Times.

If parents decide to send their children to places where schools are reopened, Finchem wants education tax dollars they pay to follow their kids.

Many staff members in the J.O. Combs Unified School District in Arizona told Superintendent Gregory Wyman they did not feel safe returning to the classroom for the scheduled start of the school year on Aug. 17. Combined with many absences from staff members in a sickout, the school district canceled plans to reopen, The Hill reported. Even virtual learning was canceled.

Schools are not super-spreader sites, Finchem told the Grand Canyon Times. He said evidence showed children in grades K-12 are the least at-risk group.

“If teachers are concerned about returning to work, it could be that they will have to adapt to providing distance learning or find another line of work if they are truly fearful of returning. None of us wants people to live in fear,” Finchem, who is running for reelection in the general election, told the Grand Canyon Times.

Delaying the reopening is disruptive. Children need to be in a learning environment and parents want them back in school, he said.

If their children’s schools do not open, parents want their tax dollars for education to go wherever they send their children to learn. Finchem suggested parents consider the open enrollment option.

“What I would like to see going forward is Backpack Funding, the money should follow the child without any barrier whatsoever if we are really focused on education of children,” Finchem told the Grand Canyon Times.

Arizona’s universities made adjustments to deliver education through distance learning platforms. Finchem said parents of children in K-12 can adapt to a similar model. He said homeschooling by parents or hiring teachers willing to launch a micro-school have a lot of support.

“It is clear that the old education paradigm has changed, how society responds to the on-going will certainly be challenging. We must be cautiously deliberative because a lot of lives depend on what the legislature will put into effect with law,” Finchem told the Grand Canyon Times.

Some adults in education have health concerns, but strategies can be followed to limit exposure. He said personal choices often drive health.

“If individuals are affected by hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, advanced age and morbid obesity teaching in the K-12 environment might not be the right line of work,” Finchem told the Grand Canyon Times.