The Hillsborough County School Board has voted to shutdown public school classrooms for students until October.

Studies of COVID-19 have shown that most children are symptom free and hardly susceptible to Coronavirus. In spite of that fact, all education in Hillsborough County public schools will move online to e-learning until at least October 2020.

What will change between today and early October when the Hillsborough County School Board proposes to reopen the schools?

The School Board gave the Teacher’s Union what it demanded, but where does that put single parent households or households that demand both parents go to work?

For taxpayers, we see monolith school buildings in our communities that remain empty. We also have children in our community who have not had a day of classroom education since March 2020.

Finally, the hypocrisy of some public educators is stunning. I was an early proponent of the right to homeschool and championed homeschooling as an option beginning in the 1980’s. The right of parents to determine their child’s education was a crusade that faced a formidable adversary combining the power, influence, and finances of Teacher’s Unions, politicians, and state and local school officials. That same adversary is now a proponent of homeschooling themselves as they demand the right to stay at home, teach students online, and continue to draw their salary and benefits.

Hillsborough County needs School Board members who are not tone deaf to parental concerns. Our community needs school board members who put students first. We need school board members who are listening to the majority of teacher professionals who are ready to be back in the classroom with their students.

Is it not time to stop placating Teacher’s Unions and put children first?

Copyright 2020 – Travis D. Smith