#This proud United Federation of Teachers member says it’s time to reopen all schools full-time

I’m a proud union member, and I want to teach

At first, it looked to be an interesting footnote to a ­long career as a New York City public-school teacher. Due to a shortage of teachers created by health accommodations, I was “redeployed” from my regular school to provide support at another.

I normally teach high-school English, but the city Department of Education placed me with an elementary school to teach Pre-K, about as far as can be from what I was trained and certified to do.

To this day, the reasoning behind the decision remains a mystery to me. You would think that with an event as massive and unprecedented as the pandemic, careful consideration would be given to making sure that each teacher is assigned to the right school, but it seems I was just randomly assigned somewhere.

My new colleagues brought me along slowly. Everyone understood that I was trapped inside a bureaucratic labyrinth commonly known as the City of New York. Then, January arrived, and the powers that be gave me my own remote class.

“Being a teacher, I figured you’d learn quickly,” the remote principal wrote to me in an e-mail. “Is there a problem with that?” Actually, yes.

I’ll carry out the assignment. It’s mostly staying on top of lessons and helping kids develop social skills, all while heaping praise and kindness with an ­unbridled enthusiasm I haven’t exhibited since I was 4 years old myself.

But when all is said and done, I don’t belong here. It’s time to return to my high-school classroom. As the virus positivity rate inside city schools remains well below 1 percent, and schools have proved that they aren’t major vectors of the novel coronavirus, it’s time for everyone to return to their physical classrooms.

The various COVID-19 vac­cines have been found to be overwhelmingly effective at preventing the disease. Now that United Federation of Teachers chief Michael Mulgrew has gotten priority status for his members, I’m anxious to get my shot and return to school. Remote teaching just isn’t the same.

There are unpopular truths that scratch and gnaw at the back of any teacher’s head — that is, if he has a conscience. I’m writing this essay on my lunch break at home while wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. I recently moved, and there are deer grazing in my backyard. It’s all quite lovely, ­except for the fact that by now I should be teaching inside my basement classroom in South Jamaica, Queens.

When I’d first considered all the dank and smelly corners of New York City schools that I’d passed through in 17 years, I was convinced the virus would have its way with us. From the lead-paint chips curling off my daughter’s classroom in Brooklyn to the mouse droppings in my own room in Queens, the schools were filthy breeding grounds for a virus that would overwhelm us. That hasn’t been the case, and I’m delighted to be wrong. There really is no reason to teach from home.

I’m proud to belong to a union that fights for my rights as a worker, though the UFT’s actual presence in my life is nothing more than the articles I read in the newspaper. Some popular opinions characterize teachers as indifferent louts happy to stay at home for a paycheck, but that isn’t the case. Decisions like closing and re-opening schools are made without our knowledge or input. We simply follow the political winds.

Consider some random remarks overheard at Zoom faculty meetings:

“It’s impossible to assess them if you’re not in person.”

“These poor kids. They’ll have to re-do the entire year.”

“The school year is lost. I just want it to end.”

To countless UFT members, Mulgrew is nothing more than a smiling figure on TV shaking hands with the mayor. I don’t even receive the e-mails he sends. He doesn’t speak for the rank-and-file teacher. Many of us know that it’s time to return to five-day, in-person school for the entire system. We’re just waiting for the go-ahead from the decision-makers.

As for the first-generation families I serve remotely each morning in Richmond Hill: You’ve welcomed me into your homes and did more than anyone could ask. You took the videos and did the freeze dance, but it’s time to throw away that marshmallow-and-toothpick sculpture and send your kids back to school. Lay down those colored pencils and rest. Your children were a joy to teach:

“Good morning, Navpreet! What are you happy for today?”

“I’m happy to be in Mr. Mac’s class.” One of the kindest things a kid can say, but it’s time to be going now.

J. Bryan McGeever is a teacher in New York City public schools.