WEA’s Delaney: ‘We’re in this together… for the long haul’

With school-from-home through year’s end, ‘I know that WEA members are up to the task’

FEDERAL WAY (April 7, 2020) — The following is a message from Larry Delaney, President of the Washington Education Association, that was posted Monday:

After much speculation, today, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that schools will remain closed for the rest of this year.

We thank Gov. Inslee for putting health and safety first during this historic pandemic. His leadership has begun to show results in flattening the curve in Washington, and as we know, we can’t let our progress fighting the disease lull us into believing the pandemic is over. It has been our state’s aggressive approach to slowing the contagion that has gotten us to this point, and we need to remain diligent.

And yet, this news is hard to take in. As educators, we miss our students.

“We know distance learning can never replace in person learning. But this unprecedented emergency demands we take this step. We are asking districts and educators to do their best during this time,” Gov. Inslee said.

School-from-home is difficult and creates additional challenges for us all: educators, students and families. We worry about those who are harder to reach, or who have difficult home lives, or need more help than what can be provided from a distance.

We are asked to do the best that we can in an extremely difficult situation, and I know that WEA members are up to the task because we always put our students at the center of what we do. Thank you for your ongoing work, passion and dedication during this unprecedented time. I will have more information about Gov. Inslee and Schools Superintendent Reykdal’s remarks in the days ahead.

Your health and safety, that of our families, students and community is of utmost importance, so please, do take good care.

The Washington Education Association is the voice of public educators in Washington — the voice calling for quality public education, reasonable class sizes, and professional pay and respect for those responsible for our children. The WEA is the largest representative of public school employees in the state.