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Parents say they want both students and teachers back in the classroom now. Teachers say they want assurances that classes will be safe. The back and forth has resulted in school districts nationwide being caught in the crosshairs of class action lawsuits filed by parents and teachers over in-person learning, as the coronavirus pandemic persists.
Class Action Lawsuits Filed by New Jersey Parents for Return to In-Person Learning
Eight New Jersey families have filed a class action lawsuit against the Montclair School District after teachers and staff refused to return to in-person learning, according to a local news source.
The families say their children have been denied the right to an education after the school district failed for the third time to return to in-person learning during the pandemic. The class action lawsuit names the Montclair School District, Board of Education, and the Superintendent as defendants who allegedly cited a lack of staff as the reason behind the continued remote learning in the district.
The class action lawsuit is demanding both teachers and students return to in-person teaching for a full five days a week.
“With their arbitrary rules that fly in the face of the recommendations of experts across different disciplines, the children of the district have been deprived of their right to an education,” state the parents in their lawsuit. “Sadly, there has been no one to speak for our children over the last 12 months as they silently suffered with remote learning. This lawsuit seeks to remedy the situation on their behalf.”
School district officials have pointed the finger at the Montclair Education Association union in a separate lawsuit filed after teachers and staff refused to return to the classroom on Jan. 25 of this year citing unsafe buildings. There are reportedly concerns about the buildings’ ventilation, structural issues and safety procedures. The parents accuse teachers and staff of partaking in an illegal strike.
New York Teachers Seek Protection from Retaliation Over Reopening Comments
The Rochester Teachers Association filed a class action lawsuit against its school district last week, saying members have suffered “repercussions” after speaking out against reopening. Teachers and staff want the district to delay its reopening to in-person learning, with nearly 90 percent of teachers and many parents expressing concern about the district’s plan, according to a local NBC affiliate.
District officials have maintained that the plan has appropriate protocols in place to keep students and teachers safe; however, teachers and staff who expressed concerns about returning haven’t been protected against repercussions, according to the lawsuit. The Association recommended in a Tweet that those who want to speak out against Rochester’s re-opening plan should do so anonymously through its website.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, teachers, parents, and school districts continue to be at odds about the best plan for students. The disagreements have resulted in lawsuits all across the nation, including one filed by teachers in Florida this summer and by parents of children with disabilities this fall. Top Class Actions will continue to monitor this and other COVID-19 legal issues to keep consumers informed. Click on the “Follow Article” button at the top of this page to get the latest updates on the parent’s class action lawsuit by using your free Top Class Actions account.
Do you have school-aged children? Are you a teacher? What do you think of the return to in-person learning? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!
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23 thoughts onReturn To In-Person Learning Sparks Class Action Lawsuits by Teachers and Parents
Mute point most states will lift mandates in the next few months!
Moot point – if it’s only a few months then let the kids continue remote learning.
I have 2 great grand kids living with me and I have to have them on a computor to teach them. It ties up our day til 3:00 PM we start at 8:00 AM. I feel it I have to spend my day doing this then I think the school distric should pay me wages for my labor.
Exactly, I feel the same way. I’m teaching my kids. Pay me the teachers salary since she isn’t actually doing anything.
Yes! Quit paying teachers until they go back to school or wage cuts. Why should our taxes pay for their lessened hours. No pun intended.
add me
Private schooling, with the funds for Covid classroom overhauls and effective salaries for teachers. Homeschooling discussions BEFORE opting to bring a child into the world? Special needs kids…Is the public school system the ONLY option and the most appropriate one for your child? There has to be a better way to provide for them during a pandemic.
Yes when you’re child has special needs, the public school system is the best route for the child. The child is able to receive services within the school, most often during school hours. A child is able to have varying levels of special needs. Why would one even insinuate children with special needs may be better off outside of public school? The IDEA law of 2004 sets in place mandates that ensure all children, with disabilities have equity, accountability & excellence in education. As a mother of a child who has a disability I find your comment ignorant. Why are you singling out children with disabilities & questioning whether they are best served in a public school setting? I would love to know who in their right mind would have known to plan ahead for education should a pandemic occur prior to this past year. Your comment has added nothing to conversation. Your blatant disregard for humanity is disgraceful at very best. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for even having the thought process to question whether disabled children are deserving of the same education as their better abled (in your opinion, it seems) peers.
hire teachers that want to teach then just collect money
These “parents” do NOT care about their kids’ health/life. They prolly just wanna return to getting tipsy/drunk from drinking wine daily and their crotch goblins (prolly how they truly see and value them) are getting in the way of that.
Actually, the parents do care. Humans need interaction, engagement with others and locking kids in a home a year has done detrimental affects. There are numerous studies, even dating back to the 40’s (which led to torture techniques like isolation etc), that have proven this fact.
Also, has covid been ISOLATED? Perhaps you should read on what isolation of a compound means, because it has not been isolated, which means no one knows what it looks like, its attributes etc. It might as well not even exist.
Kids are interacting online and many of them are with their friends against COVID guidelines. How did kids of remote rural pioneering families handle things when they rarely saw their friends, perhaps only at church on Sundays?
Epidemic spikes have been attributed to colleges and other gatherings. I’d rather my child be safe than attending school in person. Just remember, all it takes is one person for another spike.
I’m not saying remote learning is the best for all children but, if social distancing mandates will be removed soon then just continue remote learning until it’s safer.
Need more consistent, safer regualtions. Teacher in CT
These teacher’s unions have got to go. They (the union leaders, not most teachers) are interested in one thing and one thing only. MONEY. Now with this Covid Chinese Virus these taxocrats want every single dime they can get from us….but now, they also want to sit at home and collect a check. FDR had it right way back in the 30’s when he said that unions can NEVER be allowed in government…and schools.
Do what Reagan did with the Air Traffic Controllers in the 80’s….fire them all and never let them be rehired.
Finally!!! Someone with common sense! Teacher unions are the entire problem. Oh along with the fear mongering media who has a bunch of grown adults who I imagine know how to read, and thus should know better, scared of a virus with over a 99% survival rate. Keeping their children holed up inside their homes, doing irrefutable damage to not only their education but more importantly their mental health. One can attempt to compare these children to those of pioneer days, however these are not pioneer days. People, and yes this includes children of all ages, need human interaction. What has been done to the children of this nation during this “pandemic” is an absolute travesty. People should be angry and demanding the unions be held accountable not cowering in a corner, hiding their children from what will go down in history as the biggest hoax this world has ever seen. Logical thinking. Use your logical thinking skills boys and girls, over a 99% survival rate and you’re afraid of what? You should be focusing your fears on why your government has lied to you about this. You should be wondering about what the real agenda they have in store for us. If they can lie to us about this and so many foolish people choose to blindly follow along even though nothing makes sense, then what else have they lied about?? As long as there are people who question nothing and fall for anything there will be those in government waiting in the wings to take advantage. It’s time to wake up ladies and gentlemen!
Add California to this lawsuit!
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