
TAKE ACTION NOW: Wisconsin’s Covid-19 infection numbers are on a disastrous trajectory! Call and email Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm to call on her to immediately order all Wisconsin K-12 schools, colleges and universities to virtual instruction until community spread of Covid-19 is contained.
Email: Andrea.Palm@dhs.wisconsin.gov
Phone: 608-266-9622
MTEA will be participating in a national day of action with education unions nationwide today. In Wisconsin, we will be joining other urban educator unions in Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison and Racine in calling on Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Andrea Palm to order all K-12 schools, colleges and universities to move to virtual instruction until community spread of the virus is contained.
We will also demand that DHS provide required gating criteria for reopening and that DHS expert approval of each school district’s proposed reopening plan. DHS should confirm that plans are feasible and have necessary PPE and resources to safely implement reopening plans.
Our demands will be presented at a press conference in front of the DHS building September 30 in downtown Madison.
When we first made our call for a statewide virtual opening of schools, Governor Evers and Secretary-designee Palm ignored our demand. Now, coronavirus cases are surging in Wisconsin, to the point that Wisconsin is now seen as one of the top hotbeds in the country. We are setting new case and infection rate records on a near daily basis. There have been outbreaks in K-12 schools, college classrooms and dorms, and the surge in cases has spread widely into communities large and small in every corner of the state.