Raimondo’s Request for Former Teachers to Return Blasted By Retirees and Health Expert
Thursday, October 08, 2020
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo is asking retired teachers to consider coming back as substitutes -- and health officials, and retired teachers -- have concerns.
“[Schools] need more teachers, particularly those that can support the distance learning options,” said Raimondo on Wednesday. “I’m putting a call out to all [retired] Rhode Island teachers, please consider coming back to be a substitute teacher, and consider…virtual learning.”
Former Rhode Island Director of Health Dr. Michael Fine said regarding in-person teaching — which Raimondo continues to push for — coronavirus mortality risk increases “exponentially” over the age of 50.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“People’s risk rises as their age and weight go up. There’s also some association of higher risk with the male gender,” said Fine.
“People have to make their own choices,” he added. “It’s worth thinking through the relative degree of community transmission in each different community before an individual makes that decision.”
“People under 50 don’t appear to be at any higher risk, but the risk goes up every ten years. And this is a risk of death and not of disease,” said Fine. “For people in their 50s the risk is a couple of deaths for every 10,000 people — it rises to 10% for people in their 80s.”
Weighing Options - and Past
“We’re an age group with a bullseye on our chest,” said Diane Bucci, a retired teacher who spent 30 years in the Portsmouth school system.
Bucci, who serves as a board member on the Rhode Island Retired Teachers Association, said she thinks some retired teachers might consider the option — or not.
“I know I’m not the most internet-savvy,” she said, of online learning. “I think she’ll get some people though. Teachers are generally kind people.”
Bucci, however, took issue with Raimondo’s pension reform as part of the Rhode Island Retirement Security Act of 2011, which drastically cut back teachers' defined benefits — and suspended cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs) for retirees.
“The way we’ve been treated by the Governor, I’m not sure how much interest there is in doing this favor,” said Bucci.
Bucci said that she knows firsthand how much of an impact the lack of COLAs has had on retirees.
“Life events have been made very difficult for retirees, whether it be living in aging houses, having health issues, or maybe just that opportunity as grandparents to be a little more generous, without having that benefit of a COLA we were promised,” said Bucci.
“So now we’re needed — now we’re worth something, literally and figuratively,” said Bucci.
On Wednesday, Raimondo also made an appeal to those who have never taught before, to consider substituting.
"Even if you’ve never been a teacher, RIDE has developed a free training for Rhode Islanders to start as substitute teachers this fall for in-person or virtual teaching," said Raimondo.
This story was first published 10/7/20 3:21 PM
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