Amanda Adkins sides with Trump over facts on kids in school during COVID-19 pandemic

As a teacher, I look forward to August every year. It is a time ripe with anticipation for both students and teachers. I love putting together a happy, welcoming classroom, getting that first peek at my list of students and gathering new school supplies.

But this August is different. I am not setting up my traditional classroom, but rather a makeshift one in my home. I will not get to do a sneak peek with my students this year, but I am working hard to prepare a welcoming start. Instead of new school supplies, we are setting up new technology and stocking up on hand sanitizer and masks. The coronavirus has upended all our lives — particularly for our students, teachers and families, as we navigate returning to school during a pandemic.

We all want kids back in school safely. We make that happen by helping to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and by taking steps to make schools safe. That means following public health guidance and listening to experts. It means wearing masks, limiting large gatherings and practicing social distancing and good hygiene.

But 3rd District congressional candidate Amanda Adkins, who recently wrote in The Star that we should get our kids back in school now, has failed to lead by example. She wrote, “public health recommendations and science should drive our decisions.” But instead of following those herself, she ignored warnings from experts. She even held an in-person primary election party where most attendees did not wear masks, including Adkins herself, at least part of the time. Soon after, an attendee of the party tested positive for the coronavirus, having exposed dozens of people to harm.

On top of that, Adkins’ own actions have left our schools much less prepared to deal with this pandemic. Adkins was a longtime top adviser to former Gov. Sam Brownback and helped execute his disastrous tax experiment that was paid for by major cuts to public school budgets. Kansas educators won’t soon forget that Adkins and Brownback gutted funding for Kansas’ education system and left our state swimming in red ink.

I remember those years as a teacher in Kansas, when our average class sizes jumped from 20 students to up to 28. Despite the increase in students, our budgets for needed supplies were slashed in half, and some districts were forced to let go of much-needed staff such as counselors, nurses and fine arts teachers.

Our schools still have not recovered. Today, we are struggling to pay for the upgraded safety precautions needed for teachers and students to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and safely return to the classroom.

Despite this, Adkins continues to stand behind the devastating tax experiment that Kansas families are still bearing the brunt of today. And now she is standing behind President Donald Trump’s “open the schools” strategy without making it possible to do so by following health guidelines and giving schools the resources they need to adapt safely and pay our teachers fairly.

I agree that the best thing for most children would be in-person learning. But when Adkins had the chance, she prioritized tax breaks for the wealthy over our kids’ education. She ignored health experts and put people’s health at risk. Now it is even more difficult for us to return to any sense of normalcy for our children.

I am looking forward to the day when my classroom is filled with students who are eager to learn and can be greeted with a big hug or high five to start each day, knowing it is safe for us all to interact. But I fear if Amanda Adkins were in office, we would have to wait even longer for that day.

Stacey Sales is a fourth grade teacher who has spent 18 years in the classroom. She lives in Olathe with her husband and their son, a rising first grader, and their two dogs.

This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Amanda Adkins sides with Trump over facts on kids in school during COVID-19 pandemic."