(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
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The National Guard Deploys to Classrooms [1]
['Amelia Nierenberg']
Date: 2022-02-23
In one classroom in Estancia, about an hour outside of Albuquerque, my colleague Erica L. Green watched a member of the Guard use her uniform in a vocabulary lesson. The students were working on their pronunciation of a “bossy R,” as in -er, -ir-, -ur.
“My substitute is wearing gear,” one student responded.
“Yes,” the teacher, Lt. Col. Susana Corona, replied, beaming. “The superintendent allows me to wear my uniform. I’m wearing a pair of boots.”
Other states have also turned to uniformed personnel to help schools cope. In Massachusetts, National Guard members have driven school buses. In Oklahoma, police officers served as substitutes. Some critics have worried that putting more uniformed officers in schools could create anxiety in student populations that have historically had hostile experiences with law enforcement.
But in New Mexico, schools have largely embraced state militia members as a complicated but critical step toward recovery.
“You always have to be ready when there’s a need, when there’s a call to service,” said Colonel Corona, who watched her own fourth grader try to learn remotely last year.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/23/us/national-guard-teaching.html
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