COLUMBIA, S.C. — Teachers from across the state gathered in Columbia Monday to advocate for virtual learning as the coronavirus remains a concern.
Many teachers want to start the school year off with virtual classes.
This 'Motor March' around the ground of the State House and governor's mansion, is a part of SC for Ed, an advocacy group for public school teachers, administrators and parents. 'Motor marches' happening around the state following Governor Henry McMaster's push for five-day, in-person classes earlier this month.
"(Gov. McMaster) Showed in that instance that he is clearly not familiar with... how many kids we come into contact with and how much exposure everyone would be receiving with five days, face-to-face," Rob Carroll, a teacher with Richland Two Schools, said.
"I am very much for coming back to school," Kendra Gandy, another Richland Two educator added. "I think we need to be learning, but I don't think face-to-face is the best environment right now."
From their cars, the crowd of educators honked and were vocal for virtual learning, traveling around downtown, the State House and the Governor's Mansion.
"I hope that we send a message that the teaching staff of this state is serious about safety," Nicole Walker with SC for Ed said. "We have now dealt with over 10 years of under-funding that makes many buildings in our state unsafe to return to. We were very disappointed that the governor decided to send extra funds to our private school… and we hope that teachers and our surrounding community will begin to speak out and push back against doing things that are unsafe.”
Walker also said she hopes to see the governor issue a statewide mask mandate for the month of August to help curb the spread -- a move he's said would be unenforceable and provide a false sense of security.
For Carroll, he's just hoping the rallies encourage districts to go virtual while the virus remains a concern.
"I’m just hoping that we can get the communities and the school districts to see that we care about our kids," Carroll said. "We have not stopped caring about our kids. We cried when we lost them, not being able to finish out the school year with them and we do not want to have to attend any child funerals.”
The organization plans to host demonstrations throughout the week to continue to push for a virtual start to the semester.