Why one teacher is choosing early retirement over returning to the classroom amid COVID-19

Miami-Dade County High School Teacher Amy Scott joins Yahoo Finance’s On The Move panel to address how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting teachers across the nation.

Video transcript

JULIE HYMAN: You're watching "On The Move" on Yahoo Finance. I'm Julie Hyman. We have been talking about a lot of the implications of coronavirus for the education sector, right? Distance learning, as we know, has had some implications. But also, teaching is one of those professions where teachers are going to have to weigh whether they feel safe returning to work once schools do get back in session.

One of those teachers is Amy Scott. She is a Miami-Dade County High school teacher and has been for about 40 years. She's joining us now from Florida. Anjalee Khemlani is also joining us here. Amy, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

So I know that you are approaching retirement. How does what's happening right now factor into your decision? And I understand you're retiring perhaps sooner than you had anticipated.

AMY SCOTT: I have one more year and drop. But I decided to exit a year early. I'll be 70 in October. So I'm in a high-risk group. And to be truthful with you, the prospect of distance learning does not excite me. I've done it pretty proficiently over the last several months. But proficient is not enough. I'm in the business of teaching kids to think, of interacting with them, especially in philosophical Socratic methodologies. And I just can't envision Socrates under a tree with his laptop, you know, talking out into the ether. It's not my thing.

So two considerations, health. But more than that, I want to end my career with all the fondest memories of the interactions with my students face to face. I'm not a luddite. Yes?

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Amy, Anjalee here. Really good to see you again. Just as a disclaimer, my high school teacher here. I know that you based your decision of retiring on sort of the information of this really large network of students that you have kept in touch with. What have you heard that made you take this step?

AMY SCOTT: I have a scientific researcher who is afraid to say this publicly. But he thinks that the public is being given a false sense of security in terms of whether or not that we will reach a vaccine. We may never reach that. About antibody testing-- and we may have to live with this for a very, very long time.

I also have students with their doctorate degrees that are working with pharma companies, in other words, keeping them in line, making sure that they're going to make a vaccine, if it is developed for the poor as well as the wealthy. Gilead you know, has had, in the past, remdesivir, I can't say the name of the drug. Has had a habit of filing exclusive rights on a drug where it may prohibit that.

So all of these students, the journalists I've got doctors working in the COVID wings. They're giving me the real story. And I think I have a little bit of insight, through them. The student is teaching the teacher.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Amy, hi. Adam Shapiro here. It's reunion time. My AP English teacher at Gables was not you. It was Jenny Krugman. My stepdad was Paul Sejas' advisor at the school board. And my mom's friends with Janet McAlley. This is ancient history. The reason I bring it all up, is the Dade County School board listening to teachers like you?

AMY SCOTT: On the day-- on the Friday-- on the Thursday that we had a meeting, we thought that we were going to say schools are closed, right? This is back in March. And they said, we don't know. Come back next week. And so I made a decision right then and there. I said, well, I'm not going to claim sick days, to be truthful with you. I'm just not returning, because it's not safe in this environment.

And then they made the decision, you know, on the fly. And all those teachers left the building already, couldn't go back and get their stuff, hadn't been trained adequately in distance learning. So it was chaos. About the future, what their planning is they're planning, you know, split shifts, the kids eating in the classrooms, handwashing stations that kids must go through going in and going out, and a sense of isolation, of small classes, of no activities, no gathering in the courtyard, no going to pep assemblies or, you know, events and functions.

And I think a lot of teachers don't feel safe. But they don't have the privilege that I do to retire. And a lot of mothers don't want their children going back. So I forsee distance learning continuing on and off throughout the next year.

DAN HOWLEY: Amy this is Dan. I kind of want to get your perspective on why distance learning isn't, I guess, as effective as in-person learning. The way it's kind of been sold is that, you know, it's difficult, yes. But it can-- can be as good. But that's not the case?

AMY SCOTT: It could be. I have taken online courses, say, through PBS in science and evolution. And they were marvelous. But these were put together by a whole team of professionals who had videos and, you know, response sheets and immediate feedback from an instructor who was overseeing it. I think the typical high school teacher and below doesn't have all these resources. And there's just something about the one-on-one interaction with students, walking out and looking them in the eye and asking them a question.

A lot of the kids in my last Zoom meeting on the last day we said goodbye said they sort of lost interest in school, as had their teachers. Their teachers are dispirited. This is not what they signed up with. We're very gregarious people who love the children. And this feels so, I don't know, cold, distant. We miss our children. And I think they miss us.

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Amy, I know that those feelings are probably not just for you. So many other teachers are grappling with the same concern and the same issue. Have you talked to some of your colleagues. Are any of them also considering retirement or also considering not returning?

AMY SCOTT: Yes. There is one teacher who said, you know, even though he's been in drop. They keep asking him to come back because there's nobody else to teach art. But now they're kind of pushing him out because there's going to be massive cuts. The irony is we need more teachers for this split shift but they can't pay for it because of all the cuts. So he's thinking maybe he needs to go back to his own artwork.

Another teacher said I would love to not go back under these conditions. But I've got 10 more years before retirement. And other teachers are gung ho. And they said, you know, we can handle this. We'll be creative. Maybe they'll dress up in historical costumes in front of their cameras and play out history. I applaud them. I'm not that creative.

I-- I have to have the energy of the audience. And when you're in little boxes on a window and you can put in some words to talk to each other, it just lacks the intimacy that I feel like we need in education. Robots will not be in front of the classroom any time soon.

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Certainly, we'll see about that. But looking at, you know, what is playing out across the country right now. We also know, you know, as states are pursuing reopening, what is your concern mostly about that return to work? What is it that has scared you the most about being back at school?

AMY SCOTT: They don't have the resources to have those handwashing stations. The bathrooms have those blowers which just disperse germs. By the time 15, 30 students wash their hands, class is halfway over. The isolation of eating in your classrooms, of the teachers possibly moving. It just feels sort of stilted and awkward.

And students can pass the virus when they're asymptomatic. We will never know. I had something going on before school ended with red eyes and all kinds of other problems which I thought was maybe mold in the classroom. And then they found out later on that, you know, this pink eye syndrome is one of the symptoms of, you know, of COVID.

So it's not so much that we can't control students who are sick and maybe send them home, although there is reticence to send home sick students. But their parents are bringing them in. They're touching the handrails. Those droplets are suspended in the air. There is no sure way, even with masks, or enforcing everybody wearing masks that, you know, we can get a handle on this.

JULIE HYMAN: Amy Scott is a long-time high school teacher at Miami-- in Miami-Dade county. Amy, thank you so much. As the parent of two high-- elementary-aged boys, I definitely would second the thought that distance learning is not as effective as in-person learning. Thank you again. And all the best to you, Amy. Really appreciate it.

AMY SCOTT: You're welcome. Thank you.