Now that vaccines are rolling out, there seems to be renewed pressure to open schools immediately. Proponents of fully opening schools have been making some of the same arguments since last March. Namely, that online learning is inadequate and unequal (true), that children need social interaction for their overall well-being (can't argue with that), that parents need to work and cannot do so if they also have to supervise young children (100 percent), and that kids are less likely to get sick from COVID so there's no real danger in having them all congregate once again. Wait… what?

First of all, children can and do sometimes get very sick and even die from COVID, albeit at much lower rates than adults. How many deaths do we consider an acceptable risk? How many young lives lost are "worth it" in our desperation to get back to normal? Not to mention that Black children and other children of color make up 78 percent of all COVID-related deaths in that age group (0 to 18 years). It's difficult to not see a correlation between who is most affected and our collective impulse to minimize the perceived danger. But as horrible as these numbers are, that isn't what irks me the most about that last argument. The thing that really stands out, the thing that makes me ragey, is: where exactly are the teachers in this little "no real danger" scenario?

Let's say, for argument's sake, that every child is in fact immune; they can't get sick and can't spread the virus. OK, well, are we dropping them off at school to hang out amongst themselves in some COVID-free bubble? No, of course not. We need teachers to come back and teach in-person. We need bus drivers to get them there. We need cafeteria workers and janitors and all the other staff who make a school run properly. What about them? What about the risk to their lives? It's as if they have been completely erased from the equation. It's not that they don't matter to folks pushing this argument; it's that they don't even seem to exist.

Remember when, as a kid, it would blow your mind when you found out your teacher was married? "MS. MARTINEZ, YOU HAVE KIDS???" When you are a kid, your teacher does not exist outside of your interactions with them. It makes sense for young children not to be able to see beyond the parameters of their own tiny universe. But what's y'all's excuse? You do understand that educators and other school employees have families of their own, right? They have their own health concerns as well as a whole slew of personal obligations and interests outside of their job. You know this. I know you know this. I think some of you just don't care.

If it wasn't clear before, this pandemic has certainly brought to light how little this country values its teachers. The pay is often so insufficient that many must take on second jobs. In addition to that, funding for education in general is so pathetic that these already struggling teachers are forced to provide the supplies necessary to adequately carry out their jobs. This would be unacceptable in any other job — and yet we read story after story about it, and we shrug our shoulders. Why?

I think it comes down to the fact that we've romanticized the profession in a way that harms actual, real-life teachers. We've become comfortable with the notion that teaching is a calling rather than a career choice. Certainly, it takes a special kind of person to want to dedicate a life to building up the next generation. And certainly, most who choose such a path have a true passion for it. But in the end, this is their job not their life. We shouldn't ask them to sacrifice one for the other. We shouldn't demand that they prove their devotion and their love for their students by putting their lives on the line over and over again. They don't owe you or me or our kids anything more than to teach and care for them in the hours that they are together. Period.

There are of course, many competing priorities in how we overcome this pandemic. We must find a balance between protecting public health and our (apparently super fragile) economy. No doubt, reopening schools is paramount to repairing our economy. I think everyone (mothers in particular) wants and needs their kids to be back at school. But can we please stop demanding that we do so until we know it is safe? Until every single teacher and school staff member is protected? People are not disposable. Let's please stop acting as if they are. 

Martha E. Menendez, Esq. is the Bernstein Senior Fellow at the UNLV Immigration Clinic.