In Rockford, a parade of cars filled the streets for a demonstration against schools reopening during the pandemic. Quetzia Ramirez is a parent liaison at Jefferson High School and her sign read, "25+ Students In One Classroom Cannot Social Distance."
The car parade began at 10:00 a.m. at Rock Valley College and included upwards of 50 cars. The cars were covered in signs and writing that expressed concern with schools reopening in the fall. Ramirez said that’s why she joined the car parade in the first place.
"As an educator, they're supposed to trust you to teach them the right information to succeed in life," said Ramirez. "So if they trust us enough to help them succeed in life, shouldn't they trust us enough to keep them safe in any circumstance?"
This week, Rockford Public Schools is launching an electronic survey asking parents and guardians to choose between in-person schooling and remote learning. The survey will be emailed on Wednesay, July 29 and the deadline to submit responses will be Aug 3rd.
- Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco is a 2020 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project which is a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms.
