Foo Fighters musician and former Fairfax County Public Schools student Dave Grohl weighed in Wednesday on how school should be conducted as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
In a nine-minute reading of an essay he wrote for “The Atlantic,” Grohl endorsed remote learning and said teachers who devote their lives to their students for low pay should get “a little altruism” in return.
“Teachers want to teach, not die, and we should support and protect them like the national treasures that they are,” he said.
Grohl said remote learning for his three children had been “more ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ than ‘Dead Poets Society'” but it would be “foolish” to reopen schools and risk exposing students, teachers and staff to the virus.
Now 51, the Nirvana drummer dropped out of school halfway through 11th grade to be a traveling musician. His mother, Virginia Grohl, now 82, worked multiple jobs to supplement her low salary as a Fairfax County, Virginia teacher. Grohl called for lawmakers and members of the public to listen to teachers.
“Until you have spent countless days in a classroom devoting your time and energy to becoming that lifelong mentor to generations of otherwise disengaged students, you must listen to those who have,” he said.
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The county school board voted Tuesday night in favor of the superintendent's recommendation to start the 2020-21 school year 100% online. Many parents are scrambling to find ways to work and help their children learn online.
School Reopening Plans
School reopening plans in D.C. and by county in Maryland and Virginia
Credit: Anisa Holmes / NBC Washington
