Already, most school districts around the country have teacher shortages, and educators in areas with widespread coronavirus transmission may refuse to return to in-person learning due to personal health, age or family concerns.
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Choir teacher Megan Eyden has two kids of her own, one with asthma, and the other has diabetes. She left her job at a Texas high school this week over fears of bringing the coronavirus to her home.
"It's hard for me to imagine my life without being in the classroom ... I just felt like I was forced into a decision because I can't afford to wait," she said.
She's not alone. At Stuyvesant High School, the prestigious public school in New York City, 80% of teachers are seeking exemptions from returning to classrooms. In New York, more than 75 Department of Education employees have died due to COVID-19.
Schools reopening, how coronavirus affects kids
The number of teachers choosing not to come back in the fall has some in San Antonio worried about a possible teacher shortage.
"We surveyed our teachers and we only had about 600 responses. But out of those 600, about 75% said that they are extremely concerned and are not interested in going back in person," said Adrian Reyna, a social studies teacher in San Antonio.
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The American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1 million teachers across 40 states, says nearly 40% of its teachers in Florida are likely to retire or stop teaching earlier than expected due to COVID-19.
The organization said teachers should not have to go back to the classroom until transmission rates go down and safety measures are in place, including mask-wearing, social distancing and contact tracing. AFT also said it is willing to support teachers who decide to strike where those conditions are unmet.
"When you go into teaching, it's a joyful thing. You're going to be working with kids and when you come out, you think, I'm going to be changing the world and making a difference. And now we're talking about writing wills for ourselves, said Gina Rye, a math teacher from Spokane, Washington.
Only about 1 in 10 Americans think daycare centers, preschools or K-12 schools should open this fall without restrictions, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Most think mask requirements and other safety measures are necessary to restart in-person instruction, and roughly 3 in 10 say that teaching kids in classrooms shouldn't happen at all.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.