Teaching is « who I am, » one Florida high school educator says. But she’s « not willing to die » for it.
Amy Scott had always said she wanted to teach high school until the day she died. Then the coronavirus appeared, making the risk of dying because she was in the classroom all too real. With COVID-19 now ravaging her home state of Florida, she is calling time on her 45-year teaching career. « I had told my husband that I wanted to drop dead in the classroom because I love teaching — it’s who I am. It gives me energy, ideas and creativity. But I am not willing to die for it, » said Scott,69, who until June taught at Coral Reef High School in Miami. In choosing to walk away, meanwhile, she is like other U. S. workers who are opting to retire rather than stay in jobs that could expose them to the virus. According to a July study from the University of Chicago, the share of Americans who retired rather than remain in the labor force shot up 7 percentage points between January and April. « With the high sensitivity of seniors to the COVID-19 virus, this may reflect, in part, a decision to either leave employment earlier than planned, due to higher risks of working, or a choice to not look for new employment and retire after losing their work in the crisis, » the study authors concluded.
