A Teacher’s Testimonial: “There’s Light at the End of the Tunnel, But We Are Riding in the Last Car”

A high school history teacher from Houston, TX, tells us about their working conditions in the midst of the pandemic. Although Texas is currently seeing an increasing number of cases, teachers and students, including those who had opted for remote learning, have been forced to go in person for end-of-semester finals.

Urban Planning under Capitalism: A Testimonial

Under capitalism, public sector jobs are not exempt from pushing the agenda of the bourgeoisie. Government and capitalists are one and the same and work together to keep people poor and powerless while consolidating wealth and resources for the bourgeoisie.

“It’s Now or Never”: Florida Caseworker Calls for Organizing Against Managerial Class

Left Voice speaks with a caseworker* who works in an inpatient psychiatry unit about the situation that healthcare and essential workers are facing amidst a peak in the pandemic in Florida, now with over half a million cases. A member of the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA), he talks about state and federal governments’ responsibility for the evolving crisis and the urgent need for workers to organize.

“We’re Part of the Reproduction of the Working Class”: Interview With An Oakland Teacher

Left Voice spoke with Michael Shane, a public school teacher and union activist in Oakland, California. He discussed what the district is doing to try and get teachers back in the classroom, how his union and others around California are responding, and why capitalism wants and needs the schools open.

“Situations Like This Are Why People Strike”: Interview with a Brooklyn Teacher

Left Voice speaks with Josh Kahn, a teacher in Brooklyn, about New York’s proposed reopening plan for schools. He says teachers need to organize to fight for the safety of workers and students in the face of a dangerous rush to put kids back in classrooms.

“People Are Going to Die Because of These Decisions”: Interview with a Philadelphia Teacher

As part of our ongoing series of educator perspectives on schools reopening, Left Voice spoke with Marina, a high school teacher in Philadelphia.  If you are an educator or student who would like to share your experience with COVID and/or school re-openings submit to [email protected].

“We Had Eight Bereavements in One Day”: Teaching Theatre in a Pandemic

A New Jersey theatre teacher discusses the inequities his low income students faced during online learning, how it felt to receive eight bereavement notices in one day, and his concerns about returning to school in the fall. If you are an educator or student who would like to share your experience with COVID and/or school re-openings submit to [email protected].

Hundreds of CUNY Adjuncts to be Fired and Lose Health Insurance: Interview with Laid-off Adjunct Professor of Africana Studies

Adjunct faculty at CUNY have been exploited for decades and now, in the midst of the pandemic, they are facing mass layoffs. We spoke to one such adjunct, Sami Disu, about the university’s response to the Covid-19 crisis and how they are fighting back.

My Mom Got COVID-19 and I Can’t Even Socially Distance From Her

This interview was conducted with Jean Francois, a medical student in New York, whose mother is a Patient Care Associate at a New York hospital. Her mother contracted COVID-19 due to her exposure at her job and because of the inadequate PPE she was provided.