Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has come out in support of teachers amid the ongoing debate over school reopenings.
In a new audio episode of his “Dave’s True Stories” series, which debuted on Wednesday, July 22, Grohl voiced his support for teachers in a nearly 9-minute homage titled “In Defense of Our Teachers.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I was a terrible student,” Grohl admits at the outset. “Each day, I desperately waited for the final bell to ring so that I could be released from the confines of my stuffy, windowless classroom and run home to my guitar.”
“It was no fault of the Fairfax County Public Schools system, mind you; it did the best it could. I was just stubbornly disengaged, impeded by a raging case of ADD and an insatiable desire to play music,” he added. “Far from being a model student, I tried my best to maintain focus, but eventually left school halfway through 11th grade to follow my dreams of becoming a professional touring musician. (Not advised.)”
Grohl then recalled that his mother was a teacher, an occupation that was so low-paying at the time that his mother had to do additional jobs for supplemental income.
“So, with me being a high school dropout, you’d imagine the current debate surrounding the reopening of schools wouldn’t register so much a blip on my rock & roll radar, right? Wrong. My mother was a public school teacher,” he added. “She was one of those teachers who became a mentor to many and her students remembered her long after they graduated.”
Then he noted a list of problems and safety measures teachers would have to take if the schools are reopened.
“Teachers are also confronted with a whole new set of dilemmas that most people would not consider. There’s so much more to be addressed than just opening the doors and sending [children] back home, my mother tells me on the phone,” Grohl said.
“Now 82 and retired, she runs down a list of concerns based on her 35 years of experience: Masks and distancing, temperature checks, crowded busing, crowded hallways, sports, air-conditioning systems, lunchrooms, public restrooms, janitorial staff,” he continued. “Most schools already struggle from a lack of resources. How can they possibly afford the mountain of safety measures that will need to be in place?”
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